Section 2: Theories of Development Flashcards
Theory
framework of ideas or body of principles that can be used to guide the collection and interpretation of facts
Different theories differ in the following ways:
- Domains of development under investigation
- Research methods
- Central Issues addressed
- Periods of development studied
Domains of Development
cognitive, social, emotional, physical, or a combination
Five central issues of child psychology:
nature vs. nurture, plasticity, continuity vs. discontinuity, active role of the child, and stability of individual differences
Nativists
This theoretical perspective argues that innate understanding of concepts plays a central role in development
Empiricists
This theoretical perspecitve argues that concepts arise from basic learning mechanisms
Biological Theory
This theory posits that development is an unfolding of genetically determined sequences. Change cannot occur before the child is ready, so experience is less influential
Contributions of Biological Theory:
a. Works well for motor development
b. Gave milestones for normal development
Criticisms of Biological Theory
a. Ignores the role of learning
b. Minimizes individual difference
c. Doesn’t consider culture
Psychodynamic Theory
This theory shows how universal development processes can be understood by exploring life experiences of individuals; culture and biology shape development
Freudian theory is associated with this larger theory:
Psychodynamic theory
Freudian psychodynamic theory posits that:
i. Forces drive development and are in competition for priority.
ii. Conflict is with external social forces.
iii. Development is the internalization of social codes.
iv. The struggle of the superego and ego to control the id.
v. Development is in stages
Developed psychoanalysis
Freud
Trained as neurologist
Freud
Found problems that looked like neurological damage were actually due to unresolved trauma in childhood
Freud
Thought all biological drives ultimately served sex drive (instinct to spread genes)
Freud
Came up with psychosexual stages
Freud
Psychosexual stages posit that
- as child develops the form of their sexual gratification also changes
- Problems were associated with conflicts between the child’s desires, social prescriptions, and social expectations, and the way the child experiences the conflicts at each stage determines their personality
Psychosexual stages are:
i. Oral stage
ii. Anal stage
iii. Phallic stage
iv. Latency
v. Genital stage
In Oral Stage:
- First year
2. Mouth is the focus of pleasurable sensations as the baby sucks and bites
In Anal Stage:
- Year two
2. The anus is the focus of pleasurable sensations as the baby learns to control elimination
In Phallic Stage:
- 3rd-6th year
- Children develop sexual curiosity and obtain gratification when they masturbate. They have sexual fantasies about the parent of the opposite sex and feel guilt about their fantasies
In Latency:
- 7th year through puberty
2. Sexual urges are submerged. Children focus on mastery of skills valued by adults
In Genital Stage:
- Adolescence
2. Adolescents have adult sexual desires, and they seek to gratify them