Theorists Flashcards
John Piaget (1896-1980)
Cognitive Development:
His cognitive theory seeks to describe and explain the development of thought processes and mental states. It also looks at how these thought processes influence the way we understand and interact with the world.
Famous Finding: 4 stages of cognitive development. Piaget then proposed a theory of cognitive development to account for the steps and sequence of children’s intellectual development.
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934
Learning Development and Sociocultural Theory:
Children learn actively and through hands-on experiences.
Famous Finding: His sociocultural theory also suggested that parents, caregivers, peers and the culture at large were responsible for developing higher-order functions. In Vygotsky’s view, learning is an inherently social process. Through interacting with others, learning becomes integrated into an individual’s understanding of the world.
Zone of Proximal Development
John Bowlby (1907-1990)
Social Development:
Bowlby believed that early relationships with caregivers play a major role in child development and continue to influence social relationships throughout life.3
Famous Finding: Bowlby’s attachment theory suggested that children are born with an innate need to form attachments. Such attachments aid in survival by ensuring that the child receives care and protection. Not only that, but these attachments are characterized by clear behavioral and motivational patterns.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Psychoanalytic Theory of Development Freud came to believe that childhood experiences and unconscious desires influenced behavior.
Famous Finding: Freud’s psychosexual theory, child development occurs in a series of stages focused on different pleasure areas of the body. During each stage, the child encounters conflicts that play a significant role in the course of development.
Erik Erikson (1902-1994)
Those inspired and influenced by Freud went on to expand upon Freud’s ideas and develop theories of their own.
Famous Finding: Erikson’s eight-stage theory of psychosocial development describes growth and change throughout life, focusing on social interaction and conflicts that arise during different stages of development.
Albert Bandura (1925- )
Social Learning
Bandura believed that the conditioning and reinforcement process could not sufficiently explain all of human learning.
Famous Study: Bobo Doll
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
Behavior Development:
Learning occurs purely through processes of association and reinforcement.
Famous Study: Operant Conditioning
John B. Watson (1878-1958)
Behavior Development:
Learning occurs purely through processes of association and reinforcement.
Famous Study: Little Albert
Lawrence Kohlberg
Moral Development:
Modification and expansion on Piaget’s work. Development of perception of right/wrong
Famous Study: Heinz steals Drug
Ivan Pavlov
studied learning through association in his theory of classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning is a type of learning that happens unconsciously. When you learn through classical conditioning, an automatic conditioned response is paired with a specific stimulus.
Charles Darwin
Evolutionary developmental psychology
Evolutionary developmental psychology is a research paradigm that applies the basic principles of evolution by natural selection, to understand the development of human behavior and cognition.
Gilbert Gottlieb
an important figure in epigenetic psychobiological systems perspective, which views development as a product of interaction between biological and environmental forces
Urie Bronfenbrenner
Ecological systems theory This theory divides the environment into different systems that interact to influence the development of an individual in some way.
