Chapter 4: Major Theories for Understanding Human Development

Chapter 4: Major Theories for

Understanding Human Development

Major Theories for Understanding Human Development

• Chapter Objectives– To review the basic concepts of seven major

theories that have guided research in the study of human development. These theories include: evolutionary theory, psychosexual theory, cognitive developmental theory, theories of learning, cultural theory, social role theory, and systems theory

– To examine the implications of each theory for the study of human development

– To clarify the links between each theory and psychosocial theory


• The Theory of Evolution– Darwin emphasized the adaptive value of

behavior and physical characteristics to specific environments

– Natural selection - certain species were selected by nature to survive in particular parts of the world because they had characteristics that fit with, or were adapted to, their surroundings


• The Theory of Evolution (cont.)– Natural selection has 3 underlying

characteristics:• Variation• Genetic inheritance• Selection

– Fitness, or reproductive success: varies among members of a species and is the passage of genes form one generation to the next in individual organisms


• The Theory of Evolution (cont.)– Inclusive Fitness: suggests that fitness is not

only determined by an individual’s success in passing genes along to the next generation through reproduction, but also by promoting the survival and reproductive success of others who carry the genes


• Ethology – Studies the survival value of behavior and its

evolutionary history– Not concerned just with growth and

development, but to the adaptation and continuation of the species


• Evolutionary Psychology– Studies long-term historical origins of

behavior– With each generation, the human genome

evolves; whether they are passed on to subsequent generations depends on whether they increase fitness

– Account for common patterns of behavior in light of the likely pressures on survival and reproduction for human beings during the prehistoric period


• Psychosexual Theory– Assumes children move through a series of

stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations

– Healthy personality development is determined by how parents manage their child’s early sexual and aggressive drives

– How they resolve these conflicts determines their ability to learn, to get along with others, and to cope with anxiety


• Domains of Conscience in Psychosexual Theory– Freud believed that all behaviors were

motivated– Conscious processes are the mental

processes, which are related to behavior, and individuals are aware of

– Preconscious processes are the mental processes, which are absent from mental awareness or conscious, but are capable of being called into mental awareness

– Unconscious processes are wishes, needs, and fantasies that influence behavior which we are not mentally aware of


• Portions of Personality in Psychosexual Theory– Id, present at birth, represents biological

needs and desires and requires immediate gratification

– Ego develops in early infancy, and is the conscious, rational part of personality. It is the mediator between the id and the superego

– Superego represents the values of society and one’s conscience

– The relations between the id, ego, and superego determine an individual’s basic personality


• Stages of Development in Psychosexual Theory– Oral– Anal– Phallic– Latent– Genital


• Cognitive Developmental Theories– Cognition is the process of organizing and

making meaning of experience– Two Cognitive Developmental Theories

• Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory• Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory


• Basic Concepts of Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theories– Occurs in stages as children actively

manipulate and explore the environment– Central to his theory is the biological concept

of adaptation, which leads to equilibrium, or balance, between internal structures, and information children encounter in their everyday worlds

– Scheme is a specific structure, or an organized way, of making sense of experience that changes with age


• Basic Concepts of Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theories (cont.)– Adaptation in Piaget’s theory

• The process of building schemes through direct interaction with the environment occurs through 2 processes

– Assimilation is the part of adaptation in which the external world is interpreted in terms of already existing schemes

– Accommodation is the part of adaptation in which old schemes are created and new ones adjusted to produce a better fit with the environment


Figure 4.1 Adaptation = Assimilation + Accommodation


• Piaget Developed Four Stages of Cognitive Development– Sensorimotor Stage - an infant uses his

senses and movements to explore the world (0-18 months)

– Preoperational Stage - the preschooler uses symbolic but illogical thought and play (18 months to 6 years)

– Concrete Operational Stage - school-age children use more organized reasoning (7-11 years)


• Piaget Developed Four Stages of Cognitive Development (cont.)– Formal Operational Stage - thought is used by

adolescents and adults and is represented by abstract logical thought (11 years on)


• Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory – Vygotsky is referred to as a contextualist,

because he argued that human development can only be understood within a social framework

– Focuses on how culture or culturally specific practices are transmitted from one generation to the next

– He viewed cognitive development as a socially mediated process in which children benefit from parental and peer support to accomplish new things


• Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (cont.)– Vygotsky believed that all higher cognitive

processes develop out of social interaction– Zone of proximal development refers to a

range of tasks that the child cannot yet handle alone but can accomplish with the help of adults and more skilled peers


• Theories of Learning– Classical Conditioning– Operant Conditioning– Social Learning Theory– Cognitive Behaviorism


• Classical Conditioning– Ivan Pavlov was interested in animal learning

and from studies with dogs, found the classical conditioning paradigm

– Classical conditioning can be defined as a form of learning that involves associating a neutral stimulus that leads to a reflexive example


Figure 4.2 Classical Conditioning


• Operant Conditioning– Developed by B. F. Skinner– Emphasizes the role of repetition and the

consequences of behavior in learning– There are 2 types of reinforcers:

• Positive reinforcers: increase the rate of a response (i.e., food)

• Negative reinforcers: increase the rate of a response when removed (i.e., shock)


• Operant Conditioning (cont.)– Shaping is the gradual building up an operant

behavior by reinforcing successive approximations and is used to convert existing simple behaviors into more complex patterns of behavior

– Schedule of Reinforcement: the frequency and regularity with which reinforcements are given

– Continuous: reinforcement is given every learning trial


• Operant Conditioning (cont.)– Intermittent: vary time or number of trials

between every reinforcement – Extinction: a process in which an expected

reinforcement no longer occurs following the behavior

– Punishment: a noxious stimulus that follows an undesirable behavior


• Social Learning Theory – Albert Bandura promoted social learning

theory, which emphasizes learning in a social context and the role of modeling as a shaping factor for development

– Bandura has shown that both children’s ability to listen and remember as well as their understanding of abstract general rules from complex sets of observed behavior affects their imitation and learning, vicarious reinforcement


• Social Learning Theory (cont.) – The most recent revision of Bandura’s theory

places a strong emphasis on what he calls social cognition rather than a social learning approach

– Efficacy is the culmination of this learning process


• Cognitive Behaviorism– A criticism of operant conditioning and

classical conditioning is that they do not describe and explain what happens in a learner’s mind

– Edward Tolman said that the learner develops a cognitive map or an internal mental representation of the learning environment

– Map includes expectations about the reward system in operation, the existing spatial relationships, and the behaviors accorded highest priority


• Six Cognitive Dimensions of Cognitive Behaviorism– Encodings: constructs the person has about

the self, the situation, and others in the situation

– Expectancies: cognitive assessment about one’s behavior, and the maintaining of events in one’s environment

– Affects: feelings and emotional reactions, or physiological responses that are associated with the situation


• Six Cognitive Dimensions of Cognitive Behaviorism (cont.)– Goals and values: relative importance one

places on the outcomes and situations– Cognitive competencies: knowledge, skills,

and abilities– Self-regulatory plans: strategies for achieving

one’s goals, including techniques for managing internal emotional states, creating a plan, and setting the plan into action


Figure 4.3 The Six Cognitive and Affective Dimensions that Influence Behavior



• Cultural Theory– Emphasizes the learned systems of meaning

and patterns of behaviors that are shared by a group of people and transmitted from one direction to the next

– Physical culture: objects, technologies, structures, tools, and other artifacts of culture

– Social culture: norms, roles, beliefs, values, rites, etc.

– Worldview: making meaning of the relationships, situations, and objects encountered in daily life


• Cultural Theory (cont.)– Cultural determinism: individual’s

psychological experiences are shaped by the expectations, resources, and challenges posed by one specific cultural group

– Enculturation: culture carriers teach, model, reward, punish, and use other symbolic strategies to transmit critical practices and values


• Cultural Theory (cont.)– Continuity: when a child is given information

and responsibilities that apply directly to his or her adult behavior

– Discontinuity: found when a child is either barred from activities that are opened only to adults or forced to unlearn information or behaviors that are accepted in children but considered inappropriate for adults

– Collectivism: refers to a worldview in which social behavior is guided largely by goals that are shared by a collective group of people


• Cultural Theory (cont.)– Individualism: refers to a worldview in which

social behavior is guided largely by personal goals, ambitions, and pleasures which may or may not coincide with the interests of the group


• Social Role Theory– Social roles serve as a bridge between the

individual and society and suggest that learning is organized around a key social function called roles

– Three Elements of Concern• Role Enactment: patterned characteristics of social

behavior• Social Roles: parts or identities a person assumes• Role Expectations: scripts or shared expectations

for behavior that are linked


• Social Role Theory (cont.)– Four Dimensions of Social Roles Exist

• Number of roles: increase in number, increase in cognitive advances

• Intensity of involvement: increases involvement and increases emotional commitment

• Amount of time the role demands: limits other role possibilities

• Degree of structure: expectations about role


• Systems Theory– Attempts to describe and account for the

characteristics of systems and the relationships among component parts comprised within the system

– Whole is more than the sum of its parts– Open system: structures that maintain their

organization even though their parts constantly change


• Systems Theory (cont.)– Adaptive self-regulation: systems change in

the direction of adjusting to or incorporating more and more of the environment into themselves in order to prevent disorganization as a result of environmental fluctuations

– Feedback mechanisms: to identify and respond to environmental changes


• Systems Theory (cont.)– Adaptive self-organization: when confronted

with new, or changing environmental conditions, systems revise the relationships among components, or create new, higher levels of organization that coordinate existing substructures


Figure 4.4 A Topography of the Relationship Among Systems


• Ecological Systems Theory – Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems

theory considers the individual as developing within a multilayered system of relationships

– Microsystem is the innermost level of the environment or the activities and interaction patterns in the child’s immediate surroundings

– Mesosystem is composed of contexts that connect microsystems

– Exosystem contains social settings that do not include the individual, but affects their microsystem and mesosystem experiences


• Ecological Systems Theory (cont.)– Macrosystem is the outermost layer, which

includes a culture’s laws, values, and customs– Chronosystem is the temporal dimension of a

dynamic, ever-changing system

• Intervening in the Environment– Interventions at any level of the environment

can affect development

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Chapter 4: Major Theories for Understanding Human Development