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Developmental Theories
Theory: A Definition
 A set
of interrelated statements that
provides an explanation for a class of
events.
Psychoanalytic Theories
The
view that personality is fashioned
progressively as the individual passes
through various psychosexual stages:
Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital.
Three
ego
states of being: id, superego,
Freud: Psychosexual Stages of
Development
The
Role of the Unconscious
Psychosexual Stages
Fixation
Erik Erikson: Psychosocial
Stages of Development
Epigenetic
Principle
Stages pose tasks and crises that
individuals must struggle through.
Personality development takes place
throughout the entire life span.
Erikson’s Nine Stages
 Trust
vs. mistrust
 Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
 Initiative vs. guilt
 Industry vs. inferiority
 Identity vs. identity confusion
 Intimacy vs. isolation
 Generativity vs. stagnation
 Integrity vs. despair
 Despair vs. hope and faith
Behavioral Theory
Concerned
with observable behavior:
what people do and say.
Behavior divided into units: responses
Environment divided into units: stimuli
Also called learning theory
Classical Conditioning
 Process
of stimulus substitution in which
a new, previously neutral stimulus is
substituted for the stimulus that naturally
elicits a response
Operant Conditioning
 A type
of learning in which the
consequences of a behavior alter the
strength of that behavior
Behavior Modification
 Pathological
behavior is acquired through
learning.
 The way to eliminate an unwanted behavior
is to stop reinforcing it.
Cognitive Theory
Cognition:
Acts or processes of
knowing
Representing, organizing, treating, and
transforming information as we devise
our behavior.
Jean Piaget
 Cognitive
Stages in Development: Sequential
periods in the growth or maturing of an
individual’s ability to think--to gain knowledge,
self-awareness, and awareness of the
environment.
Cognitive Stages in
Development
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete
Formal
Cognitive Learning and
Information Processing
 Cognitive
Learning (Bandura, Mischel,
Rosenthal and Zimmerman)
 Imitation of behavior of socially competent
models
 Self-Efficacy
 Use of symbols
Ecological Theory
 Centers
on the relationship between the
developing individual and the changing
environment.
 Focus on the relationship between the person
and the environment .
Sociocultural Theory
 Development
(Vygotsky):
 Determined by the activity of groups
a.Child interacts with other persons
b.Assimilates social aspects of activity
c.Takes information and internalizes it
d. Social values become personal values
Controversies
Different tasks call for different theories

Mechanistic Model: Focuses
on the universe as a machine
composed of elementary
particles in motion

Organismic Model: Focuses
on the universe as a whole

Continuity: Learning is
cumulative, building on
itself.

Discontinuity: Individual is
seen as passing through
stages.
Eclectic Approach: Selects from the various
theories
Nature Versus Nature:
 The
“Which” Question
 The “How Much” Question
 The “How” Question
Behavioral Genetics
 Jerome
Kagan: Timidity Studies
 The Minnesota Twin Project
 Polygenic inheritance
Evolutionary Adaptation
Theory
 Natural
Selection (Charles Darwin)
 Ethology
 Releasing Stimuli
 Imprinting
 Critical Period
 Sensitive Period