CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES

Theories of development This area of science is called developmental psychology and covers: cognitive (thought processes) language development emotional development.

The main theorists Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904–1990) Albert Bandura (1925–) Jean Piaget (1896–1980) Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) Jerome Bruner (1915–) Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) John Watson (1878–1958)

Skinner Operant conditioning Learning is influenced by reward and punishment Behaviour is affected by positive reinforcement An existing behaviour can be modified by rewarding small steps towards the desired behaviour

Bandura Social learning theory Children copy others Children are more likely to copy adults they like How we respond to the child will affect their behaviour A child both affects and is affected by their environment

Piaget Children pass through 4 stages of cognitive development: Sensory motor Pre-operational Concrete operational Formal operational Children are actively involved in their learning Children develop schemas (theories) based upon their experiences

Vygotsky Social development theory Children learn through social interaction (they are born to be sociable) Children use language to develop thought Introduced “zone of proximal development”

Bruner Developed Vygotsky’s “zone of proximal development” The adult can provide support (“scaffolding”) for a child’s learning Scaffolding can be withdrawn when a child gains the ability to do things for themselves

Freud Psychoanalytic theory of personality Personality has 3 parts: Id (dealing with reality) Ego (dealing with wants and needs) Superego (dealing with ideals and morals) Not all parts are present at birth Theories derived from observations and case studies

Maslow Humanist Hierarchy of needs (often as a pyramid) Physiological Safety and security Love and belonging Esteem Self-actualisation “Lower level” needs must be met before other needs can be addressed

Watson Behaviourist All behaviour can be taught Behaviour modification techniques still widely used as a therapy Theory drawn from experimental study of the link between an environmental event and human behaviour

Activity “What a child can do in co-operation today she can do alone tomorrow. Therefore, the only good kind of instruction is that which marches ahead of development and leads it.” Lev Vygotsky Think about the meaning of this quotation and how it might influence your practice.