CHILD DEVELOPMENT Psychoanalytic and Cognitive Theories

TODAY  We will come up with our own theories using the scientific method  Freud’s psychosexual theory  Erikson’s psychosocial theory  Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory  Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory

SCIENTIFIC METHOD  A 3 step way to get information that is accurate Conceptualise the problem Collect data Draw conclusions Revise research conclusions and theory  A hypothesis is a specific testable assumption or prediction.  A theory is an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain a phenomena and makes predictions.

LETS USE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD  Is Obama a good president?  Well, he has tried to reform healthcare, he has succeeded in lowering gas prices and unemployment. He is for women’s health.  He must be a good president  In a month I will find some more Information and see if I need to revise my theory.

FREUD’S THEORY  Personality has 3 structures Id Ego Super ego  Freud believed problems were a result of early life experiences.  His theory centers around unconscious thought.

FREUDIAN STAGES  Freud believed we go through 5 stages of psychosexual development. Pleasure and sexual impulses shift throughout.  Oral- mouth (Birth-1.5-years).  Anal- anus (1.5-3-years).  Phallic- genitals (3-6-years)  Latency- represses sexual interest for social and intellectual skills (6-puberty)  Genital- sexual reawakening where sexual pleasure becomes someone out of the family (puberty onward).

ERIKSON’S THEORY  8 stages of development unfold as we go through life.  Each stage consists of a unique developmental task and a crisis to be resolved.  The crisis is not a catastrophe, but a turning point where the person is increasingly vulnerable and also has enhanced potential to grow.

ERIKSON’S FIRST 4 STAGES  TRUST V. MISTRUST (1 st year) Is the world a good place to live?  AUTONOMY V. SHAME AND DOUBT (1-3 years) Am I independent and separate from others?  INITIATIVE V.GUILT (3-5 years preschool) Am I responsible for my behavior, toys, pets, body?  INDUSTRY V. INFERIORITY (6-puberty) Am I knowledgeable?

COGNITIVE THEORIES: PIAGET  Swiss Psychologist ( ).  Observed his own children to develop theories.  Observed children’s mistakes made in classrooms.  Changed thinking about development of mind in childhood.

PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY  Children actively construct their understanding of the world.  Children progress through four stages of cognitive development.  Two processes underlie development: assimilation and accommodation.

ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMMODATION  ASSIMILATION-incorporating new information into existing knowledge.  ACCOMMODATION-adjusting existing knowledge to new information. 

PIAGET’S STAGES  Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 yrs.)  Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs.)  Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 yrs.)  Formal Operational Stage (11 and up)

SENSORIMOTOR STAGE 0-2 YEARS  Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical, motor actions.  At the beginning, newborns are limited to reflexive patterns.  By the end, 2-year-olds are beginning to operate with primitive symbols.

PREOPERATIONAL STAGE 2-7 YEARS  Children begin to represent the world with words, images and drawings.  Increased symbolic thinking going beyond sensory information paired with physical action  Very egocentric in speech and thought  Child still lacks the ability to preform operations

DEFINITION OF OPERATIONS  Internalized mental actions that allow children to do mentally what they previously did physically.

VYGOTSKY’S THEORIES  Russian developmentalist ( )  Shares Piaget’s view that children actively construct their knowledge.  Emphasizes developmental analysis, the role of language, and social relations.  Like Piaget, Vygotsky’s ideas were not introduced in America until the 1960s.

LEV S. VYGOTSKY  Proposed a sociocultural theory that was not published until he died because of controversy. Cognitive development results from social interactions between members of a group.  Language would not exist without society.  We create “tools” within our society that aid in cognitive development

VYGOTSKY’S THEORIES  The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)- Tasks too difficult for children to master alone can be mastered with assistance from adults.  The gap between child’s independent performance and the child’s assisted performance.  Scaffolding-Assistance provided by another.  Learning is a social activity.  Cognitive skills develop through social interaction (opposite Piaget)  Dramatic play is of most interest to Vygotsky

SCAFFOLDING  An example of scaffolding is a mother Helping her child complete a puzzle  The puzzle has to be hard enough to interest the child, but not too hard to deter the child from trying