1. Themes and Theories of Human Development
What is a developmental theory?     
Scientific theory
Characteristics of a good theory
Parsimony
Falsifiability
Heuristic Value
Questions and controversies in human development
Assumptions about human nature
Original sin
Innate purity
Nature versus nurture
Activity versus passivity
Continuity versus discontinuity
Stages of development
Qualitative/quantitative
Connectedness of development
Theories of human development
Psychoanalytic theory
Components of personality
Psychosexual development
Learning theory
Processes of learning
Social learning theory
Cognitive developmental theory
Ethological theory
Ecological theory
The importance of the natural environment
Environmental layers

2. What is a theory What is a theory in general?
A set of concepts or propositions that describe and explain some aspect of experience.
What is a developmental theory?
A public pronouncement indicating what a scientist believes about his or her area specific area of investigation
What are the characteristics of a good theory?
Parsimony
Concise, yet able to explain a wide range of phenomena
Falsifiability
Capable of making explicit predictions
Heuristic value
Can be applied to unknown situations and cases

3. Question and controversies about human development
Assumptions about human nature
Innate purity versus original sin
Tabula rasa
Nature versus nurture
Activity versus passivity
Continuity of development
Stages of development
Quantitative versus qualitative change
Quantitative – changes in degree
Qualitative – changes in kind
Connectedness of development
Similarity versus differences

4. Continuous versus Discontinuous Development

5. Continuous versus Discontinuous Development

6. Question and controversies about human development
Assumptions about human nature
Innate purity versus original sin
Tabula rasa
Nature versus nurture
Activity versus passivity
Continuity of development
Stages of development
Quantitative versus qualitative change
Quantitative – changes in degree
Qualitative – changes in kind
Connectedness of development
Similarity versus differences

7. Theories of child development Psychoanalytic viewpoint
Basic instincts
Eros – the life instinct
Thanatos – the death instinct
Components of the personality
The Id – legislator of the personality
The Ego – executive of the personality
The Superego – judicial branch of the personality
The theory of psychosexual development
The oral stage (birth – 1 year)
The anal stage (1 – 3 years)
The phallic stage (3 – 6 years)
The Oedipus complex
Latency period (6 – 12 years)
The genital stage (12 years on)
Evaluation of theory

8. Theories of child development Learning theory (Behaviorism)
What is learning?
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Reinforcers
Punishment
Observational learning
Theories of social learning
Evaluation of theory

9. Theories of child development Cognitive developmental theory & Ecological theory
Children as constructivists
Organismic theorist
Ethological theory
Study of the biological bases of behavior
Includes evolution, causation and behavior
Children are born with innate responses to evolution
Prefer naturalistic observations
Notion of a critical period

10. Theories of child development Ecological theory
The importance of the natural environment
Developmental psychology had become “… the science of the strange behavior children in strange situations with strange adults for the briefest possible periods of time.”
The importance of studying children in their natural environments
Environmental influences and behavior settings

11. Ecological theory Environmental Layers