1. Child Development Theories Presentation Jared L.A. Nierman January 22, 2014 EDUC 121: Child & Adolescent Development Andrea Bush

2. Freud: Psychosexual Theory  Emphasizes parents management of child’s sexual and aggressive drives  This management within the first few years of a child’s life are crucial to a healthy development.  Parents need a balance between what to permit, and what needs gratification.  Involves integration of Id, Ego, and Superego  Id: Source of basic biological needs. Ego: Conscious rational part of personality. Superego: Conscience that often tries to conform to acceptable values of society.  The Id is relevant from birth.  The Ego arises in infancy to redirect Id’s impulses in an acceptable manner.  The Superego usually develops within 3-6 years of age through interaction with parents.  Emphasizes parents management of child’s sexual and aggressive drives  This management within the first few years of a child’s life are crucial to a healthy development.  Parents need a balance between what to permit, and what needs gratification.  Involves integration of Id, Ego, and Superego  Id: Source of basic biological needs. Ego: Conscious rational part of personality. Superego: Conscience that often tries to conform to acceptable values of society.  The Id is relevant from birth.  The Ego arises in infancy to redirect Id’s impulses in an acceptable manner.  The Superego usually develops within 3-6 years of age through interaction with parents.

3. Influence/Criticism  Freud is first to stress early child/parent relationship.  Many others built off of, or around his theory (especially id, ego, and superego).  Many believed his theory over emphasized importance of sexual feelings.  These stages of development (right) did not apply to all cultures.  Freud had never studied children directly. Freudian Psychosexual Stages of Development

4. Erikson: Psychosocial Theory:  Influenced from Freud’s psychosexual theory  Emphasizes mediation between demands of Id, and Superego  The ego is a positive contributor to development, it acquires skills which make individual active in a positive way in society.  5 stages similar to Freud’s theory, but Erikson added 3 adult stages  Each stage revolved around a positive and negative continuum resulting in either a positive or negative developmental outcome

5. Influence/Criticism  Made the point that development must be understood culturally  One of the first that realized development is life long  Helped show that seemingly cruel acts in other cultures may actually be essential for survival and boost development  Some think Erikson’s theory is more applicable to males  Others claim his theory shows too much attention to infancy/childhood Erikson’s Stages Of Development

6. Behaviorism  Traditional behaviorism began with John Watson (1878-1958)  The focus is on directly observable events  Studies stimuli and responses  Watson did experiments on infants to see if classical conditioning could be applied to children’s behavior  B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) began the operant conditioning theory  Frequency of a behavior can be increased or decreased  Reinforcement or punishment is used to obtain desirable behavior

7. Influences/Criticism  Have had major impact on practices with children today  Help treat developmental problems such as aggression, language delays and fear  Used to treat “bad habits” in adults as well  Lack of explanations of more complex behavior like language or memory  Since many experiments used animals, many considered them irrelevant in terms of child development  Some studies done by Watson were considered unethical Outline of Operant Conditioning

8. Piaget: Cognitive Developmental Theory  This theory states that children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate/explore their world.  His theory was greatly influenced by his background in biology.  Emphasizes the term adaptation  We physically adapt to fit our environment, but so do our minds  Children’s understanding is much different from adults  Preschoolers contain faulty logic, they try to obtain a balance of ideas between internal structures and information from the outside world  Piaget characterized 4 broad stages, each described with different distinct ways of thinking.  The mind develops as experiences expand

9. Influences/Criticism  Convinced many that children are active learners  Influenced many to study children’s conceptions of themselves, others, human relationships and the physical world (social/environmental)  Influenced many programs that emphasize children’s direct contact with the environment  Believed that he underestimated competencies of infants/preschoolers  Some question his theory that discovery learning plays a bigger role than adult teachings  Some also believe that learning is much more gradual then Piaget portrayed Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

10. References  Berk, L. (2012). Infants, Children, and Adolescents. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.  Cramer, C., Flynn, B., Lafave, A. (1997). Erik Erikson's 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development. cortland.edu. Retrieved from http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/ERIK/welcome.HTMLhttp://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/ERIK/welcome.HTML  Cherry, K., Plotnik, R.(2010, November 8 th ). Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development. theoriesinpyschologgyf10.wikispaces.com. Retrieved from http://theoriesinpsychologyf10.wikispaces.com/Freud's+Stages+of+Psychosexual+Developme nt_Picture_1.png http://theoriesinpsychologyf10.wikispaces.com/Freud's+Stages+of+Psychosexual+Developme nt_Picture_1.png  McCracken, J. (2013, February 8 th ) AP PSYCHOLOGY FEBRUARY 2013. jmccrackenworld.com. Retrieved from http://jmccrackenworld.com/PSYCHFEBSandy.htmlhttp://jmccrackenworld.com/PSYCHFEBSandy.html  Naik, P. (1998, August). Behaviorism as a Theory of Personality: A Critical Look. personalityresearch.org. Retrieved from http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/naik.html