Theories of human development

• Human Development


  The study of how and why people change over the course of their lives
• Major Issues in Human Development

  • Periods of Human Development
  • Domains of Human Development
• Research Methods & Research Design

  • Self-reports
  • Interview/Questionnaires
  • Experiments
  • Case Study
  • Physiological Measures
• Self-reports


  • Strengths: Gathering large amounts of data, Confidentiality improves accuracy
  • Limitations: Ability to read/comprehend speech, Issues of honesty and accuracy, Interpretation of questions
• Experiments


  • Strengths: Control of all other variables through random assignment
  • Limitations: Not necessarily representative of real world
• Case Study

  • Strengths: Depth of information
  • Limitations: Lack of generalizability, May not be reliable
• Physiological Measures

  • Strengths: Reliability of measurement
  • Limitations: Expensive, Change in physiology may be hunger, fatigue, or reaction to equipment, not the stimuli
• Theory

  An interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain phenomena and make predictions
• Theories of Human Development

  • Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory
  • Erikson's Psychosocial Theory
  • Freud's Psychosexual Theory
  • Piaget's Cognitive-Developmental Theory
  • Ecological Theory
  • Family Systems Theory
• Freud's Psychosexual Theory

  • Unconscious forces → personality and behavior
  • First to stress the influence of the early parent-child relationship on development
  • How parents manage their child's sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years is crucial for healthy personality development
• ID


  • Unorganized, inborn part of personality that is present at birth
  • Primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression, and irrational impulses
  • Pleasure principle: To maximize the satisfaction and reduce tension
• EGO

  • Rational and reasonable part of personality
  • Buffer between the real world and the primitive id
  • Reality principle
• SUPEREGO

  • A person's conscience, distinction between right and wrong
  • Develops around age 5-6
  • Learned from parents, teachers, and other significant others
• Conscious Mind


  Things we are aware of
• Subconscious Mind


  Things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried
• Unconscious Mind

  • Things we are unaware of and can not become aware of
  • Id is part of the unconscious mind
• Theory


  A set of ideas that explains a phenomenon
• Theories of Human Development

  • Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory
  • Erikson's Psychosocial Theory
  • Freud's Psychosexual Theory
  • Piaget's Cognitive-Developmental Theory
  • Ecological Theory
  • Family Systems Theory
• Oral Stage


  Birth to 12~18 months, infant's pleasure centers around the mouth, chewing, sucking, biting
• Anal Stage


  12~18 months to 3 years, child's pleasure focuses on the anus, exercise of anal muscles reduces tension
• Phallic Stage


  3 to 6 years, child becomes aware of their bodies, child's pleasure focuses on the genitals, Oedipus complex
• Latency Stage


  6 years to Puberty, child represses sexual interest and develops social and intellectual skills
• Genital Stage


  Puberty ~, time of sexual reawakening, becoming sexually intimate with others
• Fixation


  Too much or too little gratification during a particular stage
• Oral fixation


  Stuck at the oral stage, smoking, eating too much
• Anal retentive


  Obsessed with order, parents too demanding
• Anal expulsive


  Messy, disorganized, parents not demanding enough
• Oedipus complex


  How the Phallic stage is resolved, identification with the father
• Defense Mechanisms


  • Repression
  • Denial
  • Projection
  • Displacement
  • Regression
  • Sublimation
• Repression


  Unconscious mechanism to keep disturbing or threatening thoughts from becoming conscious
• Denial


  Blocking external events from awareness
• Projection


  Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings and motives to another person
• Displacement


  Satisfying an impulse (e.g. aggression) with a substitute object
• Regression


  Movement back in psychological time when faced with stress
• Sublimation


  Satisfying an impulse (e.g. aggression) in a socially acceptable way
• Erikson's Psychosocial Theory


  Expanded Freud's theory to include other factors that shape development, especially the influence of social and cultural systems
• Erikson's 8 Stages of Development


  • Basic Trust vs. Mistrust
  • Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
  • Initiative vs. Guilt
  • Industry vs. Inferiority
  • Identity vs. Role Confusion
  • Intimacy vs. Isolation
  • Generativity vs. Stagnation
  • Integrity vs. Despair
• Basic Trust vs. Mistrust


  Developing a sense of basic trust through warm, consistent, and responsive care vs. inconsistent or rejecting care
• Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt


  Achieving a strong sense of autonomy through supportive parenting vs. impatient, critical parenting
• Initiative vs. Guilt


  Attaining a sense of initiative through freedom and opportunity to engage in tasks vs. highly controlling or punitive parenting