Chapter 2 Developmental theory is a systematic statement of general principles that provides a coherent framework for understanding how and why people change as they grow older Norm is an average or usual event or experience not meant to be right or wrong Theories raise questions and suggest hypotheses leading to research that gathers data and that data is the facts that may lead to conclusions They provide a framework for organizing and understanding the thousands of observations and daily behaviors that occur in every aspect of development They are not facts The foundation of the psychoanalytic theory is inner drives deep motives and unconscious needs rooted in childhood They are thought to influence every aspect of thinking and behavior Originated from Sigmund Freud believed that children derive erotic pleasure from a certain body part In infancy the body part is the mouth oral stage in early childhood it is the anus anal stage in preschool years it is the penis phallic stage then latency occurs then puberty genital stage and that lasts throughout adulthood Personality has three parts Id is the unconscious drives inborn and animal like mostly sexual and aggressive superego is the moral ideal the conscience learned from parents and society and ego is the conscious self Psychosocial theory Erik Erikson s stages emphasize each person s relationships to family and culture and not sexual urges like Freud Trust v Mistrust Babies either trusts others will care for their needs or develop mistrust about the care of others Autonomy v Shame and Doubt Children either become self independent or doubt their own abilities Initiative v Guilt Children either want to undertake in many activities or internalize the limits set by their parents and feel guilty Industry v Inferiority Children learn to be productive and competent or feel inferior unable to do anything as well as they wish Identity v Role Confusion Adolescents try to figure out who am I or are confused about their roles Intimacy v Isolation Young adults seek love or become isolated from others Generativity v Stagnation Middle aged adults contribute to the next generation or become stagnant Integrity v Despair Older adults try to make sense of their lives seeing life as meaningful or despairing at goals never reached John B Watson argued that psychologists should examine only what they could see and measure which is behavior not irrational thoughts and hidden urges Behaviorism Conditioning the processes by which responses become linked to particular stimuli Classical conditioning is associating a neutral stimulus with a meaningful stimulus Pavlov s dog B F Skinner recognized operant conditioning in which animals and people act and then a also called the learning theory describes how people learn and develop habits consequence occurs if enjoyable the animal will repeat the behavior and if unpleasant the animal might not repeat the behavior Pleasant consequences are called rewards and unpleasant consequences are punishments Consequences that increase the frequency or strength of a particular action are called reinforcers in a process called reinforcement Social learning theory humans sometimes learn without personal reinforcement This may occur through modeling when people copy what they see others do observational learning Self efficacy the belief that personal achievement depends on personal actions assumptions and actions thoughts and expectations profoundly affect attitudes beliefs values Cognitive theory Piaget s stages of development Sensorimotor Infants use senses and motor abilities to understand the world think through mental actions object permanence Preoperational Children think magically using language to understand the world imagination flourishes self expression Concrete Operational Children understand and apply logical operations or principles learn to understand concepts of conservation classification and other scientific ideas Formal Operational Adolescents and adults think about hypothetical concepts reason analytically ethics politics and social and moral issues become fascinating Cognitive equilibrium is a state of mental balance easiest way to achieve this balance is to interpret new experiences through the lens of preexisting ideas Cognitive disequilibrium is an imbalance that creates confusion Two types of cognitive adaptation are assimilation new experiences are reinterpreted to fit into old ideas and accommodation old ideas are restructured to include new experiences Information processing theory a framework characterizing a large number of research programs Explores the processes of thought how minds work before responding It also describes the relationship between one person s thinking and another s Cognition begins with input picked up by the five senses proceeds to brain reactions connections and stored memories and concludes with some form of output Sociocultural theory is that human development results from the dynamic interaction between developing persons and their surrounding society Lev Vygotsky says that each person develops with the guidance of more skilled members of the society who are tutors or mentors in an apprenticeship in thinking Guided participation is the method used by parents teachers and entire societies to teach novices the skills and habits expected within the particular culture Zone of proximal development is the learner s skills knowledge and concepts that is close to being acquired but cannot yet master without help Humanism is a theory founded by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers that believed that all people no matter what their culture gender or background have the same basic needs and drives Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs 1 Physiological needing food water warmth and air 2 Safety feeling protected from injury and death 3 Love and belonging having loving friends family and a community 4 Esteem being respected by the wider community as well as by oneself 5 Self actualization becoming truly oneself fulfilling one s unique potential while appreciating all of humanity Unconditional positive regard means that people should see regard each other with appreciation positive without conditions unconditional Maslow explained that the highest level transcended selfishness and became selflessness when a person is able to appreciate all of humanity Evolutionary theory believes that many human impulses needs and behaviors evolved to help humans survive and thrive over millions of years with