nanopdf.com_modules1to3-clsu-open-university.pdf

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FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
ED OU 703
ROLANDO D. DOLLETE
Open University
Central Luzon State University
Psychological
Anthropological
Sociological
Philosophical
Historical

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Science City of Munoz
Student’s Guide
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
Course Description
The course Foundations of Education or OU 703 aims to give you
adequate understanding of fundamental, psychological, anthropological,
sociological data and principles as they apply to education. This also deals with
the philosophy, history, development of education theory and practice as they
relate to the national goals and ideals of education. This combines the
Foundations I and Foundations II offered in the undergraduate courses.
COURSE OBJECTIVES AND CONTENTS
A. Psychological Foundations
1. Discuss the different principles and theories of growth and
development and their implications to educational practice.
2. Explain the learning process from different theoretical perspectives.
3. Explain the different models of teaching and the roles of the teacher
under each.
B. Sociological Foundations
1. Describe how stratification in society began.
2. Relate the function of the family to nation building.
3. Explain the role of the school, church and other social institutions in
socialization and societal change.
C. Anthropological Foundations
1. Show a comprehensive view of the beginning of the Filipinos as
people.
2. Appreciate one’s cultural heritage and participate actively in
preserving, conserving, and transmitting it to the next generation.
3. Discuss the importance of language in the development and
transmission of culture.
D. Historical Foundations
1. Discuss the historical development of education from ancient to
modern times.
2. Appreciate the aims and contributions of the different periods
3. Discuss the implementation of the different movements as they
influenced the shaping of Philippine education

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E. Philosophical Foundations
1. Familiarize with the different philosophical outlooks that have influenced
educational theory and practice
2. Gain ideas from philosophy that may develop insights that may develop
insights into the solution of educational problems; and
3. Appreciate the aspirations of the Filipinos especially in education.
F. Legal Foundations
1. Discuss the historical influence on Philippine education.
2. Explain the legal bases of Philippine education
3. Trace the organizational set up of the Philippine education.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
In order to pass this course, you have to submit two long papers, four reaction
papers, four web quest/annotations, reflective journal, and participate in the
discussion. Here is the grade distribution of the class requirements:
Final Examination 30%
Two long Papers 20%
Four reaction papers 20%
Web quest/annotated journal 10%
One reflective journal 10%
Attendance/Discussion 10%
Total 100%
The table of equivalent for your scores is as follows:
Scores Grade Equivalent
100-98 1.0
97-93 1.25
92-88 1.5
87-83 1.75
82-78 2.0
77-73 2.25
72-68 2.5
67-63 2.75 ( No Credit )
63-60 3.0 ( No Credit )
59-55 4.0 Conditional ( No Credit )
54 and below 5.0 Fail ( No Credit )

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There are five papers to work on every after the module except is module
6. Write a 2-page reaction on the questions given. It should hear an introduction,
the body and the conclusion.
· Web Quest/Annotation
Aside from your assignments, you are required to do web quest or research for
sources in the Internet and annotate these sources. In doing the web quest, you
have to look for a source in the internet that is related to the lessons you are
supposed to read for your papers and reaction papers. For example, for your first
web quest you are to look for resources in the Internet that are related to Module
1 for your second web quest the resources should pertain to Module 2 and so
on. Your annotation for the web quest should not be less than eight but not more
than ten sentences. You are only required to submit the Internet address and the
annotation and not the entire article.
· Reflective Journal
The reflective journal allows you to record your thoughts and feelings about the
changes or transformations that happened in your thinking and life in general
upon taking up this course. Specifically, you will record here how the course has
affected your way of thinking about issues presently confronting our educational
system and how the course affects your personal growth. I would also like to
read in your journal your opinions about the course and modules (Were the
objectives met? Did you find the lessons interesting?).
Your journal should be 3-5 single-spaced pages long.
· Final Examination
Your final exam will cover all the modules we will be taking up in class. Anticipate
objective and essay questions in your exam, which will be a sit down, close
book/notes type of exam. Remember, you are not going to pass the exam
without reviewing all our lessons. Also, as I have stated earlier, you will not be
allowed to take the exam if you have not submitted at least one of each your
required paper and reaction paper.
Use a bluebook for your exam, you are not allowed to write anything on the
questionnaire.

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Discussion Questions (To be posted on the discussion boards)
Module I Psychological Foundations of Education
1. What is learning? Why it is important to a teacher to have a clear
understanding of the learning process?
2. What are the three distinct types of learning? What does each type of
learning involve?
3. What is learning theory? Why it is important for you as a would-be teacher
to understand the different learning theories?
4. How does each of the different theories of learning view the learning
process? What is, for you, the significance of each theory to teaching?
Reaction Paper # 1
From among the theories of development, what theory do you think best fit the
Filipino learners of today?
Module II Sociological Foundation of Educations
1. What are the major concerns that society has to cope with?
2. What are the determinants of social status? What is social mobility? Social
stratification?
3. Why are groups important? What are their roles in the society?
4. Describe the relationship between the family and the school and the
community. Differentiate divine, social and cultural values.
Reaction Paper # 2
What are the prevailing social problems that you think should be addressed of?
What measures to be done to at least if not totally eradicate help to prevent these
problems.
Module III Anthropological Foundations of Education
1. What makes man different from other forms of animals?
2. What is culture? How culture and society are related?
3. Discuss the importance of language and writing to humans.

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4. What are the Filipinos values? What is valuing?
Reaction Paper # 3
Do you think there is a need to re-examine the Filipino values? Why or why not?
Module IV Historical Foundations of Education
1. Trace the historical foundations of Philippine Educational System. What
are the aims, types and content of each era?
2. What are the movements in education? What were the contributions of the
different religious orders and what educational practices today that were
gleaned from these.
Reaction Paper # 4
Do you believe that government should control education?
Module V Philosophical Foundations of Education
1. What is philosophy? Discuss the educational implications of the
different philosophical theories.
2. What are the contributions of the different philosophies to the shaping
of Philippine education?
Reaction Paper # 5
Given the different philosophies of education, what do you think has the greatest
impact on Philippine Education?
Module VI Legal Bases of Education
1. Discuss the different educational theories, aims, curriculum and the
content.
2. Why is education a function of the state?
3. Explain the acts constitute the legal bases of education in the Philippines.
What are the legal rights of the students?

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YOUR FACULTY TUTOR
Hi! I am your faculty tutor, ROLANDO D. DOLLETE. I have been in
teaching for almost thirteen years. I am an Associate Professor here at Central
Luzon State University and presently the Dean of the College of Education. I am
a true blue Education graduate from BS to doctoral degree. I also took Master of
Professional Studies in Development Communication in UPOU. I am also the
Chairperson of the Department of Education and Related Studies in the CLSU
Open University. I am teaching Education courses both in the undergraduate and
graduate levels. My contact points are: +639163044402, +63444565476,
+63444565195. You can YM me at rollydoll@yahoo.com.
Happy learning.

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INTRODUCTION
Education is the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes. It is not only a
preparation for life but it is life itself. This is so because throughout man’s life, he
learns many things, may it be formally or informally. The components in the
educative process are the learner, the teaching-learning process, the teacher
and the policy maker. The most important of these is the learner who occupies
the center stage in the educational system.
Foundation is a base upon which any structure or system stands. A strong
foundation makes the structure or a system firmly established and strong enough
to be able to serve its purpose.
This course Foundations of Education covers the six foundations of education:
psychological, sociological, anthropological, historical, philosophical and legal
bases. This tackles the Foundations 1 and 11 offered in the undergraduate
courses separately.
Psychology is the study of human behavior, of how person acts and reacts under
different situations, consciously or unconsciously, mentally, physiologically,
physically, overtly, or covertly. It is the study of man’s reactions to life’s
simulation.
Sociology deals with study of human beings living in groups, of how people act
and interact under different social situations, and how they relate themselves to
one social situation, and how they relate themselves to one another. Terms that
indicate group actions are used here such as cooperate, team work, sociable,
conflict, etc.
Anthropology is the study of civilizations and cultures of people: their origins,
customs, traditions, beliefs, mores, folkways, and practices. This also includes
languages, forms of writings, tools and weapons, buildings and other physical
structures.
History is the study of past events that makes us understand the present
situation, and to enable us to predict future events.
Philosophy is a systematized truth or principles that serve as guide for conduct or
thinking. Philosophy is a fixed idea or principle arrived at after a very rigid
scrutiny or study of the state of things, situations, or events.
Legality refers to the conformity to the laws passed by the State to establish and
guide the conduct of an educational system. The Constitution is the most

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important legal document that establishes and guides in understanding the
educational system of any country. It contains the philosophy of education of any
country.

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Module 1
The Psychological Foundations of Education
It is said that education depends on psychology because the kind and amount of
education that the learner acquires is conditioned by the psychological traits such
as general mental abilities, aptitudes, temperaments, interests, effort making
capacity, physical condition etc, hence the principles of education are basically
based on psychology.
The Learner
Teaching and learning are psychological processes. The teacher is in a
better position to select and use methods and techniques that will promote
effective learning. There are three components of the educative process which
have been the concern of both psychologists and teachers. These are the
learner, the learning process, and the learning situation. This module discusses
the principles of growth and development, the learners stages of development
and the different theories of development.
Understanding Growth and Development
The terms growth and development have been continually used in most
readings in psychology. many times, these terms are used interchangeably;
although in certain respects both terms, though parallel, imply different
definitions.
Growth essentially refers to quantitative changes in an individual as he
progresses in chronological age. It may refer to increases in size, height, or
weight.

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Development, on the other hand, refers to the progressive series of change of
an orderly and coherent type leading to the individual’s maturation. This definition
implies that for development to be progressive, there is a direction in the manner
in which changes occur. Development is also coherent, essentially because the
sequence of changes that occur are related to each other and do not occur
haphazardly or abruptly.
From these definitions, one can see that although both growth and
development imply contrasting types of changes in the individual, both are,
nonetheless, related and complementary processes.
The Importance of Studying the Stages of Development
In many instances, people meet children of varying ages and wonder why
each of them displays different characteristics. The focus of the study of
development precisely points to these observations. A teacher, who expects to
meet the needs of his /her learners, must be aware of the various developmental
differences among his/her learners.
The knowledge of the pattern of human development will certainly help a
teacher to know what to expect of children, and at what approximate ages certain
patterns of behavior may appear or are expected to appear. Planning for
instruction should also be based on certain developmental principles, which to a
great extent, determine what types of learning and amount of learning are
appropriate for different age groups. In other cases, knowledge of developmental
patterns will allow teachers to identify learners with developmental lags or delays

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so as to provide guidance and intervention as early as possible. Thus, teachers
must learn to recognize the significance of this knowledge to their teaching
success, as well as to the learning process.
Factors in Growth and Development
Two general factors influence human development; namely, 1) maturation
or natural growth resulting from heredity; and 2) environmental influences in and
through which the growing takes place. These two factors are so thoroughly
interrelated that it is impossible to isolate their specific influences.
Every individual is born with definite potentialities of development passed
on to him by his parents through heredity. These heredity potentialities for many
kinds of behavior patterns continue to develop for months or even years. This
process by which heredity exerts its influence long after birth is called maturation.
Studies have shown that a number of physiological structures are essentially
mature and ready to function at birth or even earlier. Others, however, such as
certain nervous, muscular and glandular structures are not ready to function until
after months or even years later. Certain types of behavior which are made
possible by these structures cannot be developed unless these structures are
sufficiently mature. No amount of instruction and practice, for example can make
a six-month old child walk or talk because the nueral and muscular structures
involved are not yet ready for such activities.
Although an individual inherits trait potentialities from his parents, the direction
that these characteristics follow during the process of growth and development

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depends upon the individual’s environment. Behavior traits develop only after
interaction with environmental influences.
Modes of behavior at a given time in the life of an individual are not
determined by heredity or environment working alone. Instead, they are the
product of the interaction between his inherited tendencies and potentialities and
those environmental influences by which he is stimulated. For example, while the
ability to vocalize and the capacity for learning to make intelligible sounds are
inherited, the language a child speaks is the result of the language he is exposed
to during the growth process. A child is not born with skills, emotional controls, or
attitudes. It is only when his inherited adaptable nervous muscular systems are
given the proper stimulation at a time when they are maturationally ready that
such traits are learned and developed. It is at this point where education plays an
important role in the development of an individual.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
From numerous studies conducted on growth and development, developmental
psychologists have established some basic principles of developmental change
that occur over the life cycle.
These basic principles are outlined below and explained in succeeding
paragraphs.
1. Development follows an orderly sequence which is predictable.
2. The rate of development is unique to each individual.
3. Development involves change.
4. Early development is more critical than later development.
5. Development is the product of maturation and learning.
6. There are individual differences in development.
7. There are social expectations for every developmental period which are
often referred to as developmental tasks.

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1. Development follows an orderly sequence which is predictable.
The first basic principle relates to the orderly sequence of developmental change.
The developmental process, guided by the interaction of maturation and learning,
follows a predictable pattern. It is a continuous process that proceeds according
to a definite direction and uniform pattern throughout the life cycle.
Although physical growth attain its maturational level and stops as a
process, developmental change continues as long as life continues. As individual
continuously adapts to changing physical and mental abilities age increases.
Such developmental changes which occur throughout the life cycle follow a
sequential pattern which is predictable. The stages which an individual goes
through from birth to death are always of the same order from infancy to old age.
They have never occurred in reverse.
This predictable sequence is also observable in the phylogenetic skills –
those skills which are universally of the human race. Thus, regardless of the
culture, all babies proceed from supported sitting to unsupported sitting to
creeping, crawling and, finally walking. Similarly, babies produce unrecognizable
sounds to babbling before producing understandable speech.
The two predictable directions during the pre-natal and infancy periods
illustrate the uniform pattern of physical development. These directions are
cephalocaudal and proximodistal. In the cephalocaudal trend, development
proceeds in the head-to-foot direction in the body. Changes in motor
performance and function, for instance, take place first in the head region and

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last in the foot region. In the proximodistal trend, parts of the body nearest to the
center are the earliest to develop. Infants, for instance, are able to use to their
arms before they acquire hand skills while their finger skills follow the
development of hand skills.
2. The rate of development is unique to each individual
The second basic principle relates to the rate of development changes as
unique to each individual. Although developmental changes follow a predictable
pattern, the rate at which changes may occur may be different from one
individual to another. Such differences in rate of change are determined by the
interaction of heredity and environmental factors. As an example, some children
will change faster than others in almost all areas of development while some will
be much slower than others. Or, some children will have faster rates of
development in the physical and social aspects while at the same time be slower
in the mental aspect of development.
This second principle stresses the fact that it is futile to try accelerate an
individual’s development if he is not ready to develop or experience a change.
This means; for instance, that any new ability will emerge only if the essential
physical or mental foundations are already existing. Training can produce results
only if the individual has reached the level of maturation necessary for an activity.
Such readiness for an activity is determined by his rate of development.

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3. Development involves change.
This principle implies that the human being is always evolving based on
theories by developmental psychologists. As stated earlier, children undergo
physical, emotional, and mental changes.
4. Early development is more critical than later development.
The studies of Freud, Erikson, and Piaget on early patterns of behavior led
to the conclusion that early development is very important. It is at this stage of
development where individuals develop the foundations for social relatedness,
emotional well-being, and personal adjustments. It has been widely accepted that
the first two years of life, often called the “formative years”, greatly dictate the
course of an individual’s growth and development. This principle is also the
rationale behind early childhood education.
5. Development is the product of maturation and learning.
As discussed previously, development is an outcome of both maturation
and environmental influences. Although people are genetically endowed with
certain characteristics, learning allows individuals to develop these innate
potentialities. Through exercise and effort, people can act on their environments
and develop their competencies. In most cases, individuals learn through
imitation and observation of other role models.

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6. There are individual differences in development.
Although children follow a predictable pattern of development, a step-by-
step progression, all children do not reach these developmental stages all at the
same time or all at the same age. These differences in development are often
ascribed to both genetic and environmental influences, where each individual is
either born or exposed to varying factors.
For instance, physical development depends largely on inherited
characteristics, such that children will grow in height differently form each other.
Similarly, intellectual growth is contingent upon one’s educational exposure or
family environment.
7. There are social expectations for every developmental period which are often
referred to as developmental tasks.
This principle clearly states that at any point in the individual’s
development, each one is expected to fulfill certain social expectations. As will be
seen in a later discussion, these social expectations vary from one stage to the
next.
THE LEARNER’S STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
There are eight stages of development usually ascribed to the life span of
human beings. These stages which are based on chronological age are listed
below. Corresponding to each stage are characteristics often achieved by
individuals within each specified age group.

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Since school learners who are the main concern of teachers in the
elementary and secondary schools are in stage 2,3,4, and 5, the discussion in
this section will only focus on the significant changes during these stages.
Mention will also be made of the social expectations for each stage.
These social expectations which Robert Havighurst, a well-known
developmental psychologist, labeled as “developmental tasks”, are skills and
patterns of behavior every cultural group expects its member to master or
acquire at various ages during the life span. These tasks are physical, cultural,
and psychological in nature.
Infancy and Early Childhood
The period which covers from birth to six years is generally referred to as
the pre-school years. It is characterized as the time when neuromuscular
functions basic to development of motor skills are developed. It is the time when
a child is extremely dependent upon adults and seeks their affection and care.
Inquisitiveness is characteristic of this stage. After his spoken language skills are
developed, he begins to ask endless questions about everything. His tendency to
imitate the actions of his elders is reflected in his play activities.
The developmental tasks during these early years are based mostly on
the successive maturation of various parts of the body and on the family
environment. Success or failure in the performance of these tasks will affect
considerably the performance of other tasks in the succeeding periods of
development.

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The principal tasks of infancy and early childhood are: (1) learning to walk;
(2) learning to take solid foods; (3) learning to talk; (4) learning to control the
elimination of body waste; (5) learning sex differences and sexual modesty: (6)
achieving physiological stability; (7) learning to relate emotionally to parents,
siblings, and other people; and (8) learning to distinguish between right and
wrong and developing a conscience (Hurlock, 1982:10)
Although individuals differ in the rate at which they learn tasks, children
are expected to learn these tasks fairly well by the time they begin formal
schooling. After the basic motor skills have been fairly well developed, the
degree of success with which they accomplish these early tasks will depend to a
large extent on experiences they have with such tasks. It is at this point where
nursery and kindergarten education can be very valuable in helping the child
succeed fail in these tasks.

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Developmental Stage Characteristics
1. Pre-Natal
(Conception to Birth)
Age when heredity endowments and
sex are fixed and all body features,
both external and internal, are
developed.
2. Infancy
(Birth to 2 years)
Foundation age when basic behavior
patterns are organized and many
ontogenic maturational skills emerge.
3. Early Childhood
(2 to 6 years)
Pre-gang exploratory, and questioning,
when language and elementary
reasoning are acquired and initial
socialization is experienced.
4. Late Childhood
( 6 to 12 years)
Gang and creativity age when self help
skills, social skills, school skills, and
play skills are developed.
5. Adolescence
(puberty to 18 years)
Transition age from childhood to
adulthood when sex maturation and
rapid physical development occur
resulting to changes in ways of feeling,
thinking and acting.
6. Early Adulthood
(18 to 40 years)
Age of adjustment to new patterns of
life and new roles such as spouse,
parent, and bread winner.
7. Middle Age
(40 years to retirement)
Transition age when adjustments to
initial physical and mental decline are
experienced.
8. Old Age
(Retirement to Death)
Retirement age when increasingly
rapid physical and mental decline are
experienced.

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Late Childhood
This period covers from 6 to 12 years which are the elementary school years. It is
a period when a child begins to develop a feeling of independence. His attitude
towards adults is different from those of his early years. At this stage, association
with one’s age-mates becomes uppermost in a child’s life. It is a period of strong
individual friendships and group relations. As adolescence approaches, a change
of attitude between the sexes occurs.
During this period, the child attains good physical development an motor
control. He can learn to do a great many things and to develop the fundamental
skills needed in later life.
The principal developmental tasks of late childhood are: (1) learning
physical skills necessary for ordinary games; (2) building wholesome attitudes
toward oneself as a growing organism; (3) learning to get along with age-mates;
(4) learning an appropriate sex role; (5) developing fundamental skills in reading,
writing, and calculating concepts necessary for everyday living; and (7)
developing attitudes toward social groups and institutions (Hurlock, 1982:10).
Since the late childhood period covers the elementary school years,
guiding and helping a child to achieve mastery of these tasks becomes a major
concern of the school. Although the family and community environment continue
to provide experiences to the child in learning these tasks, the school gradually
assumes a large share in this responsibility during this period.

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Adolescence
This period covers from 12 to 18 years. These are generally the high
school years. These years are often referred to as the transition years. It is a
transition from childhood dependence upon others to assumption of adult
activities and responsibilities. This transition is not and cannot be sudden. Adult
status can be achieved-only through carefully guided preparation for adult
responsibilities.
The adolescent stage is characterized by significant physiological changes
that bring about changes in the adolescent’s ways of feeling, thinking and acting.
Physically, he goes through a spur of growth and development of certain parts of
the body which becomes a concern for him at the early stages. During this period
he achieves mental maturity within his potential limits. He may be intellectually
curious and may be interested in learning many things. However, his learning
interests may not be in accord with his learning potentialities.
Emotionally and socially, the adolescent wants independence; yet he has
a strong desire for security. He wants to feel secure in the affection and regard of
persons of his own age and of adults. This is a period of strong personal
attachment which starts with sudden infatuation and goes to controlled
attachment to members of the opposite sex.
The developmental tasks for this period are: (1) accepting one’s physique
and accepting a masculine or feminine role; (2) forming new relations with age-
mates of both sexes; (3) developing emotional independence from parents and

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other adults; (4) achieving assurance of economic independence; (5) selecting
and preparing for an occupation; (6) developing intellectual skills and concepts
necessary for civic competence; (7) desiring and achieving socially responsible
behavior; (8) preparing for marriage and family life; and (9) building conscious
values in harmony with an adequate scientific world picture (Hurlock, 1982:10)
Teaching adolescents is not easy. An adolescent spends less and less
time at home. And more and more outside the home. In most cases he spends
his time in school and in school-related activities. Although to the adolescent
school may seem to be a burden, he finds it a source of friendship and a place
for sharing social activities. In view of this, the school has significant role in
guiding the adolescent learner in achieving mastery of the developmental tasks.
If the adolescent achieves success in these tasks through the school, in
cooperation with the home and the community, then he will proceed through this
period to adulthood with relatively little difficulty.
Early Adulthood
This period covers from 18 to 35 years. By this time, definite habits of
behavior control have become more of less fixed. An adult has developed certain
attitudes and opinions towards people and things that are more or less
satisfactory to him. This period is often one of marriage, raising a family, initial
full-time employment in a career, and forming new associations. Such
characteristic developments in early adulthood are rooted in the psychological
needs of an individual for love, companionship, security, and achievement.

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The developmental tasks during the early adulthood period are those
which are considered necessary for happy and successful participation as an
adult member of society. These tasks are: (1) selecting a mate; (2) learning to
live with a marriage partner; (3) starting a family; (4) rearing children; (5)
managing a home; (6)getting started in an occupation; (7) taking on civic
responsibility; and (8) finding a congenial social group. (Hurlock, 1982;10).
A number of adults go back to school because they feel certain
inadequacies in their previous education to achieve these developmental tasks.
As a result, there has been an increasing interest in college education. An adult
who goes to school usually does so because he wants to. He has a definite
educational aim in view and he wants to achieve this aim as quickly and as
completely as possible. Hence, he expects the content of learning materials and
teaching techniques to be clear, definite, and suited to his needs. Schools
involved in the education of the adult will have to provide such education that will
satisfy his needs.
THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
In the study of human development and behavior, developmental
psychologists have come up with a variety of theories. These theories which
have served as tools in teaching their ideas and concepts have helped them in
understanding the organization and course of human development.
To gain further insight into the behavioral changes at various stages of
development, four theories of development which have influenced contemporary

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concepts about the nature of individual development are presented in this
section. These are Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theory, Erik Erikson’s
psychosocial development theory, Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
and Laurence Kohlberg’s Theory of moral development.
Summary of Categories for Developmental Tasks
STAGES OF
DEVELOPMENT
INFANCY TO
EARLY
CHILDHOOD
LATE CHILDHOOD ADOLESCENCE EARLY
ADULTHOOD
Physical skills
Learning to walk
Learning to talk
Learning to take solid
foods
Learning to control
Elimination of body
wastes
Learning Physical
skills necessary for
games
Accepting changes in
one’s physique and
using the body
effectively.
Maintaining physical
health and well-
being.
Intellectual Skills
Getting ready to read Developing
fundamental skills in
reading, writing, and
calculating.
Developing concepts
necessary for daily
living
Preparing for an
economic career with
knowledge gained
from academic
exposure
Getting started in an
occupation
Social Skills
Learning sex
differences and
sexual modesty
Learning to get along
with age-mates
Beginning to develop
appropriate
masculine or
feminine social roles
developing attitudes
toward social groups
and institutions
Achieving new and
mature social
relations with
agemates of both
sexes achieving a
masculine or
feminine social role
desiring, accepting,
and achieving
socially responsible
behavior
Learning to live with a
marriage partner or
independently
selecting a mate
taking an civic
responsibility finding
a congenial social
group
Emotional Skills
Learning to
distinguish right and
wrong and beginning
to develop a
conscience
Building a
wholesome attitude
toward oneself as a
growing individual
developing a
conscience, a sense
of morality, and a
scale of various
achieving personal
independence.
Achieving emotional
independence from
parents and other
adults preparing for
marriage and family
life acquiring a set of
values and an ethical
system as a guide to
behavior depending
on ideology.
Starting a family
rearing children
managing a home
Freud’s Theory of Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Austrian physician and founder of
psychoanalysis. He was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Freiberg,
Moravia (now Pribor in the Czech Republic) on May 6, 1856.

26
Freud believed that people are born with biological drives that must be
redirected so as to live in society. He proposed that personality is formed in
childhood, as children deals with unconscious conflicts between these inborn
urges and the requirements of civilized life. This conflict occur in an unvarying
sequence of five maturationally based stages of psychosexual development, in
which sexual or sensual pleasure shifts from one body zone to another- from the
mouth to the anus and then to the genitals. At each stage, the behavior that is
the chief source of gratification (or frustration) changes- from feeding to
elimination and eventually to sexual activity.
Freud considered the first three stages - those of the first few years of life-
crucial. He suggested that if children receive too little or too much gratification in
any of these stages, they at the risk of fixation – an arrest in development that
can show up in adult personality. For example, babies whose needs are not met
during the oral stage, when feeing is the main source of sensual pleasure, may
grow up to become nail bitters or smokers or to develop “bitingly” critical
personalities. A person who, as a toddler, had too-strict toilet training may be
fixated at the anal stage, when the chief source of pleasure was moving the
bowels. Such a person may have a “constipated” personality: obsessively clean
and neat or rigidly tied to schedules or routines. The person may be defiantly
messy.
According to Freud, a key event in psychosexual development occurs in
the phallic stage of early childhood. Boys develop sexual attachment to their
mothers and girls to their fathers, and they have aggressive urges toward the
same-sex parent, whom they regard as a rival. Children eventually resolve their
anxiety over these feelings by identifying with the same sex-parent and move into
the latency stage of middle childhood, a period of sexual calm. They become
socialized, develop skills, and learn about themselves and society. The genital
stage, the final one, lasts through adulthood. The sexual urges repressed during
latency now resurface to flow in socially approved channels, which Freud defined
as heterosexual relations with persons outside the family of origin.

27
PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Oral Stage (birth to 12-18 months) to other accounts (0 to 2 years)
Baby’s chief source of pleasure involves mouth-oriented activities
(sucking and feeding).
Anal Stage (12-18 months to 3 years) to other accounts (2-4
years)
Child derives sensual gratification from withholding and expelling
feces. Zone of gratification is anal region, and toilet training is important
activity.
Phallic Stage (3-6 years) to other accounts (4-6 years)
Child becomes attached to parent of the other sex (boys-Oedipus
Complex; girls- Electra Complex;) and later identifies with same-sex
parent. Superego develops. Zone of gratification shifts to genital region.
Latency Stage (6 years to puberty) to other accounts (6-12 years)
Time of relative calm between more turbulent stages.
Genital Stage (puberty through adulthood) to some accounts
(12 years and up)
Reemergence of sexual impulses of phallic stage, channeled into mature
adult sexuality.
Freud proposed three hypothetical parts of the personality: the id the ego,
and the superego. Newborns are governed by the id, which operates under the
pleasure principle – the drive to seek immediate satisfaction of its needs and

28
desires. When gratification is delayed, as it is when infants have to wait to be
fed, they begin to see themselves as separate from the outside world. The ego,
which represents the reason, develops gradually during the first year or so of life
and operates under the reality principle. The ego’s aim is to find realistic way to
gratify the id. The superego develops during early childhood. It includes the
conscience and incorporates socially approved “shoulds” and “should nots” into
the child’s own value system. If its standards are not met, a child may feel guilty
and anxious. The ego acts as a mediator between the impulses of the id and the
demands of the superego.
Freud himself was impresses by the instinctual aspect of man’s
development and particularly with his sexual drives. His theory of personality
development consequently was organized around vicissitudes in the
development of sexual instinct. While this view has proved too restrictive to
many scientists for its lack of emphasis on the socio-cultural determinants of
behavior and development, Freud did call attention to the fact that psychological
development begins at birth passes through predictable stages, and is molded
for good or ill by the emotional climate surrounding significant development
milestones. The child’s success in coping with the various developmental
milestones largely dictates how adequate he will be in meeting life stresses as an
adult.
Critique / Reaction:
This dynamic approach places special emphases on the continuity of
personal development, beginning with early infancy, and on emotional reactions
to the multitude of forces and challenges which all persons must encounter.
Freud’s original formulations are still highly useful but have been modified
considerably by subsequent theoreticians such as Sullivan, Adler, Jung, Horney,
Erikson, and others.

29
Erickson’s Psychosocial Theory Of Development
"Human personality in principle develops according to steps predetermined in the
growing person's readiness to be driven toward, to be aware of and to interact
with a widening social radius"
Erik H. Erikson (1902-1994), American psychoanalyst who made major
contributions to the field of psychology with his work on child development and
on the identity crisis.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Erikson was an artist and teacher in the late
1920s when he met the Austrian psychoanalyst Anna Freud. With her
encouragement he began studying at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute, where
he specialized in child psychoanalysis. In 1933 he emigrated to the United
States, where he became interested in the influence of culture and society on
child development.
After emigrating to the U. S. in 1933, Erikson taught at Harvard (1933–36;
1960–70) and engaged in a variety of clinical work, widening the scope of
psychoanalytic theory to take greater account of social, cultural, and other
environmental factors. In his most influential work, Childhood and Society (1950),
he divided the human life cycle into eight psychosocial stages of development.
His psychohistorical studies, Young Man Luther (1958) and Gandhi's Truth
(1969; Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award), explore the convergence of personal
development and social history. His later works dealt with ethical concerns in the
modern world.
Babies are born with some basic capabilities and distinct temperaments.
But they go through dramatic changes on the way to adulthood, and while
growing old. According to psychologist Erik H. Erikson, each individual passes
through eight developmental stages (Erikson calls them "psychosocial stages").
Each stage is characterized by a different psychological "crisis", which must be
resolved by the individual before the individual can move on to the next stage. If
the person copes with a particular crisis in a maladaptive manner, the outcome
will be more struggles with that issue later in life. To Erikson, the sequence of the
stages are set by nature. It is within the set limits that nurture works its ways.

30
Erikson's Eight Stages of Human Development
Stage 1: Infancy -- Age 0 to 1 to other accounts birth to 12-18 months
Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust
Virtue: Hope
Description: In the first year of life, infants depend on others for food, warmth,
and affection, and therefore must be able to blindly trust the parents (or
caregivers) for providing those.
Positive outcome: If their needs are met consistently and responsively by the
parents, infants not only will develop a secure attachment with the
parents, but will learn to trust their environment in general as well.
Negative outcome: If not, infant will develop mistrust towards people and things
in their environment, even towards themselves.
Stage 2: Toddler -- Age 1 to 2 to other accounts 12-18 months to 3 years
Crisis: Autonomy (Independence) vs. Doubt (or Shame)
Virtue: Will
Description: Toddlers learn to walk, talk, use toilets, and do things for
themselves. Their self-control and self-confidence begin to develop at this
stage.
Positive outcome: If parents encourage their child's use of initiative and reassure
her when she makes mistakes, the child will develop the confidence
needed to cope with future situations that require choice, control, and
independence.
Negative outcome: If parents are overprotective, or disapproving of the child's
acts of independence, she may begin to feel ashamed of her behavior, or
have too much doubt of her abilities.
Stage 3: Early Childhood -- Age 2 to 6 to other accounts 3 to 6 years
Crisis: Initiative vs. Guilt
Virtue: Purpose

31
Description: Children have newfound power at this stage as they have developed
motor skills and become more and more engaged in social interaction with
people around them. They now must learn to achieve a balance between
eagerness for more adventure and more responsibility, and learning to
control impulses and childish fantasies.
Positive outcome: If parents are encouraging, but consistent in discipline,
children will learn to accept without guilt, that certain things are not
allowed, but at the same time will not feel shame when using their
imagination and engaging in make-believe role plays.
Negative outcome: If not, children may develop a sense of guilt and may come to
believe that it is wrong to be independent.
Stage 4: Elementary and Middle School Years -- Age 6 to 12 to other
accounts 6 years to puberty
Crisis: Competence (aka. "Industry") vs. Inferiority
Virtue: Skill
Description: School is the important event at this stage. Children learn to make
things, use tools, and acquire the skills to be a worker and a potential
provider. And they do all these while making the transition from the world
of home into the world of peers.
Positive outcome: If children can discover pleasure in intellectual stimulation,
being productive, seeking success, they will develop a sense of
competence.
Negative outcome: If not, they will develop a sense of inferiority.
Stage 5: Adolescence -- Age 12 to 18 to other accounts puberty to young
adulthood
Crisis: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Virtue: Fidelity
Description: This is the time when we ask the question "Who am I?" To
successfully answer this question, Erikson suggests, the adolescent must

32
integrate the healthy resolution of all earlier conflicts. Did we develop the
basic sense of trust? Do we have a strong sense of independence,
competence, and feel in control of our lives? Adolescents who have
successfully dealt with earlier conflicts are ready for the "Identity Crisis",
which is considered by Erikson as the single most significant conflict a
person must face.
Positive outcome: If the adolescent solves this conflict successfully, he will come
out of this stage with a strong identity, and ready to plan for the future.
Negative outcome: If not, the adolescent will sink into confusion, unable to make
decisions and choices, especially about vocation, sexual orientation, and
his role in life in general.
Stage 6: Young Adulthood -- Age 19 to 40
Crisis: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Virtue: Love
Description: In this stage, the most important events are love relationships. No
matter how successful you are with your work, said Erikson, you are not
developmentally complete until you are capable of intimacy. An individual
who has not developed a sense of identity usually will fear a committed
relationship and may retreat into isolation.
Positive outcome: Adult individuals can form close relationships and share with
others if they have achieved a sense of identity.
Negative outcome: If not, they will fear commitment, feel isolated and unable to
depend on anybody in the world.
Stage 7: Middle Adulthood -- Age 40 to 65
Crisis: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Virtue: Care
Description: By "generativity" Erikson refers to the adult's ability to look outside
oneself and care for others, through parenting, for instance. Erikson

33
suggested that adults need children as much as children need adults, and
that this stage reflects the need to create a living legacy.
Positive outcome: People can solve this crisis by having and nurturing children,
or helping the next generation in other ways.
Negative outcome: If this crisis is not successfully resolved, the person will
remain self-centered and experience stagnation later in life.
Stage 8: Late Adulthood -- Age 65 to death
Crisis: Integrity vs. Despair
Virtue: Wisdom
Description: Old age is a time for reflecting upon one's own life and its role in the
big scheme of things, and seeing it filled with pleasure and satisfaction or
disappointments and failures.
Positive outcome: If the adult has achieved a sense of fulfillment about life and a
sense of unity within himself and with others, he will accept death with a
sense of integrity. Just as the healthy child will not fear life, said Erikson,
the healthy adult will not fear death.
Negative outcome: If not, the individual will despair and fear death.
Erikson modified and extended Freudian theory by emphasizing the
influence of society on the developing personality. He was a pioneer in a life-
span perspective. Whereas Freud maintained that early childhood experiences
permanently shape personality, Erikson contended that ego development is
lifelong.
In Erikson’s theory, eight stages of development unfold as we go through
the life span. Each stage consists of a “crisis” in personality – a major
psychosocial theme that is particularly important at that time and will remain an
issue to some degree throughout the rest of life. These issues, which emerge

34
according to a maturational timetable, must be satisfactorily resolved for healthy
ego development.
Each stage requires the balancing of a positive tendency and a
corresponding negative one. Although the positive quality should predominate,
some degree of the negative is needed as well. The critical theme of infancy, for
example, is trust versus mistrust. People need to trust the world and the people
in it, but they also need to learn some mistrust to protect themselves from
danger. The successful outcome of each stage is the development of a
particular “virtue”, or strength- in this case, the “virtue” of hope.
Erikson’s theory has held up better than Freud’s, especially in its
emphasis on the importance of social and cultural influences and on
development beyond adolescence. However, some of Erikson’s concepts (like
Freud’s) do not lend themselves to rigorous testing.

35
PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Jean Piaget was born in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) on August 9, 1896. He died in
Geneva on September 16, 1980. He was the oldest child of Arthur Piaget,
professor of medieval literature at the University, and of Rebecca Jackson. At
age 11, while he was a pupil at Neuchâtel Latin high school, he wrote a short
notice on an albino sparrow. This short paper is generally considered as the start
of a brilliant scientific career made of over sixty books and several hundred
articles.
His interest for mollusks was developed during his late adolescence to the
point that he became a well-known malacologist by finishing school. He
published many papers in the field that remained of interest for him all along his
life.
After high school graduation, he studied natural sciences at the University
of Neuchâtel where he obtained a Ph.D. During this period, he published two
philosophical essays which he considered as "adolescence work" but were
important for the general orientation of his thinking.
After a semester spent at the University of Zürich where he developed an
interest for psychoanalysis, he left Switzerland for France. He spent one year
working at the Ecole de la rue de la Grange-aux-Belles a boys' institution created
by Alfred Binet and then directed by De Simon who had developed with Binet a
test for the measurement of intelligence. There, he standardized Burt's test of
intelligence and did his first experimental studies of the growing mind.
In 1921, he became director of studies at the J.-J. Rousseau Institute in
Geneva at the request of Sir Ed. Claparède and P. Bovet.
In 1923, he and Valentine Châtenay were married. The couple had three
children, Jacqueline, Lucienne and Laurent whose intellectual development from
infancy to language was studied by Piaget.

36
Successively or simultaneously, Piaget occupied several chairs:
psychology, sociology and history of science at Neuchâtel from 1925 to 1929;
history of scientific thinking at Geneva from 1929 to 1939; the International
Bureau of Education from 1929 to 1967; psychology and sociology at Lausanne
from 1938 to 1951; sociology at Geneva from 1939 to 1952, then genetic and
experimental psychology from 1940 to 1971. He was, reportedly, the only Swiss
to be invited at the Sorbonne from 1952 to 1963. In 1955, he created and
directed until his death the International Center for Genetic Epistemology.
His researches in developmental psychology and genetic epistemology
had one unique goal: how does knowledge grow? His answer is that the growth
of knowledge is a progressive construction of logically embedded structures
superseding one another by a process of inclusion of lower less powerful logical
means into higher and more powerful ones up to adulthood. Therefore, children's
logic and modes of thinking are initially entirely different from those of adults.
Piaget's oeuvre is known all over the world and is still an inspiration in
fields like psychology, sociology, education, epistemology, economics and law as
witnessed in the annual catalogues of the Jean Piaget Archives. He was
awarded numerous prizes and honorary degrees all over the world.

37
How we as human beings develop cognitively has been thoroughly
researched. Theorists have suggested that children are incapable of
understanding the world until they reach a particular stage of cognitive
development. Cognitive development is the process whereby a child’s
understanding of the world changes as a function of age and experience.
Theories of cognitive development seek to explain the quantitative and qualitative
intellectual abilities that occur during development.
Piaget believed that cognitive development begins with an inborn ability to
adapt to the environment. By rooting for a nipple, feeling a pebble, or exploring
the boundaries of a room, young children develop a more accurate picture of
their surroundings and greater competence in dealing with them.
Piaget described cognitive development as occurring in four different
stages which differ not only in the quantity of information acquired at each, but
also in the quality of knowledge and understanding at that stage. Piaget
suggested that movement from one stage to the next occurred when the child

38
reached an appropriate level of maturation and was exposed to relevant types of
experiences. Without experience, children were assumed incapable of reaching
their highest cognitive ability. Cognitive growth occurs through three interrelated
processes: organization, adaptation, and equilibration.
Organization is the tendency to create increasingly complex cognitive
structure systems of knowledge or ways of thinking that incorporate more and
more accurate images of reality. These structures, called, schemes or
schemas, are organized patterns of behavior that a person uses to think about
and act in a situation. Schemas can be characterized by: 1. mobility of schemas –
that it can applied to a variety of objects even objects never encountered before;
2. sensorimotor schemas – involve overt actions; 3. cognitive schemas – include
the number system, concept of space, or the laws of logic. As children acquire
more information, their schemes become more and more complex. An infant has
a simple scheme for sucking, but soon develops varied schemes for how to suck
at the breast, a bottle or a thumb. At first schemes for looking and grasping
operate independently. Later, infants integrate these separate schemes into a
single scheme that allows them to look at an object while holding it.
Adaptation is Piaget’s term for how children handle new information in
light of what they already know. Adaptation involves two steps: assimilation,
taking in new information and incorporating it into existing cognitive structures,
and accommodation, changing one’s cognitive structures to include the new
information. Assimilation is classified into four types: 1. reproductive assimilation
– where the schema tends to be repeated over and over again, coming to
function stably and smoothly in the process, which is achieve through exercise;
2. generalizing assimilation – where schemas accommodate to the range of
specific stimulus objects that occur in the child’s particular environment;
recognitory assimilation – the fitting of a schema to the demands of the objects
and acknowledging the familiarity of the object and the fact that one has fitted;
and mutual coordination and assimilation of schemas – two schemes are
interacting with each other and assimilating each other. Equilibration – a
constant striving for a stable balance, or equilibrium – dictates the shift from

39
assimilation to accommodation. When children cannot handle new experiences
within their existing cognitive structures, and thus experience disequilibrium, they
organize new mental patterns that integrate the new experience, thus restoring
more comfortable state of equilibrium. A breast or bottle fed baby who begins to
suck on the spout of a “sippy cup” is showing assimilation- using an old scheme
to deal with a new situation. When the infant discovers that sipping from a cup
requires different tongue and mouth movements from those used to suck on a
breast or bottle, she accommodates by modifying the old scheme. She has
adapted her original sucking scheme to deal with a new experience: the cup.
Thus, assimilation and accommodation work together to produce equilibrium and
cognitive growth.
Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development are known as the
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational
stages.
The sensorimotor stage in a child is from birth to approximately two
years. During this stage, a child has relatively little competence in representing
the environment using images, language, or symbols. An infant has no
awareness of objects or people that are not immediately present at a given
moment. Piaget called this a lack of object permanence. Object permanence is
the awareness that objects and people continue to exist even if they are out of
sight. In infants, when a person hides, the infant has no knowledge that they are
just out of sight. According to Piaget, this person or object that has disappeared
is gone forever to the infant.

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Object Permanence
This is Piaget’s term for the child’s realization that an object or person
continues to exist when out of sight. According to him, object permanence
develops gradually during the sensorimotor stage. At first, infants have no such
concept. By the third substage, from about 4 to 8 months, they will look for
something they have dropped, but if they cannot see it, they act as if it no longer
exists. In the fourth substage, about 8 to 12 months, they will look for an object in
Sub-stages Ages Description
Use of reflexes Birth to 1
month
Infants exercise their inborn reflexes and
gain some control over them. They do not
coordinate information from their senses. They do
not grasp an object they are looking at.
Primary circular
reactions
1 to 4
months
Infants repeat pleasurable behaviors that first occur by
chance (thumb sucking). Activities focus on infant’s
body rather that the effects of the behavior on the
environment. Infants make first acquired adaptations;
that is they suck different objects. They begin to
coordinate sensory information and grasp objects.
Secondary
circular
reactions
4 to 8
months
Infants become more interested in the environment; they
repeat actions that bring interesting results (such as
shaking a rattle) and prolong interesting experiences.
Actions are intentional but not initially goal-directed.
Coordination of
secondary
schemes
8 to 12
months
Behavior is more deliberate and purposeful (intentional)
as infants coordinate previously learned schemes
(such as looking at and grasping a rattle) and use
previously learned behaviors to attain their goals
(such as crawling across the room to get desired toy).
They can anticipate events.
Tertiary circular
reactions
12 to 18
months
Toddlers show curiosity and experimentation; they
purposely vary their actions to see results (for
example, by shaking different rattles to hear their
sounds). They actively explore their world to
determine what is novel about an object, event, or
situation. They try out new activities and use trial and
error in solving problems.
Mental
combinations
18 to 24
months
Since toddlers cam mentally represents events, they are
no longer confined to trial and error to solve problems.
Symbolic thought allows toddlers to begin to think
about events and anticipate their consequences
without always resorting to action. Toddlers begin to
demonstrate insight. They can use symbols, such as
gestures and words, and can pretend.

41
a place where they first found it after seeing it hidden, even if they later saw it
being moved to another place. Piaget called this the A, not B error. In the fifth
substage, 12 to 18 months, they no longer make this error; they will search for an
object in the last place they saw it hidden. However, they will not search for it in a
place where they did not see it hidden. By the sixth substage, 18 to 24 months,
object permanence is fully achieved; toddlers will look for an object even if they
did not see it hidden.
The preoperational stage is from the age of two to seven years. The
most important development at this time is language. Children develop an
internal representation of the world that allows them to describe people, events,
and feelings. Children at this time use symbols, they can pretend when driving
their toy car across the couch that the couch is actually a bridge. Although the
thinking of the child is more advanced than when it was in the sensorimotor
stage, it is still qualitatively inferior to that of an adult. Children in the
preoperational stage are characterized by what Piaget called egocentric
thoughts. The world at this stage is viewed entirely from the child’s own
perspective. Thus a child’s explanation to an adult can be uninformative.
Three-year-olds will generally hide their face when they are in trouble--
even though they are in plain view, three-year-olds believe that their inability to
see others also results in others’ inability to see them. A child in the
preoperational stage also lacks the principle of conservation. This is the
knowledge that quantity is unrelated to the arrangement and physical
appearance of objects. Children who have not passed this stage do not know
that the amount, volume or length of an object does not change length when the
shape of the configuration is changed. If you put two identical pieces of clay in
front of a child, one rolled up in the shape of a ball, the other rolled into a snake,
a child at this stage may say the snake piece is bigger because it is rolled out.
Piaget declared that this is not mastered until the next stage of development.

42
Cognitive Advances during Preoperational Stage
Limitations of Preoperational Thought (according to Piaget)
Advance Significance
Use of symbols Children do not need to be in the sensorimotor contact with an
object, person, or event in order to think about it.
Children can imagine that objects or people have properties
other than those they actually have.
Understanding of identities Children are aware that superficial alterations do not change
the nature of things.
Understanding of cause
and effect
Children realize that events have causes.
Ability to classify Children organize objects, people, and events into meaningful
categories.
Understanding of number Children can count and deal with quantities.
Empathy Children become more able to imagine how others might feel.
Theory of mind Children become more aware of mental activity and the
functioning of the mind.
Limitation Description
Centration: inability to decenter Children focus on one aspect of a situation and
neglect others.
Irreversibility Children fail to understand that some operations
or actions can be reversed, restoring the
original situation.
Focus on states rather than
transformations
Children fail to understand the significance of
transformation between states
Transductive reasoning Children do not use inductive or deductive;
instead they jump form one particular to
another and see cause where non exists.
Egocentrism Children assume every one else thinks,
perceives, and feels as they do.
Animism Children attribute life to objects not alive.
Inability to distinguish appearance
from reality
Children confuse what is real with outward
appearance.

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Cognitive Advances During Concrete Operational Stage
The concrete operational stage lasts from the age of seven to twelve
years of age. The beginning of this stage is marked by the mastery of the
principal of conservation. Children develop the ability to think in a more logical
manner and they begin to overcome some of the egocentric characteristics of the
preoperational period. One of the major ideas learned in this stage is the idea of
reversibility. This is the idea that some changes can be undone by reversing an
earlier action. An example is the ball of clay that is rolled out into a snake piece
of clay. Children at this stage understand that you can regain the ball of clay
formation by rolling the piece of clay the other way. Children can even
conceptualize the stage in their heads without having to see the action
performed. Children in the concrete operational stage have a better
understanding of time and space. Children at this stage have limits to their
abstract thinking, according to Piaget.
Advance
Description
Space and causality Children at this stage have a clearer idea of
how far it is from one place to another and how
long it will take to get there, and they can more
easily remember the route and the landmarks
along the way.
The abilities to use maps and models and to
communicate spatial information improve with
age
Although 6 year olds can search for and find
hidden objects, they usually do not give clear
directions for finding the same objects-
perhaps because they lack the proper
vocabulary or do not realize what information

44
The formal operational stage begins in most people at age twelve and
continues into adulthood. This stage produces a new kind of thinking that is
abstract, formal, and logical. Thinking is no longer tied to events that can be
observed. A child at this stage can think hypothetically and use logic to solve
the other person needs.
Categorization The ability to categorize helps children think
logically. Categorization now includes such a
sophisticated abilities as seriation (ability to
order items along a dimension), transitive
inference (understanding of the relationship
between two objects by knowing the
relationship of each to a third object), and
class inclusion (understanding of the
relationship between a whole and its parts.
Inductive and Deductive
Reasoning
According to Piaget, children in the stage of
concrete operations use inductive reasoning-
a type of logical reasoning that moves from
particular observations about members of a
class to a general conclusion about that class.
Deductive reasoning- type of logical reasoning
that moves from a general premise about a
class to a conclusion about a particular
member or members of the class. Piaget’s
belief that this type of reasoning does not
develop until adolescence was opposed by
new researchers for they have found that
second graders (but not kindergartners) were
able to correctly answer deductive problems
which
sought not to call upon their knowledge of the
real world.
Conservation In solving various types of conservation problems,
children in the stage of concrete operations
can work out the answers in their heads; they
do not have to measure or weight objects. At
this stage
children understand the principle of identity,
reversibility, and can decenter. Typically,
children can solve problems involving
conservation of substance at 7-8 years old,
and conservation of weight at 9-10 years old;
in conservation of volume, on the other hand
correct answer are rare before age 12.
Horizontal decalage –a term given by Piaget to the inability of the child at this stage
to transfer learning about one type of conservation to other types, which causes a
child to master different types of conservation tasks at different stages.

45
problems. It is thought that not all individuals reach this level of thinking. Most
studies show only forty to sixty percent of American college students and adults
fully achieve it. In developing countries where the technology is not as advanced
as the United States, almost no one reaches the formal operational stage.
Contemporary theorists suggest that a better description of how children
develop cognitively can be provided by approaches that do not employ concrete
fixed stages. Research also has proven that children are not always consistent in
their performance of tasks at each stage. Furthermore, developmental
psychologists imply that cognitive development proceeds in a continuous fashion;
they propose that such development is primarily quantitative, rather than
qualitative.
Most developmental theorists have agreed that Piaget has provided us
with an accurate account of age-related changes in cognitive development.
Piaget’s suggestion, that cognitive performance cannot be attained unless
cognitive readiness is brought about by maturation and environmental stimuli,
has been instrumental in determining the structure of educational curricula.
Cognitive Advances During Formal Operational Stage
Advance
Description
Combinatorial thinking
According to Piaget it is a young person’s
ability to conceive possibilities and
organize situations and problems.
Hypothetic thinking, or
Hypothetico-deductive reasoning,
or
Hypothetical deductive reasoning
Ability, believed by Piaget to accompany the
stage of formal operations, to develop,
consider, and test hypotheses.
Assumptions that are Involved in this theory:
1. Development is an unfolding of the growth process or maturation. A child’s
development is essentially the accumulation of the learning acquired from
experiences within the environment.
2. Development is brought about by experiences with the environment.

46
3. Development is the result of explicit and implicit teaching of the child by
other people.
4. Development is brought about by the process of equilibration where the
child’s beliefs become organized into a system.
Analyzing Piaget’s Theory in the Primary Classroom
Preoperational
1. Use concrete props and visual aids whenever possible.
2. Make instructions relatively short, using actions as well as words.
3. Do not expect the students to be consistently; to see the world from
someone else’s point of view.
4. Be sensitive to the possibility that students may have different meanings
for the same word or different words for the same meaning. Students may
also expect everyone to understand words they have invented.
5. Give children a great deal of hands-on practice with the skills that serve as
building blocks for more complex skills like reading comprehension.
6. Provide a wide range of experiences in order to build a foundation for
concept learning and language.
Concrete Operational
1. Continue to use concrete props and visual aids, especially when dealing
with sophisticated material.
2. Give students the opportunity to manipulate and test objects.
3. Make sure presentations and readings are brief and are well organized.
4. Use familiar examples to explain more complex ideas.
5. Give opportunities to classify and group objects and ideas on increasingly
complex levels.
6. Present problems that require logical and analytical thinking.

47
Piaget’s observations have yielded much information and some surprising
insights. Who, for example, would have thought that most children younger than
7 do not realize that a ball of clay that has been rolled into a “worm” or “snake”
before their eyes still contains the same amount of clay? Or that an infant might
think that a person who has moved out of sight may no longer exist? Piaget has
shown us that children’s minds are not miniature adult minds. Knowing how
children think makes it easier for parents and teachers to understand them and
teach them.
Yet Piaget seems to have seriously underestimated the abilities of infants
and young children. Some contemporary psychologists question his distinct
stages, pointing instead to evidence that cognitive development is more gradual
and continuous (Flavel, 1992 as cited by Papalia, et.al. 2004). Research
beginning in the 1960s has challenged Piaget’s idea that thinking develops in a
single, universal progression of stages leading to formal thought. Instead
children’s cognitive processes seem closely tied to specific content (what they
are thinking about), as well as to the context of a problem and the kinds of
information and thought a culture considers important (Case and Okamoto, 1996
as cited by Papalia, et.al. 2004). Finally, research on adults suggests that
Piaget’s focus on formal logic as the climax of cognitive development is too
narrow. It does not account for the emergence of such mature abilities as
practical problem solving, wisdom, and the capacity to deal with ambiguous
situations and competing truths.

48
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Lawrence Kohlberg spent many years researching how an individual
develop his or her own moral codes. First, Kohlberg was born into wealth on
October 25, 1927 in Bronxville, New York. Even though he was wealthy, he
chose to become a sailor; and after World War II, he helped to smuggle Jews
through the British blockade of Palestine.
In 1973 Kohlberg developed a tropical disease, and while hospitalized in
1987, was reported missing on January 17. His body was later recovered from a
marsh; however, the exact date of his death remains unknown. Rumor is that he
committed suicide.
For his doctoral research Kohlberg studied differences in children's
reasoning about moral dilemmas. He hypothesized that moral difficulties
motivated their development through a fixed sequence of increasingly flexible
kinds of moral reasoning. He also helped to clarify the general cognitive-
developmental view of age-related changes. Thereafter, Kohlberg became a
leader in moral education.
Kohlberg was a psychologist who applied the developmental approach of
Jean Piaget, who he studied under, to the analysis of changes in moral
reasoning. Kohlberg was a professor at Harvard University and did most of his
research in the said institution.
Kohlberg believed and was able to demonstrate through studies that
people progressed in their moral reasoning (i.e., in their bases for ethical
behavior) through a series of stages. He believed that there were six identifiable
stages which could be more generally classified into three levels.

49
The first level of moral thinking is that generally found at the elementary
school level. In the first stage of this level, people behave according to socially
acceptable norms because they are told to do so by some authority figure (e.g.,
parent or teacher). This obedience is compelled by the threat or application of
punishment. The second stage of this level is characterized by a view that right
behavior means acting in one's own best interests.
The second level of moral thinking is that generally found in society, hence
the name "conventional." The first stage of this level (stage 3) is characterized by
an attitude which seeks to do what will gain the approval of others. The second
stage is one oriented to abiding by the law and responding to the obligations of
duty.
The third level of moral thinking is one that Kohlberg felt is not reached by
the majority of adults. Its first stage (stage 5) is an understanding of social
mutuality and a genuine interest in the welfare of others. The last stage (stage 6)
is based on respect for universal principle and the demands of individual
conscience. While Kohlberg always believed in the existence of Stage 6 and had
some nominees for it, he could never get enough subjects to define it, much less
observe their longitudinal movement to it.
Kohlberg believed that individuals could only progress through these
stages one stage at a time. That is, they could not "jump" stages. They could not,
for example, move from an orientation of selfishness to the law and order stage
Kohlberg's classification can be outlined in the following manner:
LEVEL STAGE SOCIAL ORIENTATION
Pre-conventional 1 Obedience and Punishment
2 Individualism, Instrumentalism, and
Exchange
Conventional 3 "Good boy/girl"
4 Law and Order
Post-conventional 5 Social Contract
6 Principled Conscience

50
without passing through the good boy/girl stage. They could only come to a
comprehension of a moral rationale one stage above their own. Thus, according
to Kohlberg, it was important to present them with moral dilemmas for discussion
which would help them to see the reasonableness of a "higher stage" morality
and encourage their development in that direction. The last comment refers to
Kohlberg's moral discussion approach. He saw this as one of the ways in which
moral development can be promoted through formal education. Note that
Kohlberg believed, as did Piaget, that most moral development occurs through
social interaction. The discussion approach is based on the insight that
individuals develop as a result of cognitive conflicts at their current stage
I Preconventional Level
At this level, the child is responsive to cultural rules and labels of good and
bad, right or wrong, but he interprets the labels in terms of either the physical or
hedonistic consequences of action (punishment, reward, exchange of favors) or
the physical power of those who enunciate the rules and labels. The level is
divided into the following three stages:
Stage 0: Egocentric judgment. The child makes judgments of good on the basis
of what he likes and wants or what helps him, and bad on the basis of
what he does not like or what hurts him. He has no concept of rules or of
obligations to obey or conform independent of his wish.
Stage 1: The punishment and obedience orientation. The physical consequences
of action determine its goodness or badness regardless of the human
meaning or value of these consequences. Avoidance of punishment and
unquestioning deference to power are values in their own right, not in
terms of respect for an underlying moral order supported by punishment
and authority (the latter is stage 4).
Stage 2: The instrumental relativist orientation. Right action consists of what
instrumentally satisfies one's own needs and occasionally the needs of
others. Human relations are viewed in terms such as those of the market
place. Elements of fairness, reciprocity, and equal sharing are present,
but they are always interpreted in a physical, pragmatic way. Reciprocity

51
is a matter of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours", not loyalty,
gratitude, or justice.
II Conventional Level
At this level, the individual perceives the maintenance of the expectations
of his family, group, or nation as valuable in its own right, regardless of
immediate and obvious consequences. The attitude is not only one of conformity
to personal expectations and social order, but of loyalty to it, of actively
maintaining, supporting, and justifying the order and identifying with the persons
or group involved in it. The level consists of the following two stages:
Stage 3: The interpersonal concordance or "good boy-nice girl" orientation. Good
behavior is what pleases or helps others and is approved by them. There
is much conformity to stereotypical images of what is majority or
"natural" behavior. Behavior is frequently judged by intention -- "he
means well" becomes important for the first time. One earns approval by
being "nice".
Stage 4: The "law and order" orientation. The individual is oriented toward
authority, fixed rules, and the maintenance of the social order. Right
behavior consists in doing one's duty, showing respect for authority, and
maintaining the given social order for its own sake.
III Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or Principled Level
The individual makes a clear effort to define moral values and principles
that have validity and application apart from the authority of the groups of
persons holding them and apart from the individual's own identification with the
group. The level has the two following stages:
Stage 5: The social contract legalistic orientation (generally with utilitarian
overtones). Right action tends to be defined in terms of general
individual rights and standards that have been critically examined and
agreed upon by the whole society. There is a clear awareness of the
relativism of personal values and opinions and a corresponding

52
emphasis upon procedural rules for reaching consensus. Aside from
what is constitutionally and democratically agreed upon, right action is a
matter of personal values and opinions. The result is an emphasis upon
the "legal point of view", but with an additional emphasis upon the
possibility of changing the law in terms of rational considerations of
social utility (rather than freezing it in terms of stage 4 "law and order").
Outside the legal realm, free agreement, and contract, is the binding
element of obligation. The "official" morality of the American government
and Constitution is at this stage.
Stage 6: The universal ethical-principle orientation. Right is defined by the
decision of conscience in accord with self-chosen ethical principles that
appeal to logical comprehensiveness, universality, and consistency.
These principles are abstract and ethical (the Golden Rule, the
categorical imperative); they are not concrete moral rules like the Ten
Commandments. At heart, these are universal principles of justice, of the
reciprocity and equality of the human rights, and of respect for the dignity
of human beings as individual persons.
Kohlberg used a method called clinical interview in his study of how
children develop moral reasoning. The problem asked was this.
In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There
was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium
that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was
expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost
him to make. He paid $2000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman’s
husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but could only
get together about $1000, which was half of what it cost. He told the druggist that
his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the
druggist said, “No I discovered the drug and I’m going to make money from it.”
So, Heinz got desperate and considered breaking into the man’s store to steal
the drug for his wife. Should Heinz steal the radium?

53
The table below shows how people in each stage of Kohlberg’s Moral Reasoning
usually respond to Heinz dilemma.
Levels Stages of
Reasoning
Typical Answers to Heinz Dilemma
Level I:
Preconventional
morality
(ages 4 to 10)
Stage 1:
Orientation
toward
punishment
and obedience
Pro: “He should steal the drug. It isn’t really bad to
take it. It isn’t as it he hadn’t asked to pay for it
first. The drug he’d take is worth only $200; he’s
not really taking a $2,000 drug.”
Con: “He shouldn’t steal the drug. It’s a big crime. He
didn’t get permission; he used force and broke
and entered. He did a lot of damage and stole a
very expensive drug.”
Stage 2:
Instrumental
purpose and
exchange/
instrumental
relativist
orientation
Pro: “ It’s all right to steal the drug,
because his wife needs it and he wants her to
live. It isn’t that he wants to steal, but that’s what
he has to do to save her.”
Con: “He shouldn’t steal it. The druggist isn’t wrong
or bad; he just wants to make a profit. That’s
what you’re in business for – to make money.”
Level II:
Conventional
morality
(ages 10 to 13
or beyond)
Stage 3:
Interpersonal
concordance or
"good boy-nice
girl"
Pro: He should steal the drug. He is only doing
something that is natural for a good husband to
do. You can’t blame him for doing something out
of love for his wife. You’d blame him if he didn’t
love his wife enough to save her.”
Con: “He shouldn’t steal. If his wife dies, he can’t be
blamed. It isn’t because he’s heartless or that he
doesn’t love her enough to do everything that he
legally can. The druggist is the selfish or
heartless one.”
Stage 4: Social
concern and
conscience /
"law and order"
orientation
Pro: “You should steal it. If you did nothing
you’d be letting your wife die. It’s your
responsibility if she dies. You have to take it
with the idea of paying the druggist.”
Con: “It is a natural thing for Heinz to want to save his
wife, but it‘s still always wrong to steal. He knows
he’s taking a valuable drug from the man who
made it.”

54
Level III: Post
conventional
morality (early
adolescence, or
not until young
adulthood, or
never)
Stage 5: Social
contract
legalistic
orientation
Pro: “The law wasn’t set up for these circumstances.
Taking the drug in this situation isn’t really right,
but it’s justified.”
Con: “You can’t completely blame someone for
stealing, but extreme circumstances don’t really
justify taking the law into your own hands. You
can’ t have people stealing whenever they are
desperate. The end may be good, but the ends
don’t justify the means.”
Stage 6:
Universal
ethical-principle
orientation
Pro: “This is a situation that forces him to choose
between stealing and letting his wife die. In a
situation where the choice must be made, it is
morally right to steal. He has to act in terms in
the principle of preserving and respecting life.”
Con: “Heinz is faced with the decision of whether to
consider the other people who need the drug
just as badly as his wife. Heinz ought to act not
according to his feelings for his wife, but
considering the value of all the lives involved.”
Results of modern researches supported some aspects of Kohlberg’s
theory but have left others in question. Researchers today discovered that
children could reason flexibly about legal issues earlier than Kohlberg proposed.
Even children as young as 6 weighed the perceived justice of a law, its social
purpose, and its potential infringement on individual freedoms and rights in
evaluating whether the law was “good” or “bad” and whether or not it should be
obeyed.
Furthermore, research has generally noted the lack of a clear relationship
between moral reasoning and moral behavior. People at post conventional levels
of reasoning do not necessarily act more morally than those at lower levels.
Perhaps one problem was the remoteness from young people’s experience of
such dilemmas as the “Heinz” situation.
Critics claimed that cognitive approach to moral development gives
insufficient attention to the importance of emotion. Moral activity, they say, is
motivated not only by abstract considerations of justice, but such emotions as
empathy, guilt, and distress and the internalization of prosocial norms.

55
Some theorists today seek to synthesize Kohlberg’s cognitive-
developmental approach with the role of emotion and the insights of socialization
theory. Kohlberg himself did recognize that non-cognitive factors such as
emotional development and life experience affect moral judgments. One reason
the ages attached to Kohlberg’s levels are so variable is that people have
achieved a high level of cognitive development do not always reach a
comparably high level of moral development. A certain level of cognitive
development is necessary but not sufficient for a comparable level of moral
development. The others processes besides cognition must be at work.

56
THE LEARNING PROCESS
The Nature of Learning
There are almost as many definitions of learning of learning as there are
authorities on the subject. However such definitions may be summarized into one
more direct and comprehensive definition as the following:
Learning is the acquisition, through maturation and experience, of new
and more knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will enable the learner to make
better and more adequate reactions, responses, and adjustments to new
situations and conditions.
Types of Learning
The types, kinds, or outcomes of learning are the following:
1. Cognitive learning. This is the acquisition of knowledge, facts and
information, principles, ideas, concepts, understanding, reasoning, etc.
There are two types of cognitive learning these are:
a) Associative learning
This is establishing the relationship between words or ideas and
their meanings, between words or ideas and the things they refer
to, between principles and the situations and conditions they are
applied to, etc. This involves an accurate understanding of the
relationships of things /or situations. Facts and materials learned
are systematically organized and integrated with previous learning
experiences by establishing meaningful relationships between the
two. For instance, in a learning session, a green mango is

57
associated with the green color, sour taste, an oblong shape and
texture characteristics of the fruit. So when the learner sees one in
the future he knows it is a green mango. This is especially true in
mathematics. A new lesson, to be fully understood, must be linked
to a previous lesson.
b. Problem-solving learning
Problem-solving is the process of overcoming difficulties that hinder
the attainment of a goal by using knowledge and skills gained from
associative learning and other types of learning. In this type of
learning, reflective, analytical, and constructive thinking are very
much needed. This type of learning is used in all subjects. When
the problem has several aspects to be tackled, the class may be
divided into several groups, each group tackling one aspect of the
problem.
Generally, cognitive learning is verbal and ideational learning.
2. Attitudinal or affective learning.
This type of learning is the formation of good and acceptable attitudes,
judgments, appreciation, and values. It is the acquisition or development
of sound moral and spiritual values such as honesty, integrity, punctuality,
piety, etc. There are two types of appreciative learning. These are:
a). Aesthetic learning

58
The appreciation of what is good and abhorrence of what is bad.
Appreciation of the good includes noble traits of people, good music and
other expressions of art.
b). Intellectual learning
This may be developed by reading good and classical literary pieces, the
Bible (for Christians) and the Koran (for Muslims), and other similar
activities.
3. Psychomotor learning. The involves the use of the muscles in bodily
movement. The reflexes are especially important because the activities
are usually responsive to certain stimuli. There are two types of
psychomotor learning and these are:
a) Bodily movement coordination
The harmonious functioning of the different parts of the body in
order to attain the desired performance of the activity. This is true in
dancing, physical education, sports and games such as running,
volleyball, basketball, tennis, and the like. Precision and accuracy
result to muscular coordination.
b. Manipulative dexterity
The skillful of the hands and feet. precision and accuracy are
necessary in both basic and complicated activities such as writing,
typing, stenotyping, handling and operating gadgets and machines
such as carpentry tools, laboratory equipment, car and the like.

59
THE TEST OF LEARNING
When has a person learned? The following are the criteria or test of learning.
1. Greater speed. One who has learned how to write, writes faster than one
who has not.
2. Greater precision and accuracy. One who has learned a dance can
execute the steps with greater precision and accuracy than one who has
not.
3. Reduced effort. One who has already learned to write exerts effort in
writing than one who is just learning how to write.
4. Less expense, hence more savings. One who has learned how to type
does not need to hire a typist to type. He cuts down on expenses.
5. Greater knowledge, information, and ideas. One who has gone to school
to learn has greater knowledge, information, and ideas of the things
around him than one who has not.
6. Greater understanding. One who has studied has a better understanding
of the things communicated to him than one who has not.
7. Greater facility of communication. One who has gone to school has
learned the mechanics of the language and so he has a greater facility in
communicating his ideas than one who has not.
8. More logical reasoning. One who has learned how to reason out can make
more logical reasoning than one who has not.
9. Greater innovativeness and creativity. An educated person has more
innovative and creative ideas than one who is not.

60
10.Greater chance of employment. One who has acquired skills has more
chances of employment than the one who has not.
OTHER KINDS OF LEARNING
Learning may be classified into (1) direct learning and (2) indirect learning.
Learning to ride a bicycle is direct learning.
Reading books, newspapers, magazines, and other publications, listening to the
radio, and viewing movies and television shows to gain information is indirect
learning.
Burnham classifies learning as (1) congenital (2) temporary and (3) permanent.
Reflex action such as the sudden withdrawal of the foot as it steps on a live
charcoal is congenital learning.
Forgetting portions of a poem or lines in a play is an example of temporary
learning. Knowledge used in a lifetime such as basic mathematical operation,
language, values, etc. is permanent learning.
Other kinds of learning are (1) sensory learning such as Braille reading used by
the blind, (2) motor learning as in typing and writing, (3) verbal learning such as
solving a mathematical problem or memorizing a principle, (4) ideational learning
such as writing a story or novel, and (5) attitudinal learning as in learning values.

61
BASIC THEORIES OF LEARNING
CONNECTIOVISM THEORY
"Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise
words endure"
Edward Lee Thorndike [thôrn´dIk] was an American educator and
psychologist born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. He was a graduate from
Wesleyan University (1895) and Harvard (1896) and received his Ph.D. in 1898
from Columbia. Appointed instructor in genetic psychology at Teachers College,
Columbia, in 1899, he served there until 1940 (as professor from 1904 and as
director of the division of psychology of the Institute of Educational Research
from 1922). His great contributions to educational psychology were largely in the
methods he devised to test and measure children's intelligence and their ability to
learn. By using trial-and-error experiments with animals, Thorndike formulated
his so-called law of effect—the more satisfying the result of a particular action,
the better that action is learned—and applied it to the development of special
teaching techniques for use in the classroom. Besides from construction of
various intelligence and aptitude tests, he is primarily known for his repudiation of
the belief that such primarily intellectual subjects as languages and mathematics
discipline the mind. Because of his opposition to that belief, he greatly
encouraged the inclusion of various informational subjects, such as the physical
and social sciences, in elementary and secondary school curricula.
He conducted studies in animal psychology and the psychology of
learning, and compiled dictionaries for children (1935) and for young adults
(1941). The great number of his writings includes Educational Psychology
(1903), Mental and Social Measurements (1904), Animal Intelligence (1911), A
Teacher's Word Book (1921), Your City (1939), and Human Nature and the
Social Order (1940).

62
Overview of the Theory:
The learning theory of Thorndike represents the original S-R framework of
behavioral psychology: Learning is the result of associations forming between
stimuli and responses. Such associations or "habits" become strengthened or
weakened by the nature and frequency of the S-R pairings. The paradigm for S-
R theory was trial and error learning in which certain responses come to
dominate others due to rewards. The hallmark of connectionism (like all
behavioral theory) was that learning could be adequately explained without
refering to any unobservable internal states.
Thorndike's theory consists of three primary laws: 1.law of effect -
responses to a situation which are followed by a rewarding state of affairs will be
strengthened and become habitual responses to that situation, 2.law of readiness
- a series of responses can be chained together to satisfy some goal which will
result in annoyance if blocked, and 3.law of exercise - connections become
strengthened with practice and weakened when practice is discontinued. A
corollary of the law of effect was that responses that reduce the likelihood of
achieving a rewarding state (i.e., punishments, failures) would decrease in
strength.
The theory suggests that transfer of learning depends upon the presence
of identical elements in the original and new learning situations; i.e., transfer is
always specific, never general. In later versions of the theory, the concept of
"belongingness" was introduced; connections are more readily established if the
person perceives that stimuli or responses go together (c.f. Gestalt principles).
Another concept introduced was "polarity" which specifies that connections occur
more easily in the direction in which they were originally formed than the
opposite. Thorndike also introduced the "spread of effect" idea, i.e., rewards
affect not only the connection that produced them but temporally adjacent
connections as well.
In addition to the three major laws of learning, Thorndike formulated five
secondary characteristics for the purpose of amplifying the basic laws. These
secondary characteristics were designated by the terms multiple response, mind-

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