Theories about human development provide frameworks to explain patterns of development, generate hypotheses and discoveries, offer practical guidance, and contribute to our understanding of nature and nurture. Major theories discussed include psychosexual, psychosocial, behavioral, cognitive, and sociocultural approaches. Newer theories also examine humanism, evolutionary influences, and the interplay between biological and environmental factors. Overall, theories aim to further knowledge of how people change and grow over the lifespan.

2. 1. Introduction
2. Fact or Fiction?
3. What Theories Do
4. Grand Theories
5. New Theories
6. What Theories Contribute
7. Closing Thoughts
2

3. 3
Fact or Fiction? Fiction Fact
1. Freud believed that only adults experienced
psychosexual stages in their development, based on
inner drives and unconscious needs.
2. Proponents of behaviorism believe that all
behavior arises directly from operant or classical
conditioning.
3. Piaget believed that how people think and how
they understand the world depends on their age.
4. The Information Processing approach uses
analogies that compare human thinking processes
to the way a computer functions.

4. developmental theories: A framework for explaining
patterns and problems of development.
Produce
hypotheses
Generate
discoveries
Offer
practical
guidance
4
What do theories about human development really do?

5. behavioral
(learning
theory)
cognitive
John B. Watson, Ivan
Pavlov, B.F. Skinner,
Albert Bandura
Jean Piaget
Study of observable behavior;
describes the laws and processes
by which behavior is learned.
Focus on changes in how people
think over time; also thoughts
shape our attitudes, beliefs, and
behaviors.
5
psychoanalytic Freud, Erikson
Irrational, unconscious drives and
motives, often originating in
childhood, underlie human behavior.
Founders Description
What do theories about human development really do?

6. Birth to
1 year
1-3 years 3-6 years Adolescence Adulthood
Oral Stage
The lips,
tongue, and
gums are the
focus of
pleasurable
sensations in
the baby´s
body, and
sucking and
feeding are
the most
stimulating
activities
The anus is
the focus of
pleasurable
sensations in
the baby´s
body, and
toilet training
is the most
important
activity
Anal Stage
The phallus, or
penis, is the
most important
body part, and
pleasure is
derived from
genital
simulations.
Boys are proud
of their penises;
girls wonder why
they don´t have
one
Phallic Stage
6-11 years
Not really a
stage, latency
is an interlude
during which
sexual needs
are quiet and
children put
phycics energy
into
conventional
activities like
schoolwork and
sports
Latency
Freud
believed that
the genital
stage lasts
throughout
adulthood. He
also said that
the goal of a
healthy life is
“to love and
to work”
Freud (Psychosexual)
The genitals are
the focus of
pleasurable
sensations, and
the young
person seeks
sexual
stimulation and
sexual
satisfaction in
heterosexual
relationships
Genital Stage
6
Aproximate Age
What are Freud’s psychosexual stages?
Psychosexual & Psychosocial stages
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7. Birth to
1 year
1-3 years 3-6 years Adolescence
Trust vs.
Mistrust
Babies either
trust that
others will care
for their basics
needs including
nourishment,
warmth,
cleanliness,
and physical
contact, or
develop
mistrust about
the care of
others
Children
either become
self-sufficient
in many
activities
including
toileting,
feeding,
walking,
exploring, and
talking or
doubt their
own abilities
Autonomy vs.
Shame and Doubt
Children either
want to
undertake many
adultlike
activities or
internalize the
limits and the
prohibitions set
by parents. They
feel either
adventurous or
guilty
Initiative vs.
Guilt
6-11 years
Children busily
learn to be
competent and
productive in
mastering new
skills or feel
inferior, unable
to do anything
as well as they
wish they could
Industry vs.
Inferiority
Adolescents try
to figure out
“Who am I?”
They estabilish
sexual,
political,
religious, and
vocational
identities or are
confused about
what roles to
play
7
Aproximate Age
Erickson (Psychosocial)
What are Erickson’s psychosocial stages?
Psychosexual & Psychosocial stages
Identify vs. Role
Confusion
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8. classical conditioning
(respondent conditioning):
The learning process by
which a natural
(unconditioned) response
(e.g. fear when seeing a
lion out of a cage) becomes
triggered by a formerly
neutral stimulus by
repeatedly pairing it with
the stimulus that naturally
triggers that response.
operant conditioning (instrumental conditioning): The learning process
by which a particular action is followed by something desired (which
makes the person or animal more likely to repeat the action) or by
something unwanted (which makes the action less likely to be repeated.)
social learning theory:
An extension of
behaviorism that
emphasizes the influence
that other people have
over a person’s behavior.
Even without specific
reinforcement, every
individual learns many
things through
observation and imitation
of other people.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism: The study of observable behavior, and the
theory (learning theory) explaining the acquisition of habits
and competencies.
What are the three behavioral learning processes?
8
Behaviorism

9. 9
Classical Conditioning
Before white
coat appears
When white
coat appears
120/80
Healthy
140/90
Too High
classical conditioning (respondent
conditioning): The learning
processes by which a meaningful
stimulus is connected with a
neutral stimulus that had no
special meaning before
conditioning.

10. FancyCollection/SuperStock
How can a doctor’s “white coat” affect a patient?
Classical Conditioning
120/80
Healthy
140/90
Too High
The white coat syndrome is an everyday
example of classically conditioned behavior.
Just the sight of a doctor’s white coat (the
stimulus) causes blood pressure to rise (the
response) in some people.
10

11. operant conditioning
(instrumental conditioning): The
learning process by which a
particular action is followed by
something desired or by something
unwanted in order to promote or
prevent an action.
reinforcement: A technique for
conditioning behavior in which
that behavior is followed by
something desired.
11
Operant Conditioning

12. social learning theory:
Emphasizes the influence that
other people have over a
person’s behavior, involving
learning by observation and
imitation.
Is social learning theory an
example of the saying, “Actions
speak louder than words”?
12
Social Learning Theory

13. Thinking mistakes or steps in cognitive development?
Piaget’s Periods of Cognitive Development
Age Range Name of Period Characteristics of the Period Major Gains During the Period
Birth to 2 years
2 - 6 years
6 – 11 years
12 years
through
adulthood
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete
operational
Formal
operational
Infants use senses and motor abilities to
understand the world. Learning is active; there
is no conceptual or reflective thought
Infants learn that an object still exists when it
is out of sight (object permanence) and begin
to think through mental actions
Children think magically and poetically,
using language to understand the world.
Thinking is egocentric, causing children
to perceive the world from their
own perspective
The imagination flourishes, and language
becomes a significant means of self-
expression and of influence from others
Children understand and apply logical
operations, or principles, to interpret
experiences objectively and rationally.
Their thinking is limited to what they can
personally see, hear, touch and experience
By applying logical abilities, children learn
to understand concepts of conservation,
number, classification, and many other
scientific ideas
Adolescents and adults think about
abstractions and hypothetical concepts
and reason analytically. They can be
logical about things they have never
experienced
Ethics, politics, and social and moral issues
become fascinating as adolescents and
adults take a broader and more theoretical
approach to experience
13
Periods of Cognitive Development
cognitive theory: Theory of human development that focuses on changes in
how people think over time.

14. 14
Periods of Cognitive Development
Video:
Cognitive Development in Childhood:
Magical Thinking

15. 15
Periods of Cognitive Development
Video:
Cognitive Development: Scale Errors: Slide

16. information processing: A perspective that compares human thinking processes, by
analogy, to computer analysis of data.
selective attention: The ability to concentrate on some stimuli while ignoring others.
How many animals do you recall from the top half of the card?
16
Information Processing

17. How do adults interact with children to teach them social norms?
What do
you say?
Please?
Okay
Thank you
17
sociocultural theory: Development results from the
dynamic interaction of each person with the surrounding
social and cultural forces.
Sociocultural Theory
NEWER THEORIES

18. 18
Periods of Cognitive Development
Video:
Interview with Barbara Rogoff
NEWER THEORIES: SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY

19. 19
Humanism
selective adaptation: Process by which genes that enhance survival and
reproductive ability are selected and, over generations, become more frequent.
Humanism stresses the potential of all humans for good and
the belief that all people have the same basic needs
NEWER THEORIES
Self-
actualization
Esteem
Love and belonging
Safe and secure
Physiological
Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs

20. 20
Evolutionary Theory
selective adaptation: Process by which genes that enhance survival and
reproductive ability are selected and, over generations, become more frequent.
Scared of death by car?
In 2009,1 U.S. death in 5,000
(rates higher in some other countries)
Scared of death by snake?
1 death in a billion
What are you more scared of?
Which fear would have helped our ancestors survive?
NEWER THEORIES

21. What do theories contribute to our understanding of nature and nurture?
21
The Nature – Nurture Controversy

22. 22
Theoretically speaking, what do you think?
No Answers Yet

23. 23
The Nature – Nurture Controversy
Video:
Harlow’s Studies on Dependency in Monkeys

24. Closing Thoughts
What kind of framework
do theories provide for the
study of human development?
24Artwork ©Worth Publishers