THEORISTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT FROM THE SOCIAL SCIENCES SUMMARY

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

SIGMUND FREUD PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT THOERY

Austria Id ego and super ego basic parts of personality and “father of psychiatry”
Treated adults motivate our behaviour Inspired many other theories related to parenting

5 stages of development: Oral, anal, oedipal, latency &

genital

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Erik Erikson

8 stages of development:  Encouraging children to find their identity

 German-American for themselves
psychologist basic trust vs mistrust - Infancy (1-2 years) cycle social  Understanding and being aware of the
 Framed the word identity development theory stages children will go through as they
crisis grow
autonomy vs shame & doubt – Early Childhood (2-4  Meeting the challenge for each new stage
years)

initiative vs guilt – preschool (4-5 years)

industry vs inferiority – school age (5-12 years)

identity vs role confusion - adolescence (13-19 years)

intimacy vs isolation – early adulthood (20-40 years)

generativity vs stagnation – adulthood (40-65 years)

 ego integrity vs despair – maturity (65-death)

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Loevinger

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Piaget
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (4 stages)  Shows parents how to help their children
 Swiss psychologist reach their cognitive potential
 known for his work on child Sensory motor stage 1 (birth – 2)
development
 had a schema – Pre-operational stage 2 (2-7 years)
accommodation and
assimilation Concrete Operational stage 3 (7-11 years)

Formal Operational stage 4 (12 years + )

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Vygotski
Cognitive development in social relationships parents can understand how children think
He believed child development
didn’t happen in stages, but through Elementary mental functions: reactive attention,
social and cultural contexts sensation, memory

Zone of proximal development: done our own, done

with adult

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Maslow

Jewish American psychologist Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Parents should guide and encourage their children in fulfilling their
needs

Physiological needs

Safety needs

Belonging and love needs

Esteem needs

Self-actualization
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Levinson

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Pavlov

Russian scientist Behaviorism Parenting can involve teaching children to learn to associate an
Worked on classical conditioning An empirically rigorous science unconditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus
focused on observable behaviours
and not unobservable internal
mental processes

Conditioned stimulus and neutral

stimulus form natural response this
is called acquisition

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

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THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Riegel
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Skinner

American psychologist Positive reinforcement – a Using positive or negative reinforcement can affect children’s
Invented the skinner box positive reinforcer is a stimulus behaviour
that, when presented after a
response, strengthens the response

Negative reinforcement – a
negative reinforcer is any stimulus
that, when removed after a
response, strengthens the response

ABCs of behaviour
Antecedent, behaviour,
consequence

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Watson

American psychologist Theory on behaviourism He thought he could turn his children into anything he wanted through
Developed behaviourism conditioning; however, that is not an effective approach to parenting
The “little albert” experiment because children should be encouraged through love and affection

Classical conditioning

Operant conditioning

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

 Kwolberg

American psychologist 6 stages of moral development Children learn about moral development will guide them to a good
Known for his moral development conscience that will be carried with them through many life situations
theory Preconventional, conventional,
post-conventional

Stage 1 obedience and punishment

Stage 2 personal interest

Stage 3 international accord (good

and bad intentions)

Stage 4 authority and maintaining

social order

Stage 5 social contract

Stage 6 universal ethical principles

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Bandura
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Mishel

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Pearlin

THEORIST THEORY IMPORTANCE TO PARENTING

Sheehy
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Fowler