CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Psychoanalytic and Cognitive Theories

TODAY

We will come up with our own theories using the

scientific method

Freud’s psychosexual theory

Erikson’s psychosocial theory

Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory

Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

A 3 step way to get information that is accurate• Conceptualise the problem• Collect data• Draw conclusions• Revise research conclusions and theory

A hypothesis is a specific testable assumption or

prediction.

A theory is an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that

helps to explain a phenomena and makes predictions.

LETS USE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Is Obama a good president?

Well, he has tried to reform healthcare, he has succeeded in

lowering gas prices and unemployment. He is for women’s

health.

He must be a good president

In a month I will find some more

Information and see if I need to revise my

theory.

FREUD’S THEORY

Personality has 3 structures• Id• Ego• Super ego

Freud believed problems were a result of early life experiences. His theory centers around unconscious thought.

FREUDIAN STAGES

Freud believed we go through 5 stages of psychosexual

development. Pleasure and sexual impulses shift throughout.

Oral- mouth (Birth-1.5-years).

Anal- anus (1.5-3-years).

Phallic- genitals (3-6-years)

Latency- represses sexual interest for social and intellectual skills

(6-puberty)

Genital- sexual reawakening where sexual pleasure becomes

someone out of the family (puberty onward).

ERIKSON’S THEORY

8 stages of development unfold as we go through

life.

Each stage consists of a unique developmental task

and a crisis to be resolved.

The crisis is not a catastrophe, but a turning point

where the person is increasingly vulnerable and also

has enhanced potential to grow.

ERIKSON’S FIRST 4 STAGES

TRUST V. MISTRUST (1st year)• Is the world a good place to live?

AUTONOMY V. SHAME AND DOUBT (1-3 years)• Am I independent and separate from others?

INITIATIVE V.GUILT (3-5 years preschool)• Am I responsible for my behavior, toys, pets, body?

INDUSTRY V. INFERIORITY (6-puberty)• Am I knowledgeable?

COGNITIVE THEORIES:P IAGET

Swiss Psychologist (1896-1980).

Observed his own children to develop

theories.Observed children’s mistakes made in

classrooms. Changed thinking about development of mind in childhood.

PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Children actively construct their

understanding of the world.

Children progress through four stages of

cognitive development.

Two processes underlie development:

assimilation and accommodation.

ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMMODATION

ASSIMILATION-incorporating new information into

existing knowledge.

ACCOMMODATION-adjusting existing knowledge

to new information.

PIAGET’S STAGES

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 yrs.)

Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs.)

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 yrs.)

Formal Operational Stage (11 and up)

SENSORIMOTOR STAGE0-2 YEARS

Infants construct an understanding of the world by

coordinating sensory experiences with physical,

motor actions.

At the beginning, newborns are limited to reflexive

patterns.

By the end, 2-year-olds are beginning to operate

with primitive symbols.

PREOPERATIONAL STAGE 2 -7 YEARS

Children begin to represent the world with words,

images and drawings.

Increased symbolic thinking going beyond sensory

information paired with physical action

Very egocentric in speech and thought

Child still lacks the ability to preform operations

DEFINITION OF OPERATIONS

Internalized mental actions

that allow children to do

mentally what they previously

did physically.

VYGOTSKY’S THEORIES

Russian developmentalist (1896-1934)

Shares Piaget’s view that children actively

construct their knowledge.

Emphasizes developmental analysis, the role of

language, and social relations.

Like Piaget, Vygotsky’s ideas were not introduced

in America until the 1960s.

LEV S. VYGOTSKY

Proposed a sociocultural theory that was not

published until he died because of controversy.• Cognitive development results from social

interactions between members of a group.

Language would not exist without society.

We create “tools” within our society that aid in

cognitive development

VYGOTSKY’S THEORIES

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)- Tasks too difficult for

children to master alone can be mastered with assistance from adults.

The gap between child’s independent performance and the child’s

assisted performance.

Scaffolding-Assistance provided by another.

Learning is a social activity.

Cognitive skills develop through social interaction (opposite Piaget)

Dramatic play is of most interest to Vygotsky

SCAFFOLDING

An example of scaffolding is a motherHelping her child complete a puzzle

The puzzle has to be hard enough to interest the child, but not too hard to deter the child from trying