Grand Theories Of Child Development Essay

Now that you know a little more about these theories in Developmental psychology I can tell you about some of my generalizations about psychology and the things that are involved with it. I think psychology is a mind boggling class because you never know or think that one theory is completely right, at least in my mind, because so many theories can applied to everyone's life. Most of the general population do so many things in their everyday life that they just do naturally and don't even think anything of it, no questions on why they do those things. I learned a lot by just reading articles on the different theories in developmental psychology, that it makes me think to much about how many details there are and probably that is in other types of psychology.

There are various theories of development that provide a strategic framework on how individuals and societies interpret the growth. development and learning of human beings. Throughout the history of psychology, psychologists have proposed numerous theories to predict and interpret different aspects of human behavior. Some theories are well-supported by researchers; and others, are still under examination or partially accepted by researchers. Two theories, Erikson's Theory of Psychological Development, and Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development are both well-accepted and have helped to contribute to our knowledge of the human mind and behavior. Theories such as Freud's Psychosexual Theory have not had much success and have been replaced by other theories to explain human growth and development. Spiritual development is a dimension that has as much significance as psychological and cognitive development.

Psychoanalytic theories describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Psychoanalytic theorists emphasize that behavior is merely a surface characteristic and that true understanding of development requires analyzing the symbolic meanings of behavior and the deep inner workings of the mind. They also stress that the experiences children have with their parents earlier on in life shape development. The psychoanalytic theory highlighted by Sigmund Freud who was born in 1856 and died in 1939. As he listened to and examine his parents he was influenced they were the result of experiences early in life. He thought that as children grow up, their focus of pleasure and sexual impulses shifts from the mouth to the anus and eventually to the genitals. As a result, we go through five stages of psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. The oral stage is when the infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth, the anal stage is when

The second theory examined is Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Each stage in Erikson’s theory involves a conflict/crisis that a person must work through to evolve their personality. Rosenthal (1981) explains that, “Each stage arises because a new dimension of social interaction

Development of a person throughout his or her whole lifetime can be seen either as a continuous process or as a final status to be attained. Psychologists agree

There are many different theories of development which we use to understand children’s behaviour, reactions and the way in which they learn.

In the 2nd stage, year 1 to 3, Freud described this as the anal stage and Erikson described this as autonomy vs. shame and doubt. Both believed children develop the sense of independent at this stage. During the 3rd stage, ages 3-6, we begin to see the differences in both Freud’s and Erikson’s theories. Freud called this stage the phallic stage. During this stage Freud believed children begin to develop pleasure in genitals, recognize their gender and develop self-esteem. Erikson referred this stage as initiative vs. guilt as children begin their preschool years. Children begin to face new challenges, explore beyond themselves and develop a sense of initiative. If criticized or punished they begin to feel guilty for their actions. Ages 7 to 11 is the 4th developmental stage. Freud

There are many theories of development, but some are more influential and have inspired a lot of

Key concepts of developmental theory include that development is separated into domains of developmental theory such as physical, social/emotional and cognitive. Development occurs in stages that are generally age related. Each stage is defined by a set of typical skills or understanding that children would normally

Theories of development offer insights into the forces guiding childhood growth and what can affect them.

Developmental theories provide a set of guiding principles and concepts that describe and explain human development. Some developmental theories focus on the formation of a specific quality, such as Kohlberg 's theory of moral development. Other developmental theories focus on growth that happens throughout the lifespan, such as Erikson 's

The Development theories are so important to discover since they improve our understanding of human growth. There are theories set to prove that human development is created by nature and nurture. On the other hand, there are some theories that take a strong position that nurture is more important than

One of Freud’s most relevant theories is his Theory of Psychosexual Development which seeks to explain sexual development from infancy to adulthood. This theory describes sexual development via five main phases. In the

If two children were being observed by some of the childhood development theorists such as Freud, Piaget, Skinner, Bandura, and Bronfenbrenner although each would see all five of the areas of growth, each would probably focus on their interpretation of social and emotional grown, and possible on language and cognitive abilities with a passing nod to physical growth.

Psychoanalytic theory was widely popularized by Sigmund Freud, and postulates that there are reasons affecting the