Major Theories of Child Development

Behavioral Theorist

• John B. Watson is known as the founder of behaviorism. He teamed up with B.F. Skinner to broaden his theory and perform experiments. When studying a group of infants, they believed the babies behavior resulted from their enviornment, and not how the parents raised them or genetics.
• Ian Pavlov tested this theory on a group of dogs. Before every feeding Pavlov would ring a bell then place food down for the dogs. After awhile of the dogs being used to this enviornment, they would salivate at the sound of a bell expecting food. He believed that this proved the theory by showing the things we experience in our enviornment drives our behavior.

Theorists

Critiques

• Does not account for other types of learning that occur without the use of reinforcement or punishment
• Some argue this approach is one sided and does not account for things such as moods, emotions or thoughts.
• Works well for subjects that require repetition (foreign language &math) but can be hard for subjects such as English
• Is not fully developed, other theories have built on behaviroism and expanded the ideas

Critiques

Application with children birth- 36 months

• Babies realize early on that if they cry, they will eventually get what they want. Since they can not communicate verbally, they use cries to engage with caretakers. These cries could mean the baby is hungry, needs a diaper change or doesn't feel well. The repetition of the cry and the positive reward of getting what they want can be seen as behaviorism.
• Another example that comes to mind is potty training. Most parents start this process between 2-3 years of age. Children begin to realize if they use the potty, they typically get rewarded.

Application

Critiques

• Lack of structure; not all students thrive off of self learning. Many students learn better with structure and direction
• Less concerned with grades/ standards met and more concerned with personal student progress

Critiques

Constructivists Theorists

• John Dewey is known as the founder of constructivism. He based his theory off of continuity and interaction.
• Jean Piaget also believed in constructivism but beleived children must reach a certain level of maturaty before being able to learn. He developed his own cognitive development theory to further explain this.
• Jerome Burner added the idea of discovery learning to constructivism. This idea states that when faced with a problem, learners will use past knowledge to discover solutions.

Theorists

Application from birth-36 months

• Interactive learning, building off what is already known
• Letting children explore and learn by asking questions instead of giving instruction
• Teacher/ parent is negotiater and not authority figure
• Students work in groups rather than alone
• Babies are given sensory toys to learn the 5 senses on their own

Application

Theorist

The ecological theory was created by Urie Bronfenbrenner who was very critical of previous child development theories. He beleived that a child working in a lab with strangers did not give accurate information. His work took into account all interactions and relationships, instead of just one direct interaction. He wanted to study children in many different environments with different adults around. His theory shows the diversity of interactions/ enviornments and the affects it has on children's growth.

Theorists

Critiques

• Difficult to intepert and evaluate with complex model
• Ignores consideration of human-nature interactions
• Limited research in mesosystems
• Can be vague

Critiques

Application from birth-36 months

This theory would be used in a classroom that focuses on internal factors and enviornment. The classroom would be set up to help children regulate and control their own behavior. This theory addresses all forms of learning, instead of just one.

Application

Theorists

In the 20th century clinical psychologist Arnold Gessel gathered a group of children and studied them through adulthood. He then created the Maturational theory of development based off of his observations. Gessel believed development was a biological process that occured automatically in predictable sequences.

Theorists

Critiques

• Many theorists believed enviornment also affected development regardless of heredity and genetics
• Some milestones Gesell listed were incorrect and not accurate with development
• Only used white, upper class children in his sample

Critque

Application from birth-36 months

We know that children typically follow the same developmental track, especially as newborns. Babies babble, make noises, then talk. They roll, crawl and then walk. It starts getting more complicated as they grow older. Not every child potty trains or starts solids at the same time. This theory may work better for younger children but gets more complex as they grow older.

Application

Lev Vygotsky

• Vygotsky beleived that development occured from the help of parents,caregivers, peers and surrounding culture. He believed that interaction was the basis of learning.

Theorists

Critiques

• Does not account for slower development and cognitive growth in some children
• Does not take genetics into account
• Does not take passive experiences into account

Critiques

Application from birth-36 months

This theory in use would involve the teacher being heavily interactive with the children. If all learning at school comes from teachers, they must be focused on the children at all times. In the infant room this is standard as teachers do everything for the children. As the children get older, this may become more difficult to teach 10-15 kids every detail about life.

Application

Theorists

• The main theorists for attachment theory are John Bowbly and Mary Ainsworth. They worked together to establish the different forms of attachment, the phases of attachment and the effects of attachment on development.

Theorists

Critiques

• Does not take into account social class, gender, ethnicity, and culture on personality development
• Does not take into account the mothers attachment style or personality

Critiques

Application from birth-36 months

This theory can be hard to work with for both parents and teachers. Depending on the attachment style, this could make development harder for children. If they have an anxious attachment style, children may not perform activites by themselves. This can make it harder for independence in a classroom.

Application

Sigmund Freud

Freud did many experiments on different kinds of people to create this theory of psychoanalytical development. He performed several types of therapies, in the consious and unconsious states, to expand his theory. Several of his ideas are hard to interpert in todays time.

Theorists

Critiques

• Places to much emphasis on development occuring completley in childhood
• Uses techniques that are uncommon and hard to understand
• Lack of other factors such as culture
• Overemphasizes biology and unconsious forces

Critiques

Application from birth-36 months

I beleive this developmental theory is used the least in today's time. It is hard for parents or teachers to perform unconsious therapy on any child. The ideas are outdated and do not make sense for our time.

Application