THEORIES OF SOCIAL

DEVELOPMENT
Module 3
Psychology 315

Kyle Danielson
Cognitive and social development
Cognitive development
Perception
Attention
Language
Problem-solving and
reasoning
Memory
Conceptual understanding
Social development
Emotions
Personality
Family & peer relationships
Self-understanding
Aggression
Moral & prosocial
understanding
Theories of social development explain
how childrens development is influenced by the people
around them
how human beings affect and interact with each other

Theories of social development
1. Psychoanalytic theories
Freud, Erikson
2. Learning theories
Behaviourist learning theories (e.g., Watson, Skinner)
Social learning theories (e.g., Bandura)
3. Social cognition theories
Selman, Dodge, Dweck
4. Ecological and evolutionary theories
1. Ethology/Evolutionary Psychology theories
2. Bioecological theories (e.g., Bronfenbrenner)
1. Psychoanalytic theories
Freud and Erikson believed that social
development is driven by biological maturation
Freuds developmental process
Id
Unconscious biological drives present at birth
Most primitive personality structure
Ordered toward pleasure
Ego
Emerges at the end of the first year
Rational, logical, problem-solving
Superego
Emerges between ages 3 and 6
Based on the childs internalization of ambient beliefs, norms,
etc.
1. Psychoanalytic theories
Erik Erikson developed a theory of psychosocial
development, which consists of these phases:
Stage Description
Trust vs. Mistrust
(first year)
Developing trust in other people is the crucial issue.
Autonomy vs.
Shame and doubt
(13! years)
The challenge is to achieve a strong sense of
autonomy while adjusting to increased social
demands.
Initiative vs. Guilt
(46 years)
Resolved when the child develops high standards
and the initiative to meet them without being crushed
by worry about not being able to measure up.
Industry vs.
Inferiority
(6puberty)
The child must master cognitive and social skills,
learn to work industriously, and play well with others.
Identity vs. Role
Confusion
(adolescenceearly
adulthood)
Adolescents must resolve the question of who they
really are or live in confusion about what roles they
should play as adults.
1. Psychoanalytic theories
Today, psychologists continue to rely on Freuds
emphasis on:
The importance of early relationships
The role of the subconscious
Eriksons work continues
to be important in our
understanding of identity
development
2. Learning theories
Learning theorists focus on the importance of experience.
Experience is the most important factor in a childs social
and personality development.
Learning theories are continuous: the same mechanisms
control learning and behaviour throughout life
Behaviourist learningchildren learn through
conditioning and reinforcement

Social learningchildren learn through observation and
imitation of others
2a. Learning theories: Behaviourism
John Watsonfounder of
behaviourism
Classic conditioning based on
associations
Watson: Little Albert experiment;
strict parenting
Systematic desensitization to
eliminate phobias
Operant conditioning based on reinforcement and
punishment
Skinner: good behaviour is rewarded; bad behaviour is punished
Intermittent reinforcement does not change behaviour effectively

2b. Learning theories: Social learning
Observation and imitation of others are the mechanisms
of change in this theory

Albert Bandura
Interaction between childrens behaviour and their social
environment (reciprocal determinism)
Preschool children acquire new behaviours by observing others,
particularly when others are rewarded for the behaviour
(vicarious reinforcement)
Bandura described the cognitive mechanisms behind
social learning:
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
Social learning theory is still widely used today
Selective social learningindividuals preferences to learn from
some people and not from othershas become a popular topic of
research
In-group vs. out-group
Reliable vs. unreliable
2b. Learning theories: Social learning
3. Social cognition theories
Social cognition theories focus more on internal and
cognitive processes in a childs social development
thoughts
feelings
motives
expectations
intentions
Important names: Selman, Dodge, Dweck
3. Social cognition theories: Selman &
Dodge
Selmans stage theory of role taking
Children must learn to take on the perspective of others in order to
understand social relationships
Selman believed that children were unable to do this until 6
years of age
Given more recent experimental data, do we still think that this is
completely true?
Dodges information-processing theory
Emphasized cognitive processes, such as interpretation
Agression as a problem solving-strategy
Hostile attribution bias
3. Social cognition theories: Dweck
Carol Dwecks theory of self-attributions and
achievement motivation
Focuses on childrens tendency to attribute characteristics to
themselves
Entity/helpless
orientation
Incremental/mastery
orientation
Base self-worth on
approval
Only try to do things
that are easy for
them
Low self-esteem
Attribute success and
failure to the amount
of work put in
Persist in solving
hard problems
Higher self-esteem
3. Social cognition theories: Dweck
The two orientations extend from two theories that
children might have about their own intelligence
Entity theorya persons level of intelligence is fixed and cannot
change
Failure indicates to this type of child that they are not smart enough

Incremental theorya persons level of intelligence changes
based on experience
These children try harder in the face of failure
Giving children praise for unchangeable traits may lead to
entity theory
Giving children praise for hard work may lead to
incremental theory
4. Ecological theories of development
Ethological and evolutionary models
Ethologythe study of animal behaviour
We know that evolution influenced human traits such as
bipedalism, opposable thumbs, and brain size
"so it makes sense that evolution also influenced our
behaviour
Evolution is geared toward reproduction and survival.
Certain genes predispose individuals to behave in ways
that are more successful toward these goals.
4. Ecological theories of development:
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology emphasizes the survival/
adaptive value of human behaviours
Parental-investment theory
claims that parents are so
highly invested in their children
because it is evolutionary
expedient
More caring parents have
children that survive
longer and that produce
more offspring in the
genetic line
4. Ecological theories of development:
The Bioecological Model
Brofenbrenner: a childs environment is composed of multiple
layers, extending from the child at the centre, outward to the
entire society.
Microsystema persons immediate environment with which
they interact
Mesosystemthe connections between various microsystems
Exosystemenvironmental settings that an individual does
not necessarily experience, but which affect him/her
Macrosystemthe larger cultural context that contains the
above systems
Chronosystemhistorical context that influence the other
systems
Theories of social development
1. Psychoanalytic theories
Freud, Erikson
2. Learning theories
Behaviourist learning theories (e.g., Watson, Skinner)
Social learning theories (e.g., Bandura)
3. Social cognition theories
Selman, Dodge, Dweck
4. Ecological and evolutionary theories
1. Ethology/Evolutionary Psychology theories
2. Bioecological theories (e.g., Bronfenbrenner)