KEMELA JOY S.

BIÑAS Med THE-A

OUTPUT NO. 3

Child development theories focus on explaining how children change and grow over the course of childhood. Such theories center on various aspects of development including
social, emotional, and cognitive growth.
The study of human development is a rich and varied subject. We all have personal experience with development, but it is sometimes difficult to understand how
and why people grow, learn, and act as they do.
Major Child Development
Theorist Theory Critique
Theories
Piaget's theory has some
Cognitive theory is concerned with the development of a person's thought shortcomings, including
Cognitive Development processes. It also looks at how these thought processes influence how we overestimating the ability of
Jean William understand and interact with the world. adolescence and
Theory Fritz Piaget underestimating infant's
Piaget then proposed a theory of cognitive development to account for the capacity. Piaget also
steps and sequence of children's intellectual development. neglected cultural and
social interaction factors in
Sensorimotor Stage: A period of time between birth and age two during the development of
which an infant's knowledge of the world is limited to his or her sensory children's cognition and
perceptions and motor activities. Behaviors are limited to simple motor thinking ability.
responses caused by sensory stimuli.
Pre-Operational Stage: A period between ages 2 and 6 during which a child Piaget's Theory Differs
learns to use language. During this stage, children do not yet understand From Others In Several
concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate information and are unable to Ways:
take the point of view of other people. Children's ability to
Concrete Operational Stage: A period between ages 7 and 11 during which understand, think about
children gain a better understanding of mental operations. Children begin and solve problems in the
thinking logically about concrete events but have difficulty understanding world develops in a stop-
abstract or hypothetical concepts. start, discontinuous
Formal Operational Stage: A period between age 12 to adulthood when manner (rather than
people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts. Skills such as gradual changes over time).
logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic planning also emerge It is concerned with
during this stage. children, rather than all
learners.
Urie Bronfenbrenner recognized there are multiple aspects of a developing Bronfenbrenner's ecological
Ecological Systems Theory
Bronfenbrenner child’s life that interacts with and affects the child. His work looked theory of development has
beyond individual development, taking into account wider influencing proven to be beneficial in
providing an insight into all
factors and the context (or ecology) of development. He proposed the
the factors that play a role
‘Ecological Systems Theory’ based on these dynamic interactions
in the growth and
that the environments have on the developing child.
development of individuals.
It also shows how all the
Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory views child factors are related to each
development as a complex system of relationships affected by multiple other and impact on the
levels of the surrounding environment, from immediate settings of development cycle.
family and school to broad cultural values, laws, and customs.
 To study a child's development then, we must look not only at
the child and her immediate environment, but also at the interaction Another limitation with
of the larger environment as well. Bronfenbrenner's theory is
Bronfenbrenner divided the person's environment into five that it is difficult to
empirically test the theory.
different systems: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the
The studies investigating
exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystemm.
the ecological systems may
The microsystem is the most influential level of the ecological establish an effect, but they
systems theory. This is the most immediate environmental settings cannot establish whether
containing the developing child, such as family and school. the systems are the direct
Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory has implications for cause of such effects.
educational practice.

Pros: Vygotsky's theory on

Another psychologist named Lev Vygotsky proposed a seminal social constructivism was
the theory that often is
learning theory that has gone on to become very influential, especially
Lev compared to Piaget.
in the field of education. Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that children
Sociocultural Theory However, his theory has
Semyonovich learn actively and through hands-on experiences.
provided education with key
Vygotsky
fundamentals and skills
His sociocultural theory also suggested that parents, caregivers, peers that needs to be
and the culture at large were responsible for developing higher-order implemented into our daily
functions. In Vygotsky's view, learning is an inherently social process. lessons across all subject
Through interacting with others, learning becomes integrated into an areas.
individual's understanding of the world.
Some weaknesses of the
sociocultural theory
This child development theory also introduced the concept of the zone
include: It can't be applied
of proximal development, which is the gap between what a person
to all cultures because not
can do with help and what they can do on their own. It is with the
all cultures have social
help of more knowledgeable others that people are able to interaction. It only focuses
progressively learn and increase their skills and scope of on the interaction of people
understanding. and their culture, but it
doesn't focus on other
factors such as genetics or
biology. It does not account
for individual differences.
 This view, and the
Attachment Theory attachment theory that
There is a great deal of research on the social development of grew from it, has had a
Edward John children. John Bowbly proposed one of the earliest theories of social tremendous influence on
development. Bowlby believed that early relationships with caregivers care practices. For
Mostyn Bowlby
play a major role in child development and continue to influence social example, it has impacted
relationships throughout life. on: the provision of
alternative care for
Bowlby's attachment theory suggested that children are born with an children and the
innate need to form attachments. Such attachments aid in survival by development of
ensuring that the child receives care and protection. Not only that, keyworker schemes (in
but these attachments are characterized by clear behavioral and daycare, children's
motivational patterns. homes and foster care).

In other words, both children and caregivers engage in behaviors A serious limitation of
designed to ensure proximity. Children strive to stay close and attachment theory is its
connected to their caregivers who in turn provide a safe haven and a failure to recognize the
secure base for exploration. profound influences of
social class, gender,
Researchers have also expanded upon Bowlby's original work and ethnicity, and culture on
have suggested that a number of different attachment styles exist. personality development.
Children who receive consistent support and care are more likely to These factors,
develop a secure attachment style, while those who receive less independent of a
reliable care may develop an ambivalent, avoidant, or disorganized mother's sensitivity, can
style. be as significant as the
quality of the early
attachment.
 Erikson's eight-stage theory of psychosocial development describes growth and Erikson's psychosocial
change throughout life, focusing on social interaction and conflicts that arise during theory essentially
Psychosocial Developmental Erik different stages of development. states that each
Theory Homburger person experiences
Erikson While Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development shared some similarities with eight 'psychosocial
Freud's, it is dramatically different in many ways. Rather than focusing on sexual crises' (internal
interest as a driving force in development, Erikson believed that social interaction conflicts linked to
and experience played decisive roles. life's key stages) which
help to define his or
His eight-stage theory of human development described this process from infancy her growth and
through death. During each stage, people are faced with a developmental conflict personality.
that impacts later functioning and further growth.
One major weakness
Unlike many other developmental theories, Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory of psychosocial theory
focuses on development across the entire lifespan. At each stage, children and is that the exact
adults face a developmental crisis that serves as a major turning point. mechanisms for
resolving conflicts and
Successfully managing the challenges of each stage leads to the emergence of a moving from one stage
lifelong psychological virtue. to the next are not
well described or
developed.
Behaviorism is based
During the first half of the twentieth century, a new school of thought upon observable
Behavioral Theories behaviors, so it is
known as behaviorism rose to become a dominant force within psychology.
easier to quantify and
Behaviorists believed that psychology needed to focus only on observable
collect data and
and quantifiable behaviors in order to become a more scientific discipline. information when
conducting research.
According to the behavioral perspective, all human behavior can be Since research and
described in terms of environmental influences. Some behaviorists, such as experiment is a very
John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner an Ivan Pavlov, insisted that learning occurs powerful tool in
purely through processes of association and reinforcement. providing
explanations and clear
Behavioral theories of child development focus on how environmental evidences about a
interaction influences behavior and is based on the theories of theorists certain phenomenon,
early theorists and
such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner. These theories
proponents of
deal only with observable behaviors. Development is considered a reaction behaviorism took
to rewards, punishments, stimuli, and reinforcement. pride in initiating the
studies of observable
behaviors rather than
 This theory differs considerably from other child development theories those that cannot be
because it gives no consideration to internal thoughts or feelings. Instead, it observed and
focuses purely on how experience shapes who we are. measured (like
unconsciousness and
repressed sexual
Two important types of learning that emerged from this approach to
desires as the bases
development are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical for psychodynamic
conditioning involves learning by pairing a naturally occurring stimulus theory).
with a previously neutral stimulus. Operant conditioning utilizes
reinforcement and punishment to modify behaviors. Other critics of
behavioral learning
say that the theory
doesn't encompass
enough of human
learning and behavior,
and that it's not fully
developed. Other
theories have come
forward that take
behaviorism further,
implying that there
are many additional
factors to consider
when evaluating
behavior.

References: https://www.verywellmind.com/child-development-theories-2795068#toc-bowlbys-attachment-theory; https://mind.help/topic/attachments/; https://www.simplypsychology.org/Bronfenbrenner.html