ED 11 NOTES

By: Farah Rochel P. Elopre

Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory

Models of the Mind

Perhaps the most impactful idea put forth by Freud was his model of the human mind. His model divides the
mind into three layers, or regions:

1. Conscious: This is where our current thoughts, feelings, and focus live;
2. Preconscious (sometimes called the subconscious): This is the home of everything we can recall or
retrieve from our memory;
3. Unconscious: At the deepest level of our minds resides a repository of the processes that drive our
behavior, including primitive and instinctual desires (McLeod, 2013).

Later, Freud posited a more structured model of the mind, one that can coexist with his original ideas about
consciousness and unconsciousness.

In this model, there are three metaphorical parts to the mind:

 1. Id: The id operates at an unconscious level and focuses solely on instinctual drives and desires. Two
biological instincts make up the id, according to Freud: eros, or the instinct to survive that drives us to
engage in life-sustaining activities, and thanatos, or the death instinct that drives destructive, aggressive,
and violent behavior.
2. Ego: The ego acts as both a conduit for and a check on the id, working to meet the id’s needs in a
socially appropriate way. It is the most tied to reality and begins to develop in infancy;
3. Superego: The superego is the portion of the mind in which morality and higher principles reside,
encouraging us to act in socially and morally acceptable ways (McLeod, 2013).

The image above offers a context of this “iceberg” model wherein much of our mind exists in the realm of the
unconscious impulses and drives.

Defense Mechanisms

Freud believed these three parts of the mind are in constant conflict because each part has a different primary
goal. Sometimes, when the conflict is too much for a person to handle, his or her ego may engage in one or
many defense mechanisms to protect the individual.

These defense mechanisms include:

 Repression - The ego pushes disturbing or threatening thoughts out of one’s consciousness;
 Denial - The ego blocks upsetting or overwhelming experiences from awareness, causing the individual
to refuse to acknowledge or believe what is happening;
 Projection - The ego attempts to solve discomfort by attributing the individual’s unacceptable thoughts,
feelings, and motives to another person;
 Displacement - The individual satisfies an impulse by acting on a substitute object or person in a
socially unacceptable way (e.g., releasing frustration directed toward your boss on your spouse instead);
 Regression -  As a defense mechanism, the individual moves backward in development in order to cope
with stress (e.g., an overwhelmed adult acting like a child);
 Sublimation - Similar to displacement, this defense mechanism involves satisfying an impulse by acting
on a substitute but in a socially acceptable way (e.g., channeling energy into work or a constructive
hobby) (McLeod, 2013).

The 5 Psychosexual Stages of Development

Finally, one of the most enduring concepts associated with Freud is his psychosexual stages. Freud proposed
that children develop in five distinct stages, each focused on a different source of pleasure:

First Stage:

 Oral—the child seeks pleasure from the mouth (e.g., sucking);

Second Stage: 

 Anal—the child seeks pleasure from the anus (e.g., withholding and expelling feces);

Third Stage:

 Phallic—the child seeks pleasure from the penis or clitoris (e.g., masturbation);

Fourth Stage:

 Latent—the child has little or no sexual motivation;

Fifth Stage: 

 Genital—the child seeks pleasure from the penis or vagina (e.g., sexual intercourse; McLeod,
2013).

Freud hypothesized that an individual must successfully complete each stage to become a psychologically
healthy adult with a fully formed ego and superego. Otherwise, individuals may become stuck or “fixated” in a
particular stage, causing emotional and behavioral problems in adulthood (McLeod, 2013).

Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which the pleasure-
seeking energies of the id become focused on certain erogenous areas. An erogenous zone is characterized as an
area of the body that is particularly sensitive to stimulation.

During the five psychosexual stages, which are the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital stages, the erogenous
zone associated with each stage serves as a source of pleasure.

The psychosexual energy, or libido, was described as the driving force behind behavior.

Psychoanalytic theory suggested that personality is mostly established by the age of five. Early experiences play
a large role in personality development and continue to influence behavior later in life.

Each stage of development is marked by conflicts that can help build growth or stifle development, depending
upon how they are resolved. If these psychosexual stages are completed successfully, a healthy personality is
the result.
If certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, fixations can occur. A fixation is a persistent focus on
an earlier psychosexual stage. Until this conflict is resolved, the individual will remain "stuck" in this stage. A
person who is fixated at the oral stage, for example, may be over-dependent on others and may seek oral
stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating.

The Oral Stage

Age Range: Birth to 1 Year
Erogenous Zone: Mouth
During the oral stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so the rooting and
sucking reflex is especially important. The mouth is vital for eating, and the infant derives pleasure from oral
stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking.

Because the infant is entirely dependent upon caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the child), the
child also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation.

The primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process--the child must become less dependent upon
caretakers. If fixation occurs at this stage, Freud believed the individual would have issues with dependency
or aggression. Oral fixation can result in problems with drinking, eating, smoking, or nail-biting.

The Anal Stage

Age Range: 1 to 3 years
Erogenous Zone: Bowel and Bladder Control
During the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling bladder and bowel
movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet training—the child has to learn to control their bodily
needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence.

According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in which parents approach toilet training.
Parents who utilize praise and rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate time encourage positive outcomes
and help children feel capable and productive.

Freud believed that positive experiences during the toilet training stage serve as the basis for people to become
competent, productive, and creative adults.
However, not all parents provide the support and encouragement that children need during this stage. Some
parents punish, ridicule, or shame a child for accidents.

According to Freud, inappropriate parental responses can result in negative outcomes. If parents take an
approach that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an anal-expulsive personality could develop in which the
individual has a messy, wasteful, or destructive personality.

If parents are too strict or begin toilet training too early, Freud believed that an anal-retentive
personality develops in which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid, and obsessive.

The Phallic Stage

Age Range: 3 to 6 Years
Erogenous Zone: Genitals
Freud suggested that during the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals. At this age,
children also begin to discover the differences between males and females.

Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s affections. The Oedipus
complex describes these feelings of wanting to possess the mother and the desire to replace the father.
However, the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for these feelings, a fear Freud
termed castration anxiety.

The term Electra complex has been used to describe a similar set of feelings experienced by young girls. Freud,
however, believed that girls instead experience penis envy.

Eventually, the child begins to identify with the same-sex parent as a means of vicariously possessing the other
parent. For girls, however, Freud believed that penis envy was never fully resolved and that all women remain
somewhat fixated on this stage.

The Latent Period

Age Range: 6 to Puberty
Erogenous Zone: Sexual Feelings Are Inactive
During this stage, the superego continues to develop while the id's energies are suppressed. Children develop
social skills, values and relationships with peers and adults outside of the family.
The development of the ego and superego contribute to this period of calm. The stage begins around the time
that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer relationships, hobbies, and other interests.

The latent period is a time of exploration in which the sexual energy repressed or dormant. This energy is still
present, but it is sublimated into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and social interactions. This stage is
important in the development of social and communication skills and self-confidence.

As with the other psychosexual stages, Freud believed that it was possible for children to become fixated or
"stuck" in this phase. Fixation at this stage can result in immaturity and an inability to form fulfilling
relationships as an adult.

The Genital Stage

Age Range: Puberty to Death
Erogenous Zone: Maturing Sexual Interests
The onset of puberty causes the libido to become active once again. During the final stage of psychosexual
development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This stage begins during
puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life.

Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in the welfare of others grows during
this stage. The goal of this stage is to establish a balance between the various life areas.

If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual should now be well-balanced, warm, and
caring.

Unlike the many of the earlier stages of development, Freud believed that the ego and superego were fully
formed and functioning at this point. Younger children are ruled by the id, which demands immediate
satisfaction of the most basic needs and wants.

Teens in the genital stage of development are able to balance their most basic urges against the need to conform
to the demands of reality and social norms.
Fixation
 Obsessive drive that may or may not be acted on involving an object, concept, or person. Initially
introduced by Sigmund Freud, a fixation is a persistent focus of the id’s pleasure-seeking energies at an
early stage of psychosexual development. Oral, anal, and phallic fixations occur when an issue or
conflict in a psychosexual stage remains unresolved, leaving the individual focused on this stage and
unable to move onto the next.
For example, individuals with oral fixations may have problems with drinking, smoking, eating, or nail-biting.

How Fixations Develop

According to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, children develop through a series of psychosexual stages during
which the id’s libidinal energies become focused on different areas of the body.

The Id and Libidinal Energies

The id, the only aspect of the mind thought to be present at birth, operates on the pleasure principle on an
unconscious level. Libidinal energies, otherwise known as the libido, are considered biological and sexual
drives and desires that are heavily influenced by the id. The id drives the libido, seeking out the most
pleasurable situations possible.

During the anal stage, for example, a child supposedly gains a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment by
controlling his or her bladder and bowel movements. So what does this have to do with the development of a
fixation?

Freud believed that the development of a healthy adult personality was the result of successfully completing
each of the psychosexual stages. At each point in development, children face a conflict that must be resolved in
order to move on successfully to the next stage. How this conflict is resolved plays a role in the formation of
adult personality.

Failing to successfully complete a stage, Freud suggested, would cause that person to remain essentially
“stuck.” In other words, they would become fixated at that point in development. Freud also believed that
fixations could result if a particular stage left a dominant impression on an individual's personality.

Resolving the psychosexual conflicts requires a considerable amount of the libido’s energy. If a great deal of
this energy is expended at a particular point in development, the events of that stage may ultimately leave a
stronger impression on that individual’s personality.
Examples of Fixations
There are multiple ways the three fixations mentioned above may manifest in different individuals.

Oral Fixations

The oral stage tends to occur between birth and around 18 months old, during which time the oral (feeding)
needs of the child are either met, overstimulated, or unmet. For example, Freud might suggest that if a child has
issues during the weaning process, they might develop an oral fixation.

Freud may also suggest that nail-biting, smoking, gum-chewing, and excessive drinking are signs of an oral
fixation. This would indicate that the individual did not resolve the primary conflicts during the earliest stage of
psychosexual development, the oral stage.

Anal Fixations

The second stage of psychosexual development is known as the anal stage because it is primarily focused on
controlling bowel movements. Fixations at this point in development can lead to what Freud called anal-
retentive and anal-expulsive personalities.

 Anal-retentive individuals: This group may have experienced overly strict and harsh potty training as
children and may grow to be overly obsessed with orderliness and tidiness.
 Anal-expulsive individuals: On the other hand, anal-expulsive individuals may have experienced very
lax potty training, resulting in them being very messy and disorganized as adults.

In either case, both types of fixations result from not properly resolving the critical conflict that takes place
during this stage of development.

Phallic Fixations

The phallic stage of development is primarily focused on identifying with the same-sex parent. Freud suggested
that fixations at this point could lead to adult personalities that are overly vain, exhibitionistic, and sexually
aggressive.

At this stage, boys may develop what Freud referred to as an Oedipus complex. Girls may develop an analogous
issue known as an Electra complex. If not resolved, these complexes may linger and continue to affect behavior
into adulthood.
 Erik Erikson's Psycho-Social Development Theory

Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages of psychosocial
development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which
could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development.

For Erikson (1958, 1963), these crises are of a psychosocial nature because they involve psychological needs of
the individual (i.e., psycho) conflicting with the needs of society (i.e., social).

According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and the acquisition
of basic virtues. Basic virtues are characteristic strengths which the ego can use to resolve subsequent crises.

Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and therefore a
more unhealthy personality and sense of self.  These stages, however, can be resolved successfully at a later
time.

1. Trust vs. Mistrust

Trust vs. mistrust is the first stage in Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. This stage begins at
birth continues to approximately 18 months of age. During this stage, the infant is uncertain about the world in
which they live, and looks towards their primary caregiver for stability and consistency of care.

If the care the infant receives is consistent, predictable and reliable, they will develop a sense of trust which will
carry with them to other relationships, and they will be able to feel secure even when threatened. If these needs
are not consistently met, mistrust, suspicion, and anxiety may develop. 

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of hope. By developing a sense of trust, the infant can have hope that
as new crises arise, there is a real possibility that other people will be there as a source of support. Failing to
acquire the virtue of hope will lead to the development of fear. This infant will carry the basic sense of mistrust
with them to other relationships. It may result in anxiety, heightened insecurities, and an over feeling of mistrust
in the world around them.

2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Autonomy versus shame and doubt is the second stage of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development.
This stage occurs between the ages of 18 months to approximately 3 years. According to Erikson, children at
this stage are focused on developing a sense of personal control over physical skills and a sense of
independence.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of will. If children in this stage are encouraged and supported in their
increased independence, they become more confident and secure in their own ability to survive in the world.

If children are criticized, overly controlled, or not given the opportunity to assert themselves, they begin to feel
inadequate in their ability to survive, and may then become overly dependent upon others, lack self-esteem, and
feel a sense of shame or doubt in their abilities.

The child is developing physically and becoming more mobile, and discovering that he or she has many skills
and abilities, such as putting on clothes and shoes, playing with toys, etc. Such skills illustrate the child's
growing sense of independence and autonomy.

For example, during this stage children begin to assert their independence, by walking away from their mother,
picking which toy to play with, and making choices about what they like to wear, to eat, etc.

3. Initiative vs. Guilt

During the initiative versus guilt stage, children assert themselves more frequently through directing play and
other social interaction.

These are particularly lively, rapid-developing years in a child’s life. According to Bee (1992), it is a “time of
vigor of action and of behaviors that the parents may see as aggressive."

During this period the primary feature involves the child regularly interacting with other children at school.
Central to this stage is play, as it provides children with the opportunity to explore their interpersonal skills
through initiating activities.

Children begin to plan activities, make up games, and initiate activities with others. If given this opportunity,
children develop a sense of initiative and feel secure in their ability to lead others and make decisions.

Conversely, if this tendency is squelched, either through criticism or control, children develop a sense of guilt.
The child will often overstep the mark in his forcefulness, and the danger is that the parents will tend to punish
the child and restrict his initiatives too much.
It is at this stage that the child will begin to ask many questions as his thirst for knowledge grows. If the parents
treat the child’s questions as trivial, a nuisance or embarrassing or other aspects of their behavior as threatening
then the child may have feelings of guilt for “being a nuisance”.

Too much guilt can make the child slow to interact with others and may inhibit their creativity. Some guilt is, of
course, necessary; otherwise the child would not know how to exercise self-control or have a conscience.

A healthy balance between initiative and guilt is important. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue
of purpose, while failure results in a sense of guilt.

4. Industry vs. Inferiority

Erikson's fourth psychosocial crisis, involving industry (competence) vs. Inferiority occurs during childhood
between the ages of five and twelve.

Children are at the stage where they will be learning to read and write, to do sums, to do things on their own.
Teachers begin to take an important role in the child’s life as they teach the child specific skills.

It is at this stage that the child’s peer group will gain greater significance and will become a major source of the
child’s self-esteem. The child now feels the need to win approval by demonstrating specific competencies that
are valued by society and begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments.

If children are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel industrious (competent) and feel
confident in their ability to achieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or
teacher, then the child begins to feel inferiour, doubting his own abilities and therefore may not reach his or her
potential.

If the child cannot develop the specific skill they feel society is demanding (e.g., being athletic) then they may
develop a sense of Inferiority.

Some failure may be necessary so that the child can develop some modesty. Again, a balance between
competence and modesty is necessary. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of competence.
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion
The fifth stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is identity vs. role confusion, and it occurs
during adolescence, from about 12-18 years. During this stage, adolescents search for a sense of self and
personal identity, through an intense exploration of personal values, beliefs, and goals.

During adolescence, the transition from childhood to adulthood is most important. Children are becoming more
independent, and begin to look at the future in terms of career, relationships, families, housing, etc. The
individual wants to belong to a society and fit in.

This is a major stage of development where the child has to learn the roles he will occupy as an adult. It is
during this stage that the adolescent will re-examine his identity and try to find out exactly who he or she is.
Erikson suggests that two identities are involved: the sexual and the occupational.

According to Bee (1992), what should happen at the end of this stage is “a reintegrated sense of self, of what
one wants to do or be, and of one’s appropriate sex role”. During this stage the body image of the adolescent
changes.

Erikson claims that the adolescent may feel uncomfortable about their body for a while until they can adapt and
“grow into” the changes. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of fidelity.

Fidelity involves being able to commit one's self to others on the basis of accepting others, even when there may
be ideological differences.

During this period, they explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity based upon the outcome of
their explorations. Failure to establish a sense of identity within society ("I don’t know what I want to be when I
grow up") can lead to role confusion. Role confusion involves the individual not being sure about themselves or
their place in society.

In response to role confusion or identity crisis, an adolescent may begin to experiment with different lifestyles
(e.g., work, education or political activities).

Also pressuring someone into an identity can result in rebellion in the form of establishing a negative identity,
and in addition to this feeling of unhappiness.
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation
This stage takes place during young adulthood between the ages of approximately 18 to 40 yrs. During this
stage, the major conflict centers on forming intimate, loving relationships with other people.

During this stage, we begin to share ourselves more intimately with others. We explore relationships leading
toward longer-term commitments with someone other than a family member.

Successful completion of this stage can result in happy relationships and a sense of commitment, safety, and
care within a relationship.

Avoiding intimacy, fearing commitment and relationships can lead to isolation, loneliness, and sometimes
depression. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of love.

7. Generativity vs. Stagnation

This stage takes place during during middle adulthood (ages 40 to 65 yrs).

Psychologically, generativity refers to "making your mark" on the world through creating or nurturing things
that will outlast an individual. During middle age individuals experience a need to create or nurture things that
will outlast them, often having mentees or creating positive changes that will benefit other people.

We give back to society through raising our children, being productive at work, and becoming involved in
community activities and organizations. Through generativity we develop a sense of being a part of the bigger
picture.

Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the
world.

By failing to find a way to contribute, we become stagnant and feel unproductive. These individuals may feel
disconnected or uninvolved with their community and with society as a whole. Success in this stage will lead to
the virtue of care.

8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair

This stage begins at approximately age 65 and ends at death. It is during this time that we contemplate our
accomplishments and can develop integrity if we see ourselves as leading a successful life.
Individuals who reflect on their life and regret not achieving their goals will experience feelings of bitterness
and despair.

Erikson described ego integrity as “the acceptance of one’s one and only life cycle as something that had to be”
(1950, p. 268) and later as “a sense of coherence and wholeness” (1982, p. 65).

As we grow older (65+ yrs) and become seniour citizens, we tend to slow down our productivity and explore
life as a retired person.

Erik Erikson believed if we see our lives as unproductive, feel guilt about our past, or feel that we did not
accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life and develop despair, often leading to depression and
hopelessness.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom enables a person to look back on their life with
a sense of closure and completeness, and also accept death without fear.

Wise people are not characterized by a continuous state of ego integrity, but they experience both ego integrity
and despair. Thus, late life is characterized by both integrity and despair as alternating states that need to be
balanced.
 Jean Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that intelligence changes as children grow. A
child's cognitive development is not just about acquiring knowledge, the child has to develop or
construct a mental model of the world.

Cognitive development occurs through the interaction of innate capacities and environmental events,
and children pass through a series of stages.

Important Concepts
It is important to note that Piaget did not view children's intellectual development as a quantitative process. That
is, kids do not just add more information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as they get older.

Instead, Piaget suggested that there is a qualitative change in how children think as they gradually process
through these four stages.4 At age 7, children don't just have more information about the world than they did at
age 2; there is a fundamental change in how they think about the world.

Piaget suggested several factors that influence how children learn and grow.

Schemas

 Describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are
categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.

 schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining that knowledge.3 As
experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to, or change previously existing
schemas.

For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole experience has
been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that
the child encounters an enormous dog. The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously
existing schema to include these new observations.

Assimilation

 The process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas is known as assimilation.
The process is somewhat subjective because we tend to modify experiences and information slightly to
fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is a case of
assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.

Accommodation

 Another part of adaptation is the ability to change existing schemas in light of new information; this
process is known as accommodation.5 New schemas may also be developed during this process.

Equilibration

 As children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance
between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to account for new
knowledge (accommodation).
 Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and accommodation using a
mechanism he called equilibration. Equilibration helps explain how children can move from one stage of
thought to the next.

Stages of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of
intellectual development which reflect the increasing sophistication of children's thought

Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and child development is determined by biological
maturation and interaction with the environment.
At each stage of development, the child’s thinking is qualitatively different from the other stages, that is, each
stage involves a different type of intelligence.

The Sensorimotor Stage

Ages: Birth to 2 Years

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

 The infant learns about the world through their senses and through their actions (moving around and
exploring its environment).
 During the sensorimotor stage a range of cognitive abilities develop. These include: object permanence;
self-recognition; deferred imitation; and representational play.
 They relate to the emergence of the general symbolic function, which is the capacity to represent the
world mentally
 At about 8 months the infant will understand the permanence of objects and that they will still exist even
if they can’t see them and the infant will search for them when they disappear.

During this stage the infant lives in the present. It does not yet have a mental picture of the world stored in its
memory therefore it does not have a sense of object permanence.

If it cannot see something then it does not exist. This is why you can hide a toy from an infant, while it watches,
but it will not search for the object once it has gone out of sight.

The main achievement during this stage is object permanence - knowing that an object still exists, even if it is
hidden. It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e., a schema) of the object. For example, if you
place a toy under a blanket, the child who has achieved object permanence knows it is there and can actively
seek it. At the beginning of this stage the child behaves as if the toy had simply disappeared.

Towards the end of this stage the general symbolic function begins to appear where children show in their play
that they can use one object to stand for another. Language starts to appear because they realize that words can
be used to represent objects and feelings.
The sensorimotor stage of development can be broken down into six additional sub-stages including simple
reflexes, primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of reactions, tertiary circular
reactions, and early symbolic thought.

Reflex Acts
The first substage (first month of life) is the stage of reflex acts. The neonate responds to external stimulation
with innate reflex actions.

For example, if you brush a baby’s mouth or cheek with your finger it will suck reflexively.

Primary Circular Reactions

The second substage is the stage of primary circular reactions. The baby will repeat pleasurable actions
centred on its own body.

For example, babies from 1 – 4 months old will wiggle their fingers, kick their legs and suck their thumbs.
These are not reflex actions. They are done intentionally – for the sake of the pleasurable stimulation produced.

Secondary Circular Reactions

Next comes the stage of secondary circular reactions. It typically lasts from about 4 – 8 months. Now babies
repeat pleasurable actions that involve objects as well as actions involving their own bodies.

An example of this is the infant who shakes the rattle for the pleasure of hearing the sound that it produces.

Co-ordinating Secondary Schemes

The fourth substage (from 8 – 12 months) is the stage of co-ordinating secondary schemes. Instead of simply
prolonging interesting events, babies now show signs of an ability to use their acquired knowledge to reach a
goal.

For example the infant will not just shake the rattle, but will reach out and knock to one side an object that
stands in the way of it getting hold of the rattle.

Tertiary Circular Reactions

Fifth comes the stage of tertiary circular reactions. These differ from secondary circular reactions in that they
are intentional adaptations to specific situations. The infant who once explored an object by taking it apart now
tries to put it back together.

For example, it stacks the bricks it took out of its wooden truck back again or it puts back the nesting cups – one
inside the other.
Symbolic Thought
Finally, in substage six there is the beginning of symbolic thought. This is transitional to the pre operational
stage of cognitive development. Babies can now form mental representations of objects.

This means that they have developed the ability to visualize things that are not physically present. This is
crucial to the acquisition of object permanence – the most fundamental achievement of the whole sensorimotor
stage of development.

The Pre-operational Stage

Ages: 2 - 7 Years

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

 Toddlers and young children acquire the ability to internally represent the world through language and
mental imagery.
 During this stage, young children can think about things symbolically. This is the ability to make one
thing, such as a word or an object, stand for something other than itself.
 A child’s thinking is dominated by how the world looks, not how the world is. It is not yet capable of
logical (problem solving) type of thought.
 Infants at this stage also demonstrate animism. This is the tendency for the child to think that non-living
objects (such as toys) have life and feelings like a person’s.

By 2 years, children have made some progress towards detaching their thought from physical world. However
have not yet developed logical (or 'operational') thought characteristic of later stages. Thinking is
still intuitive (based on subjective judgements about situations) and egocentric (centered on the child's own
view of the world).

The key features of the preoperational stage include:

Centration

 Centration is the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation at one time. When a child can focus
on more than one aspect of a situation at the same time they have the ability to decenter.

 During this stage children have difficulties thinking about more than one aspect of any situation at the
same time; and they have trouble decentering in social situation just as they do in non-social contexts.
Egocentrism

 Egocentrism refers to the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view. The
egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as the child does. In the
developmental theory of Jean Piaget, this is a feature of the preoperational child. Childrens' thoughts and
communications are typically egocentric (i.e. about themselves).

Play

 At the beginning of this stage you often find children engaging in parallel play. That is to say they often
play in the same room as other children but they play next to others rather than with them.

 Each child is absorbed in its own private world and speech is egocentric. That is to say the main function
of speech at this stage is to externalize the child’s thinking rather than to communicate with others.

 As yet the child has not grasped the social function of either language or rules.

Symbolic Representation

 The early preoperational period (ages 2-3) is marked by a dramatic increase in children’s use of the
symbolic function.This is the ability to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other
than itself. Language is perhaps the most obvious form of symbolism that young children
display. However, Piaget (1951) argues that language does not facilitate cognitive development, but
merely reflects what the child already knows and contributes little to new knowledge. He believed
cognitive development promotes language development, not vice versa.

Pretend (or symbolic) Play

Toddlers often pretend to be people they are not (e.g. superheroes, policeman), and may play these roles with
props that symbolize real life objects. Children may also invent an imaginary playmate.

'In symbolic play, young children advance upon their cognitions about people, objects and actions and in this
way construct increasingly sophisticated representations of the world' (Bornstein, 1996, p. 293).

As the pre-operational stage develops egocentrism declines and children begin to enjoy the participation of
another child in their games and “lets pretend “ play becomes more important.
For this to work there is going to be a need for some way of regulating each child’s relations with the other and
out of this need we see the beginnings of an orientation to others in terms of rules.

Animism

 This is the belief that inanimate objects (such as toys and teddy bears) have human feelings and
intentions. By animism Piaget (1929) meant that for the pre-operational child the world of nature is
alive, conscious and has a purpose.

Piaget has identified four stages of animism:

1. Up to the ages 4 or 5 years, the child believes that almost everything is alive and has a purpose.
2. During the second stage (5-7 years) only objects that move have a purpose.
3. In the next stage (7-9 years), only objects that move spontaneously are thought to be alive.
4. In the last stage (9-12 years), the child understands that only plants and animals are alive.

Artificialism
 This is the belief that certain aspects of the environment are manufactured by people (e.g. clouds in the
sky).

Irreversibility

 This is the inability to reverse the direction of a sequence of events to their starting point.

The Concrete Operational Stage

While children are still very concrete and literal in their thinking at this point in development, they become
much more adept at using logic.2 The egocentrism of the previous stage begins to disappear as kids become
better at thinking about how other people might view a situation.

7 to 11 Years

Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:

 Begin to think logically about concrete events

  Begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the amount of liquid in a short, wide cup is equal
to that in a tall, skinny glass, for example
 Thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very concrete
 Begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific information to a general principle

While thinking becomes much more logical during the concrete operational state, it can also be very rigid. Kids
at this point in development tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts. During this stage, children
also become less egocentric and begin to think about how other people might think and feel. Kids in the
concrete operational stage also begin to understand that their thoughts are unique to them and that not everyone
else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings, and opinions.

Piaget considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's cognitive development, because it
marks the beginning of logical or operational thought. The child is now mature enough to use logical thought or
operations (i.e. rules) but can only apply logic to physical objects (hence concrete operational).

Children gain the abilities of conservation (number, area, volume, orientation), reversibility, seriation,
transitivity and class inclusion. However, although children can solve problems in a logical fashion, they are
typically not able to think abstractly or hypothetically.

Conservation
 Conservation is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance
changes.This can apply to aspects such as volume, number, area etc.
To be more technical conservation is the ability to understand that redistributing material does not affect its
mass, number, volume or length.

For example, Piaget and Szeminska (1952) showed that children below 7 or 8 years of age often believed that
lengthening rows of counters (by spreading them out) increased the number and squashing balls of plasticine
flat reduced their volume.

In Piaget’s standard procedure he asked the child a pre and a post transformation question.

He asked whether two instances (e.g. rows of counters or beakers of liquid) were the same or different both
before and after a change was made to their physical appearance (e.g. by spreading out the counters or pouring
the liquid into a taller vessel).

By around seven years the majority of children can conserve liquid, because they understand that when water is
poured into a different shaped glass, the quantity of liquid remains the same, even though its appearance has
changed. Five-year-old children would think that there was a different amount because the appearance has
changed.
The Formal Operational Stage
The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an
understanding of abstract ideas.3 At this point, adolescents and young adults become capable of seeing multiple
potential solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around them.

Age 12 and Up

Major characteristics and developmental changes during this time:

 Begins to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems

 Begins to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues that require
theoretical and abstract reasoning
 Begins to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific information

The ability to thinking about abstract ideas and situations is the key hallmark of the formal operational stage of
cognitive development. The ability to systematically plan for the future and reason about hypothetical situations
are also critical abilities that emerge during this stage. 

The formal operational stage begins at approximately age twelve and lasts into adulthood. As adolescents enter
this stage, they gain the ability to think in an abstract manner by manipulating ideas in their head, without any
dependence on concrete manipulation. He/she can do mathematical calculations, think creatively, use abstract
reasoning, and imagine the outcome of particular actions.

An example of the distinction between concrete and formal operational stages is the answer to the question “If
Kelly is taller than Ali and Ali is taller than Jo, who is tallest?”  This is an example of inferential reasoning,
which is the ability to think about things which the child has not actually experienced and to draw conclusions
from its thinking. 

The child who needs to draw a picture or use objects is still in the concrete operational stage, whereas children
who can reason the answer in their heads are using formal operational thinking.

Formal Operational Thought

Hypothetico Deductive Reasoning

Hypothetico deductive reasoning is the ability to think scientifically through generating predictions, or
hypotheses, about the world to answer questions. The individual will approach problems in a systematic and
organized manner, rather than through trial-and-error.
Abstract Thought

Concrete operations are carried out on things whereas formal operations are carried out on ideas. The individual
can think about hypothetical and abstract concepts they have yet to experience. Abstract thought is important
for planning regarding the future.
 Lawrence Kohlberg's Moral Development Theory

Stages of Moral Development

There were three levels of moral reasoning that encompassed the six stages. Like Piaget, subjects were unlikely
to regress in their moral development, but instead, moved forward through the stages: pre-conventional,
conventional, and finally post-conventional. Each stage offers a new perspective, but not everyone functions at
the highest level all the time. People gain a more thorough understanding as they build on their experiences,
which makes it impossible to jump stages of moral development.

1. Stage 1 (Pre-Conventional)
o Obedience and punishment orientation (How can I avoid punishment?)
o Self-interest orientation (What’s in it for me? aiming at a reward)
2. Stage 2 (Conventional)
o Interpersonal accord and conformity (Social norms, good boy – good girl attitude)
o Authority and social-order maintaining orientation (Law and order morality)
3. Stage 3 (Post-Conventional)
o Social contract orientation (Justice and the spirit of the law)
o Universal ethical principles (Principled conscience)

Pre-conventional morality – young children under the age of 9

Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation

The first stage highlights the self-interest of children in their decision making as they seek to avoid punishment
at all costs. In relation to our example above, the man should not steal the medication from the pharmacy as he
may go to jail if he is caught.

Similar to the first stage in Piaget’s theory, Kohlberg reflects on the moral thought of children. At a young age,
they believe that rules are meant to be followed and those in charge will undoubtedly follow through with
punishment. A child’s reasoning to the above example may include “it’s bad to steal,” or “it’s against the law,”
without assessing the perspective of the man whose wife is sick.

This stage is labeled pre-conventional due to the limited association that children have with the outlined
principles. They view the ethics taught as something that society implements, not as something they internalize
themselves.
Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange
This stage observes how children begin to adopt the views taught, but also recognize that there is more than one
point of view for each matter. Each person is different and will, therefore, have a unique outlook according to
their interests. In terms of our example above, they may reason that “he may think that it is right to take the
drug, but the pharmacist would not.”

The second stage relies heavily on the exchange of favors and can be summarized with the common marketing
saying “what’s it in for me?” Children at this stage are not motivated by friendship or respect but by the
personal advantages involved. For example, if a parent asks their child to complete a chore around the house,
the child may ask what the benefit would be to them. Parents often recognize the “you scratch my back and I’ll
scratch yours” mindset at this stage and offer a reward, such as an allowance.

Conventional morality – older children, adolescents, and most adults

Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships

This stage recognizes the desire to be accepted into societal groups as well as how each person is affected by the
outcome. In terms of our example above, the man should take the medicine from the pharmacy in order to be a
good partner to his wife.

Children in the third stage are typically pre-teens or early teenagers and have now adopted the societal norms as
their own. While they believe that people should behave appropriately in their communities, they recognize that
there is no simple solution to moral dilemmas. In Kohlberg’s study per the example above, they accepted that he
should steal the medicine and “he was a good man for wanting to save her.” They also reasoned that “his
intentions were good, that of saving the life of someone he loves.”

Stage 4: Maintaining the Social Order

In this stage, laws and social order reign supreme. Rules and regulations are to be followed and obeyed. In the
above example, the man should not steal the medicine because it is against the law.

Stage four shows the moral development of a person as a part of a whole society. Each person becomes more
aware of the impact of everyone’s actions on others and focuses now on their own role, following the rules, and
obeying authorities. While stage three highlights the close relationships with family and friends, stage four
attempts to maintain social order in the community. Pertaining to the example above, participants in stage four
would argue that while they understood why he wanted to steal the medication, they could not support the idea
of theft. Society cannot maintain order if its members decided to break the laws when they thought they had a
good enough reason to do so.

Postconventional morality – rare with adolescents and few adults

Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights

This stage acknowledges the introduction of abstract reasoning as people attempt to explain specific behaviors.
In our example above, the man should steal the medication for his wife because she is deathly ill and the laws
do not take the circumstances into account.

In the fifth stage, members begin to consider “What makes for a good society?” They are able to step back and
assess each situation as a whole, reflecting on what is good and just. Reflecting on the morals and ethics of their
current community allows them to address inconsistencies in their values and attempt to fix what they do not
agree with. A society that runs smoothly does not necessarily uphold their desired principles. This is one step
ahead of stage four, where the main goal is to keep a society functioning at all costs.

Stage 6: Universal Principles

The final stage of Kohlberg’s theory states that moral reasoning is based on personal values. In the above
example, it is okay for the man to take the medication without paying as objects or property are not as valuable
as his wife’s life.

Stage six was developed when Kohlberg discovered that elected processes do not always result in fair
outcomes. Individuals at the fifth stage of moral reasoning recognized the importance of protecting human
rights while also resolving challenges in a democratic way. Unfortunately, some majority votes resulted in
regulations that actually hurt a minority group, leading to questions of an even higher level of reasoning.

The sixth stage was created to acknowledge the use of justice in moral reasoning. General, universal morals and
ethics are used as a baseline for what is right and just. These are often abstract concepts that cannot be clearly
defined, only outlined. Equality, justice, dignity, and respect are all ideas that form the basis of universal
principles. Laws and rules are only effective if they support the universal principles, which each person at this
stage works to uphold.
Similarly, they work on disobeying laws that are unfair, and feel guilty if they don’t obey the laws that they
believe in. Individuals at this level of reasoning behaved in a certain way because it was the right thing to do,
and were not motivated by laws or societal expectations. Kohlberg found it challenging to identify participants
in his studies who could consistently display moral reasoning in the sixth stage.

Summary
In the first stage, children obey the rules taught and believe what society says is right. Avoiding punishment is a
leading factor in their desire to obey authority. This has diminished by stage two, where children can see that
they are multiple points of view to the matter in question. They tend to reason according their own self-interests,
including bartering with others.

In stage three, people value a supportive community and therefore have the desire to be a good, helpful
member. This changes as they move into stage four, where they seek instead to meet the goals of the society,
which includes maintaining law and order. Throughout both stages, we see how young teens value the morals
and ethics of the group of which they are part.

In stage five, people evolve from the idea of being ‘good’ into what would be the right thing to do. They seek to
create morals and values for a good society instead of maintaining the society for the sake of doing so. They
take these ideas one step further in stage six, where they work to incorporate justice and creating a fair society
for all.
 Lev Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development

The work of Lev Vygotsky (1934) has become the foundation of much research and theory in cognitive
development over the past several decades, particularly of what has become known as sociocultural theory.

Vygotsky's sociocultural theory views human development as a socially mediated process in which children
acquire their cultural values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more
knowledgeable members of society. Vygotsky's theory is comprised of concepts such as culture-specific tools,
private speech, and the Zone of Proximal Development.

Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition, as he
believed strongly that community plays a central role in the process of "making meaning."

Unlike Piaget's notion that childrens' development must necessarily precede their learning, Vygotsky argued,
"learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically
human psychological function".  In other words, social learning tends to precede (i.e., come before)
development.

Vygotsky has developed a sociocultural approach to cognitive development. He developed his theories at
around the same time as Jean Piaget was starting to develop his ideas (1920's and 30's), but he died at the age of
38, and so his theories are incomplete - although some of his writings are still being translated from Russian.
No single principle (such as Piaget's equilibration) can account for development. Individual development cannot
be understood without reference to the social and cultural context within which it is embedded. Higher mental
processes in the individual have their origin in social processes.
Vygotsky's theory differs from that of Piaget in a number of important ways:

1: Vygotsky places more emphasis on culture affecting cognitive development.

This contradicts Piaget's view of universal stages and content of development (Vygotsky does not refer to stages
in the way that Piaget does). Hence Vygotsky assumes cognitive development varies across cultures, whereas
Piaget states cognitive development is mostly universal across cultures.

2: Vygotsky places considerably more emphasis on social factors contributing to cognitive development.
(i) Vygotsky states the importance of cultural and social context for learning. Cognitive development stems
from social interactions from guided learning within the zone of proximal development as children and their
partner's co-construct knowledge. In contrast, Piaget maintains that cognitive development stems largely from
independent explorations in which children construct knowledge of their own.

(ii) For Vygotsky, the environment in which children grow up will influence how they think and what they
think about.
3: Vygotsky places more (and different) emphasis on the role of language in cognitive development.

According to Piaget, language depends on thought for its development (i.e., thought comes before language).
For Vygotsky, thought and language are initially separate systems from the beginning of life, merging at around
three years of age, producing verbal thought (inner speech).

For Vygotsky, cognitive development results from an internalization of language.

4: According to Vygotsky adults are an important source of cognitive development.

Adults transmit their culture's tools of intellectual adaptation that children internalize. In contrast, Piaget
emphasizes the importance of peers, as peer interaction promotes social perspective taking.

Two of the main principles of Vygotsky's work

 the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) a

 the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

More Knowledgeable Other

The more knowledgeable other (MKO) is somewhat self-explanatory; it refers to someone who has a better
understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept.

Although the implication is that the MKO is a teacher or an older adult, this is not necessarily the case. Many
times, a child's peers or an adult's children may be the individuals with more knowledge or experience.

For example, who is more likely to know more about the newest teenage music groups, how to win at the most
recent PlayStation game, or how to correctly perform the newest dance craze - a child or their parents?
In fact, the MKO need not be a person at all. Some companies, to support employees in their learning process,
are now using electronic performance support systems. 

Electronic tutors have also been used in educational settings to facilitate and guide students through the learning
process. The key to MKOs is that they must have (or be programmed with) more knowledge about the topic
being learned than the learner does.
Zone of Proximal Development

The concept of the More Knowledgeable Other is integrally related to the second important principle of
Vygotsky's work, the Zone of Proximal Development.

This is an important concept that relates to the difference between what a child can achieve independently and
what a child can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner.

For example, the child could not solve the jigsaw puzzle (in the example above) by itself and would have taken
a long time to do so (if at all), but was able to solve it following interaction with the father, and has developed
competence at this skill that will be applied to future jigsaws.

Vygotsky (1978) sees the Zone of Proximal Development as the area where the most sensitive instruction or
guidance should be given - allowing the child to develop skills they will then use on their own - developing
higher mental functions. Vygotsky also views interaction with peers as an effective way of developing skills
and strategies.  He suggests that teachers use cooperative learning exercises where less competent children
develop with help from more skillful peers - within the zone of proximal development.

Vygotsky and Language

Vygotsky believed that language develops from social interactions, for communication purposes. Vygotsky
viewed language as man’s greatest tool, a means for communicating with the outside world.

According to Vygotsky (1962) language plays two critical roles in cognitive development:
1: It is the main means by which adults transmit information to children.

2: Language itself becomes a very powerful tool of intellectual adaptation.

Vygotsky (1987) differentiates between three forms of language: social speech which is external
communication used to talk to others (typical from the age of two); private speech (typical from the age of
three) which is directed to the self and serves an intellectual function; and finally private speech goes
underground, diminishing in audibility as it takes on a self-regulating function and is transformed into silent
inner speech (typical from the age of seven).

For Vygotsky, thought and language are initially separate systems from the beginning of life, merging at around
three years of age. At this point speech and thought become interdependent: thought becomes verbal, speech
becomes representational. When this happens, children's monologues internalized to become inner speech. The
internalization of language is important as it drives cognitive development.

'Inner speech

 is not the interiour aspect of external speech

 it is a function in itself. It still remains speech, i.e., thought connected with words. But while in external
speech thought is embodied in words, in inner speech words dies as they bring forth thought. Inner
speech is to a large extent thinking in pure meanings.'
 Covert (i.e., hidden)

Vygotsky (1987) was the first psychologist to document the importance of private speech. He considered
private speech as the transition point between social and inner speech, the moment in development where
language and thought unite to constitute verbal thinking.

Private speech

 was the earliest manifestation of inner speech. Indeed, private speech is more similar (in its form and
function) to inner speech than social speech.
 'typically defined, in contrast to social speech, as speech addressed to the self (not to others) for the
purpose of self-regulation (rather than communication).' 

 is overt. In contrast to Piaget’s (1959) notion of private speech representing a developmental dead-end,
Vygotsky (1934, 1987) viewed private speech as:
'A revolution in development which is triggered when preverbal thought and preintellectual language come
together to create fundamentally new forms of mental functioning.'
In addition to disagreeing on the functional significance of private speech, Vygotsky and Piaget also offered
opposing views on the developmental course of private speech and the environmental circumstances in which it
occurs most often.

Through private speech, children begin to collaborate with themselves in the same way a more knowledgeable
other (e.g., adults) collaborate with them in the achievement of a given function.

Vygotsky sees "private speech" as a means for children to plan activities and strategies and therefore aid their
development. Private speech is the use of language for self-regulation of behavior. Language is, therefore, an
accelerator to thinking/understanding (Jerome Bruner also views language in this way).

Vygotsky believed that children who engaged in large amounts of private speech are more socially competent
than children who do not use it extensively.

Vygotsky (1987) notes that private speech does not merely accompany a child’s activity but acts as a tool used
by the developing child to facilitate cognitive processes, such as overcoming task obstacles, enhancing
imagination, thinking, and conscious awareness.

Children use private speech most often during intermediate difficulty tasks because they are attempting to self-
regulate by verbally planning and organizing their thoughts (Winsler et al., 2007).
The frequency and content of private speech are then correlated with behavior or performance. For example,
private speech appears to be functionally related to cognitive performance: It appears at times of difficulty with
a task.

For example, tasks related to executive function (Fernyhough & Fradley, 2005), problem-solving tasks
(Behrend et al., 1992), schoolwork in both language (Berk & Landau, 1993), and mathematics (Ostad &
Sorensen, 2007).

Berk (1986) provided empirical support for the notion of private speech. She found that most private speech
exhibited by children serves to describe or guide the child's actions.

Berk also discovered than child engaged in private speech more often when working alone on challenging tasks
and also when their teacher was not immediately available to help them. Furthermore, Berk also found that
private speech develops similarly in all children regardless of cultural background.

Vygotsky (1987) proposed that private speech is a product of an individual’s social environment. This
hypothesis is supported by the fact that there exist high positive correlations between rates of social interaction
and private speech in children.

Children raised in cognitively and linguistically stimulating environments (situations more frequently observed
in higher socioeconomic status families) start using and internalizing private speech faster than children from
less privileged backgrounds. Indeed, children raised in environments characterized by low verbal and social
exchanges exhibit delays in private speech development.

Childrens’ use of private speech diminishes as they grow older and follows a curvilinear trend. This is due to
changes in ontogenetic development whereby children are able to internalize language (through inner speech) in
order to self-regulate their behavior (Vygotsky, 1987).

For example, research has shown that childrens’ private speech usually peaks at 3–4 years of age, decreases at
6–7 years of age, and gradually fades out to be mostly internalized by age 10 (Diaz, 1992).

Vygotsky proposed that private speech diminishes and disappears with age not because it becomes socialized,
as Piaget suggested, but rather because it goes underground to constitute inner speech or verbal thought”
(Frauenglass & Diaz, 1985).
 Urie Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory

American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner formulated the Ecological Systems Theory to explain how social
environments affect children’s development. This theory emphasizes the importance of studying children in
multiple environments, known as ecological systems, in the attempt to understand their development.

According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, children typically find themselves enmeshed in
various ecosystems, from the most intimate home ecological system to the larger school system, and then to the
most expansive system which includes society and culture. Each of these ecological systems inevitably interact
with and influence each other in all aspects of the children’s lives.

Five nested levels of external influence: 

 Microsystem 
 Mesosystem
 Ecosystem These levels are categorized from the most intimate level to the broadest.
 Macrosystem
 Chronosystem
The Microsystem

The Bronfenbrenner theory suggests that the microsystem is the smallest and most immediate environment in
which children live. As such, the microsystem comprises the home, school or daycare, peer group and
community environment of the children.

Interactions within the microsystem typically involve personal relationships with family members, classmates,
teachers and caregivers. How these groups or individuals interact with the children will affect how they
develop. More nurturing and supportive interactions and relationships will likely to foster a better environment
for development.

Bronfenbrenner proposed that many of these interactions are bi-directional: how children react to people in their
microsystem will also affect how these people treat the children in return.

For example, a little boy playing alone in a room. This little boy suddenly bursts out crying for no apparent
reason. His mother, who is making lunch in the kitchen, hears the boy crying. She comes into the room, picks
the little boy up, and carries him to the living room.

In the above example, the little boy initiated the interaction (crying), and his mother responded. In a way, the
little boy influenced his mother’s behavior.
One of the most significant findings that Urie Bronfenbrenner unearthed in his study of ecological systems is
that it is possible for siblings who find themselves in the same ecological system to experience very different
environments.

Therefore, given two siblings experiencing the same microsystem, it is not impossible for the development of
them to progress in different manners. Each child’s particular personality traits, such as temperament, which is
influenced by unique genetic and biological factors, ultimately have a hand in how he/she is treated by others.

The Mesosystem

The mesosystem encompasses the interaction of the different microsystems which children find themselves in.
It is, in essence, a system of microsystems and as such, involves linkages between home and school, between
peer group and family, and between family and community.

According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory, if a child’s parents are actively involved in the friendships of
their child, for example they invite their child’s friends over to their house from time to time and spend time
with them, then the child’s development is affected positively through harmony and like-mindedness.

However, if the child’s parents dislike their child’s peers and openly criticize them, the child will experience
disequilibrium and conflicting emotions, which will likely lead to negative development.

The Exosystem

The exosystem in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model pertains to the linkages that may exist between two or
more settings, one of which may not contain the developing children but affect them indirectly nonetheless.

Based on Bronfenbrenner’s findings, people and places that children may not directly interact with may still
have an impact on their lives. Such places and people may include the parents’ workplaces, extended family
members, and the neighborhood the children live in.

For example, a father who is continually passed up for promotion by an indifferent boss at the workplace may
take it out on his children and mistreat them at home. This will have a negative impact on the child’s
development.
The Macrosystem

The macrosystem in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model is the largest and most distant collection of people and
places to the children that still have significant influences on them. This ecological system is composed of the
children’s cultural patterns and values, specifically their dominant beliefs and ideas, as well as political and
economic systems.

For example, children in war-torn areas will experience a different kind of development than children in a
peaceful environment.

The Chronosystem

The chronosystem adds the useful dimension of time to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. It
demonstrates the influence of both change and constancy in the children’s environments. The chronosystem
may include a change in family structure, address, parents’ employment status, as well as immense society
changes such as economic cycles and wars.

Application of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

Through the various ecological systems, Bronfenbrenner’s theory demonstrates the diversity of interrelated
influences on child development. Awareness of the contexts that children are in can sensitize us to variations in
the way children may act in different settings.

For example, a child who frequently bullies smaller children at school may portray the role of a terrified victim
at home. Due to these variations, adults who are concerned with the care of a particular child should pay close
attention to his/her behavior in different settings, as well as to the quality and type of connections that exist
between these settings.