3: Psychological Approaches

Learning Objectives

• Describe theories as they relate to lifespan development
• Describe the historical foundations leading to the development of theories about lifespan development
• Describe Freud’s theory of psychosexual development
• Describe Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development
• Describe the principles of classical conditioning
• Describe the principles of operant conditioning
• Describe social learning theory
• Describe Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
• Describe information processing approaches to cognitive development
• Describe the major concepts of humanistic theory (unconditional positive regard, the good life), as developed by Carl Rogers
• Explain Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• Describe Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development
• Explain Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model
• Describe the evolutionary perspective
• Contrast the main psychological theories that apply to human development

 

Attitudes towards children and adolescents have evolved. Before the 17th century, children were generally considered weaker, more insignificant versions of adults. They were assumed to be subject to the same needs and desires as adults and to have the same vices and virtues as adults. Therefore they dressed the same, were not warranted more privileges, and they worked the same hours and received the same punishments for misdeeds. If they stole, they were hanged. If they worked hard and did well, they could achieve prosperity. Children were considered adults as soon as they could live alone.

Society, and especially psychologists, now reject this medieval view; but how do we go about formulating contemporary theories of development? Our personal theories about development are based on experiences, folklore, stories in the media, or built haphazardly on unverified observation. However, the theories presented in this course are more formal. They are based on prior empirical evidence and observations by psychologists and other researchers and provide a framework through which we can draw conclusions and make predictions about human behavior. These theories are subject to rigorous testing through research and are based on a psychological approach. A psychological approach is a perspective, based on certain assumptions, about behavior. Each approach holds shared ideas about how to describe, predict, and explain behavior.

In this chapter, we will discuss the major psychological approaches that pertain to development. But first, we will briefly review some of the early founders of the field of developmental psychology. We will then examine the major characteristics of the contemporary approaches: psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, contextual, biological, and evolutionary psychology.

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