ECE332
Assignment: Theory Summary
Directions: Using the concept summary in Chapter 2 of our text, fill in the blanks for each of the developmental theories. Provide examples from your own experience or the textbook in the last column. Next describe your ideal theory of child development, combining the elements that you believe would encapsulate your own beliefs and experiences
| Approach | Theorist | Underlying Model | Theoretical Beliefs/Assumptions | Key Terms | Example |
| Humanistic | AbrahamMaslow | OrganismicContextual | All individuals are unique and whole, and strive toward the fullest development of their potential. | Meta NeedsBasic-needsSelf-actualization | According to our text “hunger represents a deficiency that can be satisfied by eating” |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioristic | IvanPavlovAndJohn B.WatsonBurrhus F.SkinnerAlbertBandura | MechanisticMechanisticOrganismicContextualOrganismic | Child learns through conditioning of reflexive behaviors.Changes in behavior are a function of reinforcement and punishment.Observational learning leads to developmental change; our ability to anticipate the consequences of our behavior is fundamental. | ReflexConditioned stimulus ResponseReinforcementPunishmentShapingImitationSelf-efficacySocial ReciprocalCognitive Reciprocal Determinism | According to our text Lefrançois accounts the well-known experiment of Pavlov and his salivating dogs and Watson’s Little Albert and his conditioned fear of the ratA good example would be how educator sets rules and if they are broken there will by consequences. A personal example is when my daughter was about 12 or 13 months she dance to all the Disney learning cartoons just like she saw them on the tv. |
| Cognitive | Jean PiagetInformationProcessing | OrganismicMechanistic Organismic Contextual | Child develops cognitive skills through active interaction with the environment.Development is a process of learning to represent, process, store, and retrieve information | StagesAssimilationAccommodationEquilibrationMemoryPerceptionThinkingSymbolic RepresentationComputer models | A perfect example of Piaget’s stages is how my children look at the world. My 24-month-old is in the sensorimotor stage right now. A good example of this would be how you do something the same as someone else just in a different way |
| Biological Ecological Approaches | JohnBowlby LevVygotskyUrieBronfenbrenner | OrganismicOrganismicContextualOrganismic Contextual | Social behaviors have a biological basis understandable in evolutionary terms.Human development is highly dependent on culture and language.Development results from a complex series of interactions and accommodations between a person and the systems in which the person is embedded. | Attachment bondsImprintingSensitive periodCultureLanguageZone of proximal growth ScaffoldingMicro, Meso, Exo, Macro, Chrono-system | According to Lefrançois, “young infants have a natural tendency to form emotional bonds with their mothers in a sense of imprinting”.Teaching a preschooler to tie their shoes is within the zone of proximal growthGrowing up I see how my dad would open the doors for my mom and when I grew up I would display the same thing because of what I saw growing up. |
| Dynamic Systems | EstherThelen | OrganismicContextual | A change in any part of the system (mind, body, environment) leads to disequilibrium, readjustment, and growth | Integrated systemsInteractionsDynamism StabilityInstability | Lefrançois uses “the analogy of a child learning to walk and the events leading up to being able to take the first steps”. |
| Psychoanalytic | SigmundFreudErikErikson | OrganismicOrganismic | Individual is motivated by instinctual urges that are primarily sexual and aggressive.Child progresses through stages by adapting to the sociocultural environment. | IdEgoSuperegoPsychosexualFixationRegressionCompetenceDevelopmental tasksPsychosocial | Freud would argue that my wife’s OCD is a mental disorder and could be treated by a psychoanalyst.My 2year old is struggling with his sense of autonomy. When we leave him he cries. |
| Your Ideal Theory | Karyn’s Theory of Development | OrganismicContextualMechanistic | Child develops cognitive skills through active interaction with the environment.Human development is highly dependent on culture and language. | Basic NeedsAssimilationAccommodationCultureLanguageZone of proximal growth ScaffoldingStabilityInstability | My ideal theory is really a combination of all the theories. Children learn through in by interacting with one another. Everyone learn in different ways and we all are very different. |
Reference
Lefrançois, G. R. (2012). Children’s journeys: Exploring early childhood. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint
Education, Inc.