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Developmental psychology is a branch of psychology associated with characterizing how humans acquire knowledge, mature, and acclimate themselves throughout the course of their lives (American Psychological Association, 2015). Over the years, countless theories have been proposed to differentiate these deviations and to investigate the causes and mechanisms of human motivation and behavior, such as Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygtosky’s varying takes on cognitive development, and Lawrence Kohlberg and James Marcia’s interpretations of an individual’s moral development (Snowman and McCown, 2012: Kohlberg, 1971; Marcia, 1980). Psychologist Albert Bandura (1989), however, offers a different perspective through …show more content…
Originally influenced by three weaknesses observed in the behaviorism model of learning (i.e., limited behavior range, the theory did not account for fluctuations in behavior, and only one type of learning was studied), Bandura’s (1989) model of the social cognitive theory of human development in turn has served as a catalyst for developmental psychologists and still remains its influence to this …show more content…
However, Bandura (1989) states that what separates humans from their mammalian counterparts is the notion that they do not always react instinctively to their microsystem or immediate environment nor is their behavior steered by past experiences. To Bandura (1989), human behavior is regulated by the third stage in human development –the capability of forethought or anticipation. Bandura defines forethought as the culmination of the ability to symbolize and learn vicariously from the models in one’s life so as to make intentional or purposeful action by weighing possible outcomes (p. 43). According to
Slater, A., and Muir, D., (1998). The Blackwell Reader in Developmental Psychology. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd.
People change over time, and no past history sets the future in stone. Developmentalists divide life into different segments based on age known as growth stages (Berger, 2009). Each stage affects the others causing development at every stage to build upon the other (Berger, 2009). Development does not follow a straight line, it instead moves up and down, back and forth, and it moves at different speeds (Berger, 2009). Although there are several theories of development, and it would be remiss to subscribe to only one; however for the purpose of this paper, I will focus on Erik Erikson’s Theory of Initiative versus Guilt; Industry versus Inferiority; and Identity versus Role Confusion. I also prefer to take an eclectic approach in the application of counseling theories and techniques; however for the purpose of this paper I will utilize three different therapies for each stage of development.
- - -. “Social-learning Theory:Observing and Imitating Models.” Human Development. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 1992. 213-14. Print.
In chapter one, cognitive development was briefly discussed and now in chapter 5 it goes a little deeper. One of the first names that comes to mind when thinking of cognitive development is Piaget. Piaget’s theory is described as constructivist view to cognitive development. A constructivist view is that people create or “construct” their own view and knowledge of the world by the information they already know. They view life through the experiences and knowledge they already obtain. The essential building block to Piaget’s theory is schemes which are patterns of physical or mental action. Throughout life people just build on the schemes when they experience something new they relate it an old experience. An example would be an animal that
Piaget's theory of cognitive development: Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage. To start the book Holden is getting kicked out of his current school. He has already failed out of three other schools and is not looking forward to telling his parents he has just failed out of the fourth school that they paid for. Holden is in the fourth stage, the formal operational stage. According to piaget, in this stage people think ahead to solve problems, and in this situation, that is what Holden is trying to do to deal with his parents and getting kicked out of school. also, In this stage, people compare the results of what might happen from the choices that they could make and then they decide what path to choose. Holden is doing this when deciding how to tell his parents what had happened
Theories of Motivation What is the motivation for this? According to the text, motivation is defined as a set of factors that activate, direct, and maintain behavior, usually toward a certain goal. Motivation is the energy that makes us do things; this is a result of our individual needs being satisfied so that we have inspiration to complete the mission. These needs vary from person to person as everybody has their individual needs to motivate themselves.
For my self-assessment, I chose to discuss the Middle Childhood, Adolescence, and Young Adulthood life stages. The theories of human behavior that will be discussed are Erikson’s Psychosocial theory, Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning, and Albert Bandura’s social learning theory. I chose these life stages because they are the stages where I have experienced many events that have shaped me into the person I am today. There are a number of factors that have played a role in my development over a period of time and I will discuss them throughout my paper.
1. "Psychoanalytic Theories of Development." Psychology - Complete Guide to Psychology for Students, Educators & Enthusiasts. Web. 04 Feb. 2012. .
The field of developmental psychology is always being questioned and therefore expanded. Thousands of renowned psychologists have contributed to this process, two of which being Erik Erikson and Lawrence Kohlberg. They both left a hand print on the large and expanding wall of psychology; however they dabbled in very different aspects of development. Their similarities and differences aid in the determination of which gave more to the field of developmental psychology and in doing so gave more to the institution of psychology as a whole.
Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are two very well-known theorists who emphasized the development of cognition in their theories. In Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental theory, he claimed that children go through a series of stages, which he used to describe human development. In Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory of Learning, he believed culture and social interaction played a role in cognitive development. Although Piaget and Vygotsky both focused their theories on cognitive development they take different stances a series of developmental issues. This paper will look at the similarities and differences between these theorist’s views on critical developmental issues, such as view of human nature, mechanisms of development, and their
Piaget 's theory of psychology is the core of "genetic epistemology." The main study of human cognition (cognitive, intellectual, mental, psychological occurrence and structure).He believed that human knowledge, no matter how profound, and complex; it always can be traced back to the era of people 's childhood. It can even be traced back to the embryonic period. After the child is born, the study will focus on understanding how the formation of intellectual thinking is developed, how it is subject to the constraints of certain factors, its internal structure, the variety of intelligence and thinking how different levels of the structure has appeared.
The Critique of Piaget's Theories Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) was a constructivist theorist. He saw children as constructing their own world, playing an active part in their own development. Piaget’s insight opened up a new window into the inner working of the mind and as a result he carried out some remarkable studies on children that had a powerful influence on theories of child thought. This essay is going to explain the main features and principles of the Piagetian theory and then provide criticism against this theory. Cognitive development refers to way in which a person’s style of thinking changes with age.
Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development describes his belief that children try to actively make sense of the world rather than simply absorbing knowledge as previously thought. Piaget’s theory claims that as children grow and develop they experience four different cognitive stages of life. As a child grows through each stage they not only learn new information but the way he or she thinks also changes. “In other words, each new stage represents a fundamental shift in how the child thinks and understands the world” (Hockenbury, page 368).The first stage of Piaget’s theory, known as the sensorimotor stage, begins at birth and continues on until about age 2. As the name suggest, this stage is when children begin to discover
Social cognitive theory of learning is a theoretical perspective that focuses on learning by observing others and eventually assuming control over one’s own behavior (Ormrod, 2011, p.323). Social cognitive theory is a perspective that helps us understand about learning by observing other people doing the same thing. This theory is a blend of behaviorism and cognitive psychology (Ormrod, 2011). Behaviorism theory relates to learning as a stimulus- response relationship and suggests that learning involves a behavior change whereas according to social cognitive theory learning is an internal process that may or may not lead to a behavior change. For example one might attempt to ride a bicycle as soon as they learn to ride the bicycle but learning how to put air in the bike may not be needed until the bicycle need air.
There are many theories associated with developmental psychology, which studies the scientific process and cause of human development over the course of our lives. Developmental psychologists study a wide range of theoretical areas, such as biological, social, emotional, and cognitive processes (McLeod, S. A., 2012). Two theories of developmental psychology that I will be discussing will be the theory of moral development by Lawrence Kohlberg, and Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.