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Theories of Development: An Overview
Child Developmental Psychology
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• Erikson's Stages of Development • Freuds Stages of Development • Jean Piaget • Piagets Theory of Development • Parenting Styles •
Child
Development Theories and
Understanding Mental Health
Historically, the
changes that take place in a child's psyche between birth and
adulthood were largely ignored. Child development first became a
subject of serious inquiry at the beginning of this century but was
mostly viewed from the perspective of mental disorders and from the
cultural mainstream of Europe and white America. Some of the "grand
theories" of child development, such as that propounded by
Sigmund Freud, grew out of this
focus, and they unquestionably drew attention to the importance of
child development in laying the foundation for adult mental health.
Even those theories that resulted from the observation of healthy
children, such as
Piaget's theory of cognitive
development, paid little attention to the relationship between the
development of the "inner self" and the environment into which the
individual was placed. In contrast, the interaction of an individual
with the environment was central to the school of thought known as
behaviorism.
Theories of
normal development form the basis of many current approaches to
understanding and treating mental illness and mental health problems
in children and adults. These theories have not achieved the broader
objective of explaining how children grow into healthy adults. More
study and perhaps new theories will be needed to improve our ability
to guide healthy child-rearing with scientific evidence.
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Child
Development Viewed as a Series of Stages
Freud and the psychoanalyst
Erik Erikson proposed a series of
stages of development reflecting the attainment of biological
objectives. The stages are expressed in terms of functioning as an
individual and with others—within the family and the broader social
environment (particularly in
Erikson’s theories). Although
criticized as unscientific and relevant primarily to the era and
culture in which they were conceived, these theories introduced the
importance of thinking developmentally, that is, of considering the
ever-changing physical and psychological capacities and tasks faced
by people as they age. They emphasized the concept of “maturation”
and moving through the stages of life, adapting to changing physical
capacities and new psychological and social challenges. And they
described mental health problems associated with failure to achieve
milestones and objectives in their developmental schemes.
These theories
have guided generations of psychodynamic therapists and child
development experts. They are important to understand as the
underpinnings of many therapeutic approaches, such as interpersonal
therapy, some of which have been evaluated and found to be
efficacious for some conditions. By and large, however, these
theories have rarely been tested empirically. |
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John
Bowlby: Attachment Theory
It is common
knowledge that infants and, for the most part, their principal
caretakers typically develop a close bond during the first year of
life, and that in the second year of life children become distressed
when they are forcibly separated from their mothers. However, the
clinical importance of these bonds was not fully appreciated until
John Bowlby introduced the concept of attachment in a report on the
effects of maternal deprivation (Bowlby, 1951). Bowlby (1969)
postulated that the pattern of an infant’s early attachment to
parents would form the basis for all later social relationships. On
the basis of his experience with disturbed children, he hypothesized
that, when the mother was unavailable or only partially available
during the first months of the child’s life, the attachment process
would be interrupted, leaving enduring emotional scars and
predisposing a child to behavioral problems. |
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Intellectual
Development
The
Swiss psychologist
Jean Piaget also developed a
stage-constructed theory of children’s intellectual development.
Piaget’s theory, based on several
decades’ observations of children (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958), was about how
children gradually acquire the ability to understand the world around them
through active engagement with it. He was the first to recognize that
infants take an active role in getting to know their world and that children
have a different understanding of the world than do adults. The principal
limitations of Piaget’s theories are that they are descriptive rather than
explanatory. Furthermore, he neglected variability in development and
temperament and did not consider the crucial interplay between a child’s
intellectual development and his or her social experiences (Bidell &
Fischer, 1992).
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Behavioral
Development
Other approaches to understanding development are less focused on the stages
of development.
Behavioral psychology focused on
observation and measurement, explaining development in terms of responses to
stimuli, such as rewards. Not only did the theories of the early pioneers
(e.g., Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner) generate a number of valuable
treatments, but their focus on precise description set the stage for current
programs of research based on direct observation. Social learning theory (Bandura,
1977) emphasized role models and their impact on children and adolescents as
they develop. Several important clinical tools came out of behaviorism
(e.g., reinforcement and behavior modification) and social learning theory
(cognitive-behavioral therapy). Both treatment approaches are used
effectively with children and adolescents. |
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Child Development
Theories and
Understanding Mental Health
Historically, the changes that take place in a child's psyche between birth
and adulthood were largely ignored. Child development first became a subject
of serious inquiry at the beginning of this century but was mostly viewed
from the perspective of mental disorders and from the cultural mainstream of
Europe and white America. Some of the "grand theories" of child development,
such as that propounded by
Sigmund Freud, grew out of this
focus, and they unquestionably drew attention to the importance of child
development in laying the foundation for adult mental health. Even those
theories that resulted from the observation of healthy children, such as
Piaget's theory of cognitive
development, paid little attention to the relationship between the
development of the "inner self" and the environment into which the
individual was placed. In contrast, the interaction of an individual with
the environment was central to the school of thought known as
behaviorism.
Theories of normal development form the basis of many current approaches to
understanding and treating mental illness and mental health problems in
children and adults. These theories have not achieved the broader objective
of explaining how children grow into healthy adults. More study and perhaps
new theories will be needed to improve our ability to guide healthy
child-rearing with scientific evidence.
During the past two decades, as psychologists began to view the child less
as a passive recipient of environmental input but rather as an active player
in the process, the importance of temperament has become better appreciated
(Plomin, 1986). Temperament is defined as the repertoire of traits with
which each child is born; this repertoire determines how people react to the
world around them. Such variations in characteristics were first described
systematically by Anna Freud from her observations of children orphaned by
the ravages of World War II. She noticed that some children were
affectionate, some wanted to be close but were too shy to approach adults,
and some were difficult because they were easily angered and frustrated (A.
Freud, 1965).
The
first major longitudinal observations on temperament were begun in the 1950s
by Thomas and Chess (1977). They distinguished 10 aspects of temperament,
but there appear to be many different ways to describe temperamental
differences (Goldsmith et al., 1987). Although there is some continuity in
temperamental qualities throughout the life span (Chess & Thomas, 1984;
Mitchell, 1993), temperament is often modified during development,
particularly by the interaction with the caregiver. For example, a timid
child can become bolder with the help of parental encouragement (Kagan,
1984, 1989). Some traits of temperament, such as attention span, goal
orientation, lack of distractibility, and curiosity, can affect cognitive
functioning because the more pronounced these traits are, the better a child
will learn (Campos et al., 1983). Of note, it is not always clear whether
extremes of temperament should be considered within the spectrum of mental
disorder (for example, shyness or anxiety) or whether certain forms of
temperament might predispose a child to the development of certain mental
disorders. |
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