Human Growth And Development:

Stage Theory :

Name
Age Group
Development tasks
Skills + Competencies

Eg. Toddlerhood 2-4 yrs. Old

Development tasks:

Walking
Speech development
Skills + Competencies:

Walking
Talking

PSYCHOLOGICAL CRISIS:Mild anxiety that an individual experiences at the start of each stage of
development in order to meet the expectations of society.
These expectations are met by the observation of others and the encouragement of
others around the child.
Each psychological crises is defined as either Positive or Negative.
Eg. Infancys psychological crisis is Trust vs Negative.
Toddlers psychological crises is Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt.

Central Process:A (defense) mechanism individually designed to resolve the psychological crisis in a
positive manner.
1) Infancy:Mutuality with Parent ( care given ) a deep bonding between both the
parent and child where whatever the child feels , the parents feel. ( Mutual
Understanding )
2) Toddlerhood:Imitation basic from of learning that involves the imitation of the way
something is said/done and even the attitude that was done with the action/s
displayed (emotions as well).

Prime Adaptive Ego Quality:This is a psychological and behavioral orientation developed as a direct result of the
way the psychosocial crisis is resolved in a positive way.

Core Pathology:This is a psychological and behavioral orientation developed as a direct result of the
way the psychosocial crisis is resolved in a negative way.

Biology System

Psychology System

Social System

Genetics
Motor
Skeletal
Sensory
Respiratory
Endocrine
Circulatory
Waste Elimination
Sexual Reproduction
Digestive

Motivation
Emotion
Perception
Learning
Memory
Judgement
Reasoning
Problem- Solving
Language skills
Symbolic abilities

Nervous

Self Awareness

Interpersonal Relationship
Social Roles
Rituals
Cultural Myths
Social Expections
Leadership Styles
Communication Patterns
Family Organization
Social Support
Political/Religious
Ideologies
Patterns Of Economic,
prosperity, poverty, war
and peace
Patterns of intolerance,
discrimination

Reality Testing

What is a theory?
A theory is a logical system of general concepts that underlies the organization and
understanding of observations.
A formal scientific theory is a set of interconnected statements, including
assumptions, definitions, axioms, postulates, hypothetical constructs, intervening
variables, laws and hypotheses.

A theory explains four issues:

What are the mechanisms that account for growth from conception through
old age, and to what extent do these mechanisms vary across the life span?
What factors underlie stability and change across the lfe span?
How do physical, cognitive, emotional, and social functions interact? How do
these interactions account for mixtures of thoughts, feelings, health states,
and social relationships?
How does the social context affect individual development?

The Three Features:

The theory addresses growth across the life span, identifying and
differentiating central issues from infancy through old age.
The theory assumes that we are not totally at the mercy of biological and
environmental influences. At every stage of life, we have the capacity to
contribute to our own psychological development and to integrate, organize
and conceptualize our own experiences so as to protect ourselves and the
direct the course of our lives. ( In general self determination )
The theory takes into consideration the active contribution of ones culture to
ones individual growth. At each life stage, cultural goals and aspirations,
social expectations and requirements, and the opportunities that the culture
provides make demands on us that draw forth reactions. These reactions
influence which of a persons capabilities will be developed further. This vital
link between the individual and the world is a key mechanism of
development. ( Culture )

Basic Concepts:

The theory represent human development as a product of the interaction

between individual ( psychological ) needs and abilities and societal ( social )
expectations and demands.
Julian Huxley ( 1941 ) used the term psychological evolution to refer to those
human abilities that have allowed us to gather knowledge from our ancestors
and transmit it to our descendants, child rearing practices, education and
modes of communication.

Basic Concepts: Stages of Development

A stage of development is a period of life characterized by a specific

underlying organization. A wide variety of behaviours can be viewed as

expressing the underlying structure at each stage. At every stage, some

characteristics differentiate it from the preceding and succeeding stages.
Stage theories propose a specific direction for development, an each new
stage incorporates the gains made at the earlier stage.

Developmental Tasks

These consist of a set of skills and competencies that contribute to increased

mastery over ones environment and define what is healthy, normal
development at each age in a particular society. The tasks form a sequence:
success in learning the tasks of one stage leads to development and a
greater chance of success in learning the tasks of later stages. Failure at the
tasks of one stage leads to greater difficulty with later tasks, even making
them impossible to master.

Psychological Crisis

This arises when one must make psychological efforts to adjust to the
demands of ones social environment at each stage of development. Here,
crisis refers to a normal set of stresses and strains. Societal demands vary
from stage to stage. These demands are experienced as mild but persistent
guidelines for and expectations of behavior. They may be demands for
greater self-control, a further development of skills, or a stronger
commitment to goals.

The Central Process

Every psychological crisis reflects some discrepancy between the persons

developmental competencies at the beginning of the stage and societal
pressure for more effective, integrated functioning. The central process for
resolving the psychosocial crisis links the individuals needs with the
requirements of the culture at each life stage. Age related demands and
relevant competencies are communicated through significant social
relationships.

Radius of Significant Relationships

Initially, a person focuses on a small number of relationships but as the

person grows older, the number of relationships expands to take on a greater
variety in depth and in intensity, In mid and later adulthood, however, the
person often returns to a small number of extremely important relationships

that provide opportunities for great depth and intimacy. Most of the demands
made on a person are made by people in these significant relationships.

Coping Behavior

This consists of active efforts to resolve stress and create new solutions to
the challenges of each developmental stage.
Robert White ( 1974 ) identified three components of the coping process:
1. The ability to gain and process new info.
2. The ability to maintain control over ones emotional state.
3. The ability to move freely within ones environment.

Prime Adaptive Ego Qualities

Erikson ( 1978 ) postulate that these develop from the positive resolution of
the psychosocial crisis of a given stage and provides resources for coping
with the next. They are mental states that form a basic orientation toward the
interpretation of a life experiences. These ego qualities contribute to the
persons dominant worldview, which, throughout life, must be reformulated to
accommodate new ego qualities.

Core Pathologies

A potential core pathology or destructive force may also develop as a result

of ineffective, negatively balanced crisis resolution at each stage. They also
serve as guiding orientations for behavior. They move people away from
others, tend to prevent further exploration of interpersonal relations, and
obstruct the resolution of subsequent psychosocial crises. Energy is directed
toward resisting or avoiding change.

Human Growth And Development

Human growth and Development investigates the human organism at all

ages and stages with attention paid to :
1. Biology
2. Anthropology
3. Sociology
4. Psychology

Growth refers to the:

Increase in size
Function, or
Complexity to the point of maturity.

Aging refers to the kind of biological changes that occur beyond the point of optimal
maturity.
Development refers to the change over time in the:

Structure
Thought or behavior of a person as a result of both biological and
environmental factors:

The Biological Processes of Development:

All living organisms develop according to a genetic plan. In humans the plan
is flexible and allows for some physical and much behavioral alterations. The
process of growing from the genetic plan is referred to as maturation.

Theories of Learning
Learning theories have proposed mechanisms to account for the relatively
permanent changes in behavior that occur as a result of experience. Four
theories of learning are:

Classical Conditioning
This was developed by the Russian Psychologist Ivan Pavlov (1926-1960). There are
six basic elements in classical conditioning:

The
The
The
The
The
The

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

Neutral Response (NR)
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
Unconditioned Response (UR)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Conditioned Response (CR)

Before conditioning, the bell is the Neutral Stimulus (NS). It elicits a response of
interest or attention, nothing more a Neutral Response (NR). The sight and
smell of food are the Unconditioned Stimuli (US) that elicit salivation, the
Unconditioned Response (UR). During conditioning trials, the bell is rung shortly
before food appears. The dog is said to have been conditioned when it salivates at
the sound of the bell, even before the food is presented. The bell, therefore, comes
to control the salivation response. Salivation that occurs in response to the bell
alone is called the conditioned response (CR). Think of your own reaction when you
look at your watch and realize that its close to lunch time. Conditioning does not
take place randomly between any two events linked in time. A conditioned response
is established to the degree that there is a meaningful relationship between the CS
and the US. Usually, they must occur together many times before conditioning is
established. Pavlovian conditioning accounts for a great deal of the associations,

sometimes stored at the unconscious level, can be established a triggered in the

process of concept formation, memory and problem solving. When a specific symbol
is paired with an image, an emotional reaction or an object, that symbol takes on a
new meaning. The associations made through classical conditioning may involve
labels and concepts, but they do not necessarily have language skills.
During infancy and toddlerhood, a variety of positive and negative emotional
reactions are conditioned to people, objects, and environments as the child
develops attachments. Our reactions to the taste of a certain type of food or the
feel of a particular material may be the result of conditioned learning that has
persisted into adulthood. Similarly, fears may be the result of classical conditioning.
Many people recall at least one frightening experience, such as nearly drowning,
being beaten, or falling from the top of a slide. The association of fear or pain with a
specific stimulus may lead to a systematic avoidance of that object for the rest of
ones life.

Operant Conditioning: E.L. Thorndike (1898) studied a different type of learning

called operant conditioning, by observing cats as they figured out how to escape
from a cage. He described a process of trial and error learning in which the cats
made fewer and fewer random movements and increasing directed their behavior to
the correct solution (pulling a string to release a latch). Operant conditioning
emphasizes the role of repetition and the consequences of behavior in learning.
(Doing the right thing faster gives you the reward faster so after
continuous trial and error, it becomes easier to do tasks with the
knowledge of a reward at the end).
Operant Conditioning emphasizes the role of repetition and the
consequences of behavior in learning.
One of the best known American Psychologists B.F. Skinner, a behaviorist,
reviewed the work of Pavlov and work of Thorndike, and summarized the essential
differences between classical and operant conditioning:

In classical conditioning , the conditioned response can begin at Zero Level,

that is, it may not be present at all. In trial-and-error learning, a response
must be made if it is to be reinforced or strengthened.
In classical conditioning, the response is controlled by what precedes it. In
trial-and-error learning, the response is controlled by what follows it.
Classical conditioning is most suitable for internal responses (involuntary
actions *hunger*) (emotional and glandular reactions). Trial-and-error
learning is the most suitable for external responses (voluntary/deliberate
actions) (muscle movements and verbal responses).

Skinners work followed the lines of Thorndikes. His focus was on the modification
of voluntary behavior through the consequences of those behaviors. In the
traditional operant conditioning experiment, the researcher selects a response in
advance and then waits for the subject to make a desired response (or at least a
partial response). Then, the experimenter presents a reinforcement. A
reinforcement is operationally defined as any stimulus that makes a repetition
of the response more likely. There are two kinds of reinforcers:
Some, such as food and smiles, increase the rate of response when they are
present. These are called positive reinforcers. Others, such as electric shock,
increase the rate of the response when they are removed. These are called
negative reinforcers.
A stimulus can be considered a positive reinforcement only if it makes some
behavior more likely to occur. Operant conditioning develops behavior patterns that
are under the learners control. The person can choose to make a response or not ,
depending on the consequences associated with the behavior.

Shaping
One means of developing a new complex response is shaping . Here, the response is
broken down into its major components. At first, a response that is only an
approximation of one element of the behavior is reinforced. Gradually, new
elements of the behavior are added and a reinforcement is given only when two or
three components of the response are linked together. Once the person makes the
complete response, the approximations are no longer reinforced.

Schedules Of Reinforcement:
This refers to the frequency and regularity with which reinforcements are given.
(See Handout) There is no doubt that operant conditioning occurs often throughout
life. Reinforcement schedules set by ones work, ones spouse, and oneself operate
on much of ones behavior as an adult. Reinforcement conditions determine the
behavior that will be performed and how long a behavior will persist one the
reinforcement for it is removed.

Social Learning:
Focuses on the largely on learning in a social context. Rather than stripping away
the social meaning that surrounds much of human learning, it acknowledges the
social environment as a stimulus for learning. Also, it introduces imitation and direct
instruction as additional means of acquiring new behaviors. In its more recent
expression, social learning theory also gives a much greater role to cognitive
processes, including the knowledge the learner already has, the influence of ones
expectations about how ones behavior is evaluated and anticipation of the
probable outcomes of success or failure.
The concept of social learning evolved from an awareness that much learning is
based on observing and imitating other peoples behavior. A child can observe
someone perform a task or hear someone say a new expression and imitate that
behavior accurately on the first try. In toddlerhood, for example, imitation provides a
mechanism for the rapid acquisition of new behaviors. Adults provide the models for
many activities. They express feelings, voice attitudes, perform tasks, and enact
their moral values. By observing and imitating many of these behaviors, children
become socialized into their familys and their communitys way of life. Bandura
was interested in identifying the conditions in which a child will imitate a model.
Children have been found to imitate aggressive altruistic, helping and stingy
models. They are most likely to imitate models who are prestigious, who control
resources, or who themselves are rewarded. Bandura and Walters (1963) suggested
that children not only observe the behavior of a model but watch what happens to
the model. When the models behavior is rewarded, the behavior is more likely to be
imitated; when the models behavior is punished, the behavior is more likely to be
avoided. When naughty behavior goes unpunished, it too is likely to be imitated.
This process is called vicarious reinforcement. Through observational learning,
a child can learn a behavior and also acquire the motivation to perform the behavior
or resist performing that behavior depending on what is learned about the
consequences of the behavior. Thus observational learning encourages selfregulation and the internalization of standards for resisting certain behaviors as
well as for enacting other behaviors.
The influence of Cognition on Social Learning Theory
Recent directions in social learning theory have taken an increasingly cognitive
orientation (Bandura 1989). That is, through observational learning, the child
becomes acquainted with the general concepts of the situation as well as the
specific behavior. Direct reinforcement or non-reinforcement provides one
type of information about how to behave in a certain situation. In addition, we
watch others, learn about the consequences of their actions, and
remember what others have told or shown us and what we have read or
learned about the situation. Over time, a person begins to from a mental
representation for the situation, the required behavior and the expected
outcome. The rules for behavior in each setting are abstracted from what has
been observed, in watching others, what has happened following ones own

behavior in the past, and what one understands about the demands of the
immediate situation.
Peoples judgements about how well they expect to perform, or whether they expect
to improve their skill level through training, have a clear impact on their
performance. Bandura (1982, 1989) identified self-efficacy as a key element in
the cognitive basis of behavior. Self-efficacy is defined as the sense of
confidence that one can perform the behavior demanded by a situation.
According to Bandura (1989), the decision to engage in a situation, as well as the
intensity of effort expended in the situation, depends on a persons confidence
of success.
Those who have a high sense of efficacy visualize success scenarios
that provide positive guides for performance and they cognitively
rehearse good solutions to potential problems. Those who judge
themselves as inefficacious are more inclined to visualized failure
scenarios and dwell on how things will go wrong. Such inefficacious thinking
weakens motivation and undermines performance.
Bandura points out that adjustment depends on ones judgement about the
outcome of a situation. People who judge their efficacy to be low give up and
become apathetic in unresponsive environments. In responsive environments,
they may become more depressed and self-critical when they see others who
appear to be similar succeeding.
The concept of self efficacy clarifies how people adapt when they enter new roles or
situations. The successes and failures we observe in others and the encouragement
we receive from others, influence our expectations. Coping behavior can also be
influenced by a history of prior efficacy.

Cognitive Behaviorism
One objection raised frequently against classical and operant conditioning as
theories of learning is that they have no language or concepts that describe events
that occur in the learners mind. Learning is described as a relationship between
environmental events and individual responses. In discussing the intervening

set of responses that influence learning, Edward Tolman (1932/1967, 1948) said that
the learner develops a cognitive map, which is an internal mental representation of
the learning environment. Individuals who perform a specific task in a certain
environment attend primarily to that task, but they also form a representation of the
rest of the setting that is, a cognitive map. The map includes expectations
about the settings reward system, its spatial relationships, and the kind of
behavior accorded the highest priority. An individuals performance in a situation
represents only part of what he or she has learned. The fact that people respond
to changes in the environment indicates the existence of a complex mental
map.
Cognitive behaviorists study the many internal mental activities that influence
behavior. According to Walter Mischel (1973,1979), at least six cognitive factors
must be taken into account if a persons behavior is to be understood: cognitive
competencies, self-encoding, expectancies, values, goals and plans and self-control
strategies. Cognitive competencies consist of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Selfencoding ones self evaluation and self-conceptualization. An interesting finding in
this area is that depressed people tend to evaluate themselves more realistically
than those who are not depressed. Mischel (1979) argued that to feel good
about ourselves we may have to judge ourselves more kindly than we are
judged. In other words most people who are not chronically depressed may
bias their evaluations of themselves toward self enhancement.