Early Childhood Education I

Unit 5: Theories of Human Development

IMPORTANCE OF THE THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

HOW DO THE MAJOR THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

PROVIDE A BASIS FOR PLANNING AN ENVIRONMENT AND
ACTIVITIES THAT ARE DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE?
Studying and understanding child growth and development are
important parts of teaching young children because no two
children are alike, yet all children have similar needs and follow
a similar sequence in their development.
A knowledge of human development is the basis for caregivers being
able to provide the type of care children need and planning
appropriate curriculum. These 2 factors are the foundation of DAP –
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
WHAT ARE THE 5 AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT?

1. Physical development – physical changes in the body

• Examples – height, weight, bone thickness, vision, hearing,
muscle growth
• Physical skills are the result of physical development
• Gross motor development – improvement of skills using the
large muscles in the legs and arms (running, skipping, bike ride
• Fine motor development – improvement of skills using the
small muscles in the hands and fingers (grasping, holding,
cutting, drawing)
2. Cognitive or Intellectual
development – processes
people use to gain knowledge

Examples – language, thought,

reasoning, and imagination

3. Social development –
learning to relate to
others

Examples – communication
and resolving conflicts
4. Emotional development –learning to express
emotions in appropriate ways and the
development of self-concept and self-esteem
Examples – controlling anger, feeling good about
oneself
5. Moral development – the process of acquiring
the standards of behavior considered
acceptable by society

Example – right vs wrong,

development of a conscience
WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT?

1. Although each child is unique, the patterns of development

are predictable and orderly.
• Cephalocaudal principle – development proceeds from the
head down
Example – Child gains control of the head first, then the arms,
then the legs
• Proximodistal principle – development proceeds from the
center of the body outward
Example – Child rolls over first, then reaches out with the
arms, then picks up items with the hands
• Maturation – the sequence of bodily changes in children
which give children new abilities
Example – A 4-month-old’s brain allows the child to coo and
babble, but by 2-year’s old, the child can say and understand
many words
2. The areas of development are inter-related – one area of
development can strongly influence another area
Examples – Writing words requires fine motor skills and
cognitive development
- Language is a part of cognitive development,
but is influenced by hearing
3. Each child develops at his own rate – In a classroom, children
who are the same age have progressed to different levels in
each developmental area
 HOW DOES HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT AFFECT THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILD?

Are a person’s traits, abilities, skills, and tastes a result of heredity

or a result of environment? Most researchers today will answer
both. The question is not a matter of “which,” but “how much?”
HEREDITY or Nature – traits a person is born with passed down
from their parents at conception
• Genes – the part of DNA that gives lifelong instructions that
determine the traits a person has
• Examples – eye color, brain development, personality and
temperament
• No single gene determines a particular behavior because
human behavior is extremely complex
ENVIRONMENT or Nurture – all of a person’s surroundings and the
people in them

• Even though genes determine individual traits, the environment

can manipulate some traits
• Environmental factors that influence development – family,
peers, community, economic resources, media, health care,
nutrition, physical activity
• Examples – a stimulating
and interactive environment
promotes the growth and
development of the brain
- a person’s weight is affected
by inherited traits as well
as diet and physical activity
 THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

COGNITIVE THEORY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT – JEAN PIAGET

Piaget challenged teachers to focus

on the ways children come to know
as opposed to what they know. He
believed that children naturally
attempt to understand what they do
not know and that knowledge is
gradually gathered during active
involvement in real-life experiences.
His theory focuses on predicatble,
cognitive (thinking) stages:
1. Sensorimotor stage – birth to 2 years
• Infants use their senses
to explore and learn

Object Permanence develops –

child learns that objects still
exists when it is out of sight
2. Preoperational stage – 2 to 7 years
• Child is egocentric – assumes that others see the world the
same way they do so they cannot see things from another
person’s point of view
• Representation skills are learned – language, symbolic play,
drawing
• Thinking is illogical
• Understand conservation – changing the appearance of
something does not change the amount of it
Example – clay, equal amount of liquid in 2 different types of
glasses
3. Concrete Operations stage –
7 to 11 years
• Develop the capacity to think
systematically, but only when
they can refer to actual objects
and hands-on activities
• Begin to internalize some tasks –
no longer rely on what is seen
• Are capable of reversing operations
Example – 3 + 1 and 1 + 3
are the same
4. Formal Operations stage – 11 years to adulthood
• Capable of abstract thinking
• Develop problem solving and reasoning
 PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT –
ERIK ERICKSON

Erickson’s theory revolved around the

formation of a healthy personality. He
believed that development occurred
throughout the lifespan and that
children’s personalities develop in
response to their social environment.
He theorized that development
occurred in 8 stages and that in each
stage a social conflict or crisis occurs.
The conflict/crisis must be resolved in
a satisfying manner before the child
can ascend to the next stage.
 Four Stages that occur in early childhood:
1. Trust vs Mistrust – child learns to develop trust when they
receive warm, consistent, predictable, and attentive care
(Birth to 18 months)
• Caregivers need to respond quickly and consistently to a
child’s needs
• Mistrust will occur if an infant experiences an unpredictable
world or is handled harshly
2. Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt – toddlers use their motor and
mental skills to become independent and do things for
themselves
(18 months to 3 years)
• Objective is to gain self-control without the loss of self-esteem
• Examples – self-feeding, toileting, dressing and exploration
• Overprotection or lack of opportunities to be independent
result in self-doubt, poor achievement, and shame
3. Initiative vs Guilt – child learns how to take initiative without
being hurtful to others
(3 to 5 years)
• Gives the child a sense of accomplishment and purpose
• If child is discouraged by criticism, feelings of incompetence
are likely to develop
4. Industry vs Inferiority – children enjoy planning and carrying
out projects
(6 to 12 years)
• Helps child learn society’s rules and expectations
• Children gain approval by developing academic skills such as
reading, writing, and math
• Realistic goals and expectations enrich the child’s sense of self
• Feelings of incompetence and insecurity emerge if parents
demand too much control
 PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT –
SIGMUND FREUD

Freud was a pioneer in applying

psychoanalytic theory. With the
goal of restoring psychological
health, he helped his patients talk
through their issues. As he
talked to more and more patients,
he began to create a developmental
theory that focused on early life
experiences.
• Believed that what happens early in life affects a person for
years to come.
• Freud’s theory is not considered to be scientifically sound
today, but he opened the door to a new way of
understanding development.
 BEHAVIORIST THEORY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT –
IVAN PAVLOV AND B.F. SKINNER

According to behaviorists, a person’s behavior is determined by

forces in the environment that are beyond their control – how
they behave depends only on what they are taught, not what
they are born with.
BEHAVIORIST – IVAN PAVLOV

Pavlov is famous for his experiment

with a dog. The dog, which had a
natural tendency to salivate when
in the sight of food learned to
salivate at the sound of a bell.
this happened after a training period
when a bell would ring each time
the dog was served food. After a
while, the food was no longer
needed for the dog to salivate – only
the sound of the bell. This is called
Classical conditioning (behaviors that
are associated with emotional
responses).
Other examples – Parent teaching a child to be afraid of dogs by
their own reaction to dogs.
- Hearing a favorite song can bring positive
thoughts based on an emotional experience
you associate with that song.
BEHAVIORIST – B.F. SKINNER

Skinner is known for identifying

the principle of
Operant Conditioning – behaviors
that are reinforced are more likely
to be repeated.
• People tend to repeat behaviors that have a positive effect.
Example – If you receive a good grade on a project, you may
use a similar strategy on a future project.
• To make the new behavior permanent, the reinforcement
must be gradually removed in an unpredictable pattern.
• Negative reinforcement, or punishment, is also very
important in the Behaviorist theory.
• Other Behaviorist techniques:
Encouraging children for their efforts,
modeling positive behaviors,
maintaining a positive attitude
with children.

All can have significant effect on

children’s behavior by making
interactions pleasant and fun.
 WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
THEORIES ON THE EVOLUTION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND
LEARNING?
Although each theory of human development is different, each
offers a wealth of insight into how children develop. The theories
help caregivers understand how to best work with children. As a
result, early childhood care and learning now focuses on:
1. The importance of providing a caring environment
2. The importance of nurturing, responsive teachers
3. The importance of providing developmentally appropriate
practice
The result of applying the knowledge gained from the
theories of human development: Children learn and
develop the self-confidence and self-worth they need to
safely explore the world.