1.
THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
Infancy to Adolescence
Lt Col Nirmala Roberts
India

2.
Childhood is crucial!
Research has shown that –
� Early childhood is the most important stage of brain
devt.
� Infant’s brain – About 1/4 of adult brain. At 1 yr - 50%;
at 3 yrs - 80%; and by 5 yrs of age - 90% of adult brain!
�Infant’s brains develop in response to stimulation (sight,
sound, touch, touch, smell…)
�Infant’s who are stimulated develop more quickly and
have more secure self image

3.
Child Development Theories..
� Help explain and predict human behaviour
� Explain how children change and grow over the course
of childhood.
� Focuses on emotional, social and cognitive development

4.
Theories of Development
1. Psychosocial theory – Eric Erikson
2. Psychosexual theory – Sigmund Freud
3. Cognitive theory – Jean Piaget
4. Spiritual theory – James Fowler
5. Moral theory – Lawrence Kohlberg

5.
Psychosocial theory…
� 8 stages of development
� Each stage has unique developmental tasks
� Achievement of devt. al tasks in a stage
prepares child to move to next stage
�Failure to achieve a devt.al task  Regression

6.
Psychosocial theory…
� Infancy (0 – 1 yr) - Trust Vs Mistrust
(Hope/ expectation)
� Toddler hood (1-3 yrs)- Autonomy Vs shame & doubt
(Will/ Strength of character)
� Pre Schooler (3-6 yrs) – Initiative Vs guilt
(Purpose/ Rationale)
� Schooler (6-12 yrs) – Industry Vs inferiority
(Competence/ Ability)
★ Adolescent (12-18 yrs) – Identity vs role confusion
(Fidelity/ Loyalty)

7.
�Young adult (20 - 40 years) - Intimacy vs. Isolation
(Love/ commitment)
� Middle age (40 - 64 years) - Generativity vs.
Stagnation
(Care/ contribution)
� Old age (65 - death) - Ego Integrity vs. Despair
(Wisdom/ fulfillment)

8.
Psychosexual theory…
� Personalities depend upon how the physical needs are
met in childhood
� At the different stages in childhood, particular areas of
body gives pleasure to child.
� If the needs are not fulfilled, they fail to successfully
pass through the stages (= fixation)

9.
Psychosexual theory…
� Personality has 3 ego states –
� Id (pleasure), Ego (reality), Superego (moral)
� 5 Stages of psychosexual development
� Oedipus complex allows child to identify with same sex
parent
� Fixation is an unresolved conflict during a stage of
development
Superego Id
Ego
C
A
P

10.
Psychosexual theory…
Age Stage Pleasure focus Ego state
Infancy
(0 – 1 yr)
Oral stage Mouth
Id
Toddler hood
(1-3 yrs)
Anal stage Anus
Preschooler
(3-6 yrs)
Phallic stage Genitalia
Superego
Schooler
(6-12 yrs)
Latency
stage
Repression of sexual interests
Devt of social & intellectual skills
Adolescent
(12-18 yrs)
Genital stage Sexual reawakening.
Source of pleasure – someone
outside of the family

11.
Cognitive theory…
� Stress on conscious mental processes
� Cognitive processes are influenced by
biological maturation
� Children learn through developing ‘schemas’
(building blocks of knowledge)
� 4 stages of cognitive development

12.
Cognitive theory…
�Children understand the world through –
�Assimilation – Uses existing schema to deal with a
new object/ situation
�Accommodation – Changing schema to deal with a
new object/ situation, when the existing schema does
not work
�Equilibrium - The force which moves development
along
� Hence children need hands-on experience to construct
their understanding

13.
1. Sensorimotor stage (0-2 yrs)
Schema  Assimilation  ……. Accommodation
Key feature – Object permanence
• Coordinates sensory experiences with physical actions
• Reflexive…instinctual….symbolic thought

14.
2. Pre operational stage (2 – 7 yrs)
�Emerging ability to think. Uses words &
images to represents things. Intuitive stage
from 4 yrs. Can classify by one trait.
Cannot break down a whole into parts.
�Key feature – Egocentrism, symbolism

15.
3. Concrete operations (7-11 yrs)
�Reasoning about concrete events (‘here and now’)
�Cana think systematically, but with actual objects
�Beginning of internalization of tasks
�Simple classification.
�Key feature – Conservation (Can reverse operations)

16.
4. Formal operations (11+ yrs)
�Reasoning in abstract, idealistic and logical ways
�Key feature – Abstract reasoning, reasoning, problem
solving

17.
Spiritual theory…
�Faith = A holistic orientation, and is concerned with
the individual’s relatedness to the universe

18.
Spiritual theory…
�Stage 0 – “Primal or Undifferentiated” faith (0 - 2 yrs)- Early
learning of the safety of their environment (= warm, safe and
secure vs. hurt, neglect and abuse).
Consistent Vs inconsistent nurturance  Divinity vs non
divinity about universe
�Stage 1- “Intuitive-Projective” faith (3-7 yrs), - Characterized
by the psyche’s unprotected exposure to the Unconscious.
Intuitive images of good and evil. Fantasy and reality are the
same.

19.
�Stage 2 “Mythic-Literal” faith (school age) - Strong belief in
the justice and reciprocity of the universe; deities are seen as
anthropomorphic. Literal interpretation of religious stories.
God is like a parent figure.
�Stage 3 “Synthetic-Conventional” faith (adolescence)
Characterized by conformity. More abstract thoughts.

20.
Moral development – Kohlberg
�Level 1 (Pre-Conventional)
�1. Obedience and punishment orientation (How to avoid punishment?)
�2. Self-interest orientation (What's in it for me?...Paying for a benefit)
�Level 2 (Conventional)
�3. Interpersonal accord and conformity (Social norms - Good boy/girl)
�4. Authority and social-order maintaining (Law and order morality)
�Level 3 (Post-Conventional)
�5. Social contract orientation. Universal ethical
principles (Principled conscience)