Theories of Child Development Essay - 1010 Words

Theories abound around how people develop emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. This essay will examine the theories of five leaders on the subject of development. Jean Piaget believed in four stages of development that were fairly concrete in description (Atherton, 2010). 1. Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2 years old) – Children begin to make sense of the world around them based on their interaction with their physical environment. Reality begins to be defined. 2. Preoperational stage (ages 2-7) – Concrete physical stimuli are needed in order for a child to develop new concepts. 3. Concrete operations (ages 7-11) – As a child accumulates experience with the physical world, he/she begins to conceptualize to explain†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"An essential feature of learning is that it awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is in the action of interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers† (2004). Erik Erikson like Piaget had distinct stages of development assigned to specific ages. However Erikson ascribed development even into old age. Eight stages beginning with birth to old age described a conflict that had to be resolved by the person before moving on to the next, termed the epigenetic principle (Boeree, 2006). As each conflict is resolved a person gains strength to move on to a more complex battle. These struggles are inner conflicts revolving around Freud’s theories of ego, i.e. the first stage, birth to age one, trust vs mistrust is the conflict or stage eight, age 50 and beyond, integrity vs despair. As a situation arises a person has two ways of resolution, adaptive or maladaptive (Cramer, Flynn, LaFave, 1997). This conflict must be mastered before progressing. Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of the development of moral reasoning is laid out in seven stages, within three levels, preconventional, conventional and principled morality. The first stage being primitive reasoning (fear of punishment) moving to stage seven transcendental morality, one that uses religion to judgeShow MoreRelatedChild Development Theories1324 Words   |  6 PagesChild Developmental Theories Ashford University PSY 104 Child and Adolescent Psychology June 29, 2009 Child Developmental Theories While theorists have different ideas and perspectives, insight on child and adolescent development can assist teachers and parents in helping children reach their full developmental and learning potential. Having knowledge about the developmentRead MoreThe Theories Of Child Development1084 Words   |  5 Pagesimportant values and beliefs within their culture. All of this provides the foundations for cognitive development. As trainee teachers, it is fundamental that we have a deeper understanding of how children learn and how we can support learning. In order to do this we must first look at some of the theories of learning. 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