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knowledge area module 2 theories of human development by penny smith-ferris penny.smith-ferris@waldenu.edu student id 002529866 program phd in education specialization self designed kam assessor dr sandra johnson sandra.johnson@waldenu.edu faculty mentor dr sandra johnson sandra.johnson@waldenu.edu walden university may 10 2010

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abstract breadth sbsf 8210 theories of human development the breadth section delves into major human development theories a brief overview as to how society has changed their views in understanding how people specifically children develop is given through historical theories dating back to locke and rousseau up through current theorists such as dr bruce perry changes in human development are critically analyzed moral development and moral reasoning based on several theorists are presented throughout the breadth section and integrated into the depth section current theories concerning how the environment or nurture impacts children as well as genetics or nature are used to further analyze the evolution of human developmental theories it is through dr perry s work that social changes have occurred in the area of human development and specially in the understanding of emotional development.

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abstract depth sbsf 8220 current research in human development the depth component further analyzes how moral development and cognitive developmental theories can help in the understanding of why people behave the way they do attachment theory is reviewed in an unbiased manner and discussed in relationship to secure and insecure attachment insecure attachment is separated into types of insecure attachment and leads into the vast field of child maltreatment which includes the physical emotional and sexual abuse of children as well as neglect this discussion is then taken into the realm of moral behavior and criminality understanding what antecedents in childhood have the potential to cause criminal behaviors as the child develops can help our society prevent criminal behavior.

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abstract application sbsf 8230 professional practice and human development educators have a critical role in identifying reporting and preventing child abuse and neglect trauma due to child abuse and neglect can impose barriers that prevent a child from learning educators are mandated by law to report any suspected abuse and only need reasonable doubt to report the application project consists of a publication by which educators from a particular school district are informed of not only the federal and state statutes regarding child maltreatment but also a school district s reporting standards we can be the first line of defense for a child suffering from maltreatment and we need to be aware what changes in behaviors among other signs and symptoms can signal abuse also in understanding behaviors stemming from maltreatment we can better understand how to help children emotionally and educationally in the classroom thus bringing about change in the school district s treatment of abused acting out children.

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table of contents 7 breadth 9 historical perceptions 10 plato 10 aristotle 11 industrial revolution 11 early theorists and theories ­ locke and rousseau 13 development of theories through scientific methods 14 john watson 15 b.f skinner 16 a revolution in thinking ­ sigmund freud 17 erik erikson 17 bowlby and ainsworth 21 albert bandura 23 jean piaget 25 lawrence kohlberg 27 lee vygotsky 28 bruce perry 30 conclusion 33 depth 36 annotated bibliography 36 introduction 61 the theories behind behavior 64 cognitive development and reasoning 64 moral development 68

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attachment theory 70 maltreatment 73 prevention 78 conclusion 81 application 85 overview 85 project details 86 project 88 discussion 103 references 110

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knowledge area module 2 theories of human development breadth by penny smith-ferris penny.smith-ferris@waldenu.edu student id 002529866 program phd in education specialization self designed kam assessor dr sandra johnson sandra.johnson@waldenu.edu faculty mentor dr sandra johnson sandra.johnson@waldenu.edu walden university may 10 2010

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9 breadth sbsf 8210 theories of human development the study of human development concentrates on the progression and changes that come about from conception through adulthood and dying development has been defined as those processes in a living being that are biologically planned as well as those that are prone and/or changed by the settings harris 2002 p 1 throughout this breadth section historical perspectives from the past 150 years will be analyzed and ultimately contrasted based on the research data since human development is so intricate and all-inclusive understanding it requires a multidisciplinary approach this encompasses not only psychology but also biology sociology history anthropology and philosophy harris 2002 p 2 while each of these disciplines aids in the understanding of human development none of them on their own provides a complete description viewing the individual as a natural formation provides further enlightenment when investigating the physical cognitive emotional and social developmental areas developmental psychologists who take a natural approach think about how human beings become familiar to their environments these psychologists focus their attention on how a mixture of factors and settings influence a person s actions and growth watson 2002 human development is also defined as the sequence of steps and processes that bring about change and reorganization in humans from conception through the entire life cycle watson 2002 p 3 watson 2002 believes that there are multiple

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10 theories that have had impacts and influences on child development and human nature watson 2002 also believes that human development applies to a person s growth in regard to their specific abilities and knowledge and the way a person uses various strategies to approach life s challenges to understand human development completely according to watson 2002 the need to understand our origins and how we have developed is of great significance watson 2002 harris 2002 also explains that human development requires us not only to understand human nature ­ because development is a natural phenomena ­ but also to consider the diverse effects that a particular society and a particular set of experiences have upon the developing child harris 2002 p 4 historical perceptions plato according to watson 2002 as cited in theories of human development plato s belief was that parents in athens were morally decayed and unfit to raise their own children he thought that even the most admirable and capable individuals were not trustworthy enough to raise the citizens for the future of an ideal state according to watson 2002 plato believed this because there were almost as many child raising techniques as there were parents plato therefore advocated according to watson 2002 that all children should be separated from their parents early in life and that the state should be in charge of the children s upbringing including their education this philosophy has been adopted in some contemporary cultures such as israel the soviet

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11 union and china watson 2002 p 6 every infant born in athens during this time was to have an equal opportunity regardless of social and economic position and sex unless that child was a slave plato believed that both boys and girls should be able to attend school and have the same basic education watson 2002 aristotle watson 2002 goes on to write in theories of human development that aristotle who was a disciple of plato thought that education should be arranged to fit various personalities he disagreed to an extent with plato according to watson 2002 regarding the states control of child rearing and believed this was only appropriate for future leaders he also felt that the family provided the personal and social stability for a child and that the privacy of home life should be encouraged aristotle also believed that the various child rearing techniques were beneficial because no single parenting technique was likely to be effective for all children watson 2002 industrial revolution the way children were viewed during the pre-industrial era and the industrial revolution in europe and america can be categorized as to the type of society that they lived in according to watson 2002 hunter-gatherer societies kept children close and there was a strong parent-child attachment in agrarian societies children were treated like mini adults were more disciplined and had more responsibilities watson 2002 watson s 2002 final categorization is that of technological societies in which children

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12 were viewed as a financial liability and only valued for their potential worth during this time as well the responsibility of upbringing and education was placed upon society watson 2002 perspectives about children influenced many theories according to watson 2002 and all these perspectives underwent various movements and changes children during the industrial revolution in europe were barely tolerated and to an extent disregarded children were expected to work and were believed to have no different needs or developmental levels than that of an adult it was the belief of religious leaders in europe according to watson 2002 that humans were born full of sin and wicked in nature so ultimately the children s misbehavior was due to this innate wickedness also during this time period childhood was not seen as a distinct period of life children were considered infants until they were five to seven years old and at that time they became adults no separate world of childhood existed watson 2002 according to watson 2002 it was not until the late 1700 s that philosophers took an active concern in the developing child which ultimately contributed to the change in the perception of a child s role according to harris 2002 the beginning of the industrial revolution began the origin for the systematic study of childhood since it brought with it an increasing need for basic literacy that was eventually met by the introduction of universal primary education harris 2002 p 3 with this change in thought the study of children became imperative which would help ensure childhood education harris 2002 sunday school also emerged filling the needs of religious education and discipline children were undergoing an improvement in how they were being treated

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13 watson 2002 american s valued children more than europe did and viewed their children as having potential educational reforms and pediatric medicine also developed much faster in america than in europe watson 2002 early theorists and theories ­ locke and rousseau according to harris 2002 locke and rousseau emerged with their views of children and changed society s perceptions even more both of these philosophers wanted humane child upbringing and education however they did hold different viewpoints locke believed that society molded the children while rousseau believed that society corrupted children watson 2002 rousseau was in sharp contrast to locke harris 2002 p 3 watson 2002 summarizes locke s 1632-1714 books an essay concerning human understanding and some thoughts concerning education by stating that locke eventually revolutionized the thinking of how humans develop and learn locke was an empiricist according to watson 2002 and believed that we become what we are as a result of our experiences with the environment he challenged the view that humans come into the world with pre-formed notions and skills locke believed that children come into the world as blank slates and that their skills and personalities form based on how the world writes on this blank slate and every characteristic is molded by their experiences harris 2002 locke placed great emphasis on learning as a way of explaining how children s knowledge and understanding develop with age harris 2002 p 13 locke s view takes on a mechanistic approach and is viewed by

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14 behaviorist theorists behaviorist s focus on changing children by manipulating the environmental factors that motivates them according to watson 2002 bandura later developed his theories based on locke s view watson 2002 goes on to state that rousseau changed this belief even further in that children were born neutral according to watson 2002 rousseau 1712-1778 believed that humans are born good with untapped abilities that allow them to develop along a path to becoming valuable adults but that society corrupted this pathway rousseau believed that society and parents should clear the way for children to develop at their own rate without biases being placed upon them rousseau s beliefs are still prevalent today according to watson 2002 watson 2002 states that rousseau s view takes on an organismic approach in which children explore and learn for themselves at their own rate piaget later developed his theories based on these presumptions watson 2002 according to harris 2002 rousseau developed stages which were sequential and included a animalistic b dawning self conscious c rationality and d social conscience harris 2002 p 5 rousseau according to harris 2002 was more inclined to a natural theory of human development in which children should be treated as children not mini adults harris 2002 according to harris 2002 rousseau s views were a significant inspiration to education during this time development of theories through scientific methods observational research of child development according to harris 2002 begins

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15 to emerge beginning with dietrich tiedemann of germany in 1787 and wilhem preyer in 1882 with the release of the first child development textbook the mind of a child this revolutionary book was based on his observations of his own daughter from birth to age two and a half harris 2002 charles darwin is the next from this baby biographer watson 2002 p 9 era that begins by detailing emotions thinking and concepts of oneself in relation to his own son in 1877 watson 2002 empirical scientists followed these observational methods by using systematic observations of a child s development these scientists described normal development and became more experimental in their methods the most influential was g stanley hall and alfred binet watson 2002 binet is most famous for the development of the first intelligence test harris 2002 john watson according to watson 2002 a shift into theoretical science using systematic theories to account for sequences and processes of human development began to work its way into the world during the early 1900 s john watson who based much of his work of pavlov developed a theory that ultimately dominated most of american psychology watson 2002 watson who was a leader in behaviorism believed that children learned through their own experiences harris 2002 watson s stimulusresponse theory of behavior was also based on pavlov s conditioning experiments these stimulus-response theories are mechanistic in the sense that an organism is compelled to respond when a stimulus is present pierce 2004 this theory of behaviorism was derived from the mechanistic approach of locke and became an

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