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| Theories
of Child Development
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The question about the development of personality and different
stages, which each child goes through during the human life,
is an object of detailed study of many psychologists. Each
respected school of psychology presents the theory of child
development. Psychologists present different theories aiming
to explain human behavior, factors that form and influence
it. There is no agreement on this point of view and new theories
appear with the development of the science. Different scientists
center on different aspects of human life. In this paper I
will compare theory of child developed presented by Bygotsky,
Piaget and Erikson.
Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget developed their own theories
of child development. They both worked in the sphere of educational
psychology and investigated processes and factors that influence
cognitive development. Piaget analyzes physical characteristics
as the main factors that determine the process of cognition,
while Vygotsky sees cognitive development in the context of
social interaction.
Piaget was a biologist so his theory of cognitive development
is presented taking into account peculiarities of person’s
organism. He states that babies are born with special schemes,
which he calls “reflexes”. In human beings these
reflexes are quickly transformed in the constructed schemes
in the process of adaptation to the environment. This adaptation
is realized with the help of these schemes – mental
organizations. “This adaptation is driven by a biological
drive to obtain balance between schemes and the environment
(equilibration)” (Bruner, 1966, p.38). There could be
two process in the process of adaptation: assimilation and
accommodation. People adapt to different situations in different
ways. When mental organizations – schemes – become
more complex, they are called structures. Accommodation presumes
getting something new from the environment due to changing
of cognitive structures. Assimilation presumes transformation
of the environment, so that it is accepted by cognitive structures.
These two processes are used simultaneously during our life.
Piaget defined four stages in the process of cognitive development.
The first stage is called Sensorimotor stage or Infancy. At
this stage infants develop due to motor activities without
the usage of language. Physical development gives them a possibility
to develop new intellectual abilities. The second stage is
called Pre-operational stage or Toddler and Early Childhood.
At this stage children develop memory and imagination. Children
start perceiving symbols though their thinking is still non-logical.
In this period egocentric thinking prevails. The third stage
is called concrete operating stage or elementary and early
adolescence stage. Children learn to refer symbols to concrete
objects: “In this stage (characterized by 7 types of
conservation: number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area,
volume), intelligence is demonstrated through logical and
systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects”
(Piaget, 1990, p. 81). The fourth stage is called formal operating
stage or adolescence and adulthood stage. Behavior at this
stage is characterized by the ability to use symbols related
to abstract notions. There could be noticed return to egocentric
thought at this stage.
Pieget has a number of followers who have developed a number
of more experimental theories basing on Piaget’s theory
of cognitive development. Nevertheless, there are a lot critics
who can not accept all the points of his theory. Researches
show that most children in the process of their development
come through sensorimotor, pre-operational and concrete operational
stages (Renner, Stafford, Lawson, McKinnon, Friot & Kellogg,
1976), nevertheless, not all children being biologically ready,
come to the next stage of cognition – formal operational
stage. Data from adolescent populations indicates that only
30 to 35% of high school seniors attain the cognitive development
stage of formal operations (Kuhn, Langer, Kohlberg & Haan,
1977).
Vygotsky is an educational psychologist, who is famous for
his theory of cognitive development known also as sociocultural
theory. Vygotsky states that social aspect is the most important
in the process of cognitive development. Children are able
to develop in their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). “Zone
of proximal development (ZPD) is Vygotsky’s term for
the range of tasks that are too difficult for children to
master alone but that can be learned with the guidance and
assistance of more-skilled adults and peers” (Vygotsky,
1986, p. 73). Children learn only through the interaction
with other people. Children can achieve more results if they
get adults’ assistance. The adults should correctly
choose the complicity of tasks for their children. The ZPD
identifies the tasks children cannot copy with alone but are
able to perform with the adults’ help. ZPD changes because
children acquire new skills. For example, a child cannot speak
French but repeating French words after teacher, he begins
to speak this language. In this example French teacher acts
as a scaffold. Scaffolding is the help or assistance provided
by a more skilled and experienced person. There are different
kinds of scaffolding, which include motivation, tips, feedbacks,
advice, own examples and others. Level of child’s performance
is of great importance and it should the regulated by the
level of adults’ guidance. In our example with the French
language the teacher soon will use more complex French structures,
till the child understands French without interpretation.
“Therefore, scaffolding instills the skills necessary
for independent problem solving in the future” (Vygotsky,
1980, p. 76). Vygotsky emphasizes in his theory of cognitive
development that interaction with social surrounding identifies
the level of cognitive development, so parents should play
great attention to this aspect.
Vygotsky’s theory has been also greatly criticized.
Psychologists and mythologists state that Vygotsky does not
pay enough attention to other aspect of cognitive development,
foregrounding only social factor (cited in Moll, 1994).
Erikson developed Eight stages of life theory. His theory
is based on basic conflicts or challenges the person faces
during his or her life and the way he or she resolves them.
He states that the person gets new knowledge and skills in
accordance to the conflict, which plays a dominant role during
a certain period of life.
The basic task of the first stage, which lasts from one to
one and half year, is to develop trust. During this stage
parents should help children to develop the trust to the social
world, which surrounds them. Children should grow up with
the realization that the world around them is safe and people
are reliable and loving. If this does not happen the child
will develop mistrust. The basic facts which prove that the
proper degree of trust has been developed is a child’s
ability to wait for satisfaction of his needs. If the child
has enough trust for the world, he or she can wait for some
time till his needs are satisfied.
The next stage lasts from one year and a half to three years.
The feeling of autonomy is developed during this period. During
this stage the child investigates the world around him and
develops the sense of autonomy and independence. If parents
are too controlling and don’t give child enough freedom
and independence, the opposing feelings will be developed.
This can happen if parents discourage their child or push
him too much. Self-respect and self-esteem are also developed
during this stage.
During the third stage children learn to show initiative.
Is this does not happen, they develop the feeling of guilt.
This stage lasts during the period between three and five
years. Children should learn to express themselves in the
external world. They should learn to express initiative, to
be artistic and creative. Children learn how to plan and make
projects during this stage. The fourth stage starts at the
age of six and lasts about six years. The main challenge of
this period is a task to develop the skill of industry. During
this period children learn to learn. They study to control
their time. They develop the feeling of success and learn
how to react to the feedback of others – their parents,
teachers, and peers. They adopt social skills and learn to
work in groups. If basic skills are not developed, the feeling
of inferiority may appear during this stage. Excessive feeling
of industry can also be dangerous as it can lead to excessive
self-esteem, so the right balance between inferiority and
industry is the best variant.
During the next stage, which lasts from 12 to 18 years, people
make their journey into adolescence. Developing right social
roles, young people get their ego identity during this stage.
During this stage teenagers enter the world of adults and
learnt to live in this world. Erikson states that those, who
successfully pass this stage and overcome the crisis of personality,
get the virtue of fidelity or loyalty. The sixth stage lasts
from 18 to 30 years. Erikson called this stage “young
adulthood”. During this stage people try to get the
relations of intimacy with others. If this does not happen,
they find themselves in isolation from the rest of the world.
Intimacy is an ability to build relations with other people.
During this period people most often get married, build family.
The main achievement people get passing this stage is the
building of loving relationships. Some people experience the
fear of commitment during this stage. They are afraid of serious
relationship and sharing life with another person. If they
do not overcome the challenge of this stage, they will not
achieve the necessary degree of intimacy.
The seventh stage describes the period of middle adulthood.
The time span of this stage is hard to define as different
people can pass this crisis in different age. In modern society
people pass this stage between the age of 20 and 50. During
this stage people start thinking about things, they can give
to the world. Very often people start thinking about the giving
birth to children during this stage. If the sixth stage is
overcome, people start thinking about giving the future for
their love. Bringing up children is a usual way of realization
of generativity, which is the main focus during this period,
but Erikson also speaks about other ways people can find their
realization and bring use to others. This can be achieved
through creativity, social activism and other ways to contribute
to the development of further generations.
The last stage called maturity starts after 60 years old.
Erikson states that the main task of this stage is to develop
the ego integrity. If this does not happen, people start feeling
despair and senselessness of their existence. This stage is
characterized by the reducing of social roles and many people
feel their uselessness during this period. Many people get
retired and lose their occupation they dedicated their lives
to, health problems also make the situation difficult. Grown
up children leave their parents. People oftener meet their
friends and relatives’ death. If the person achieves
ego integrity, he learns how to come in terms with his or
her life and obtain the virtue, which Erikson defines as wisdom.
“Someone who approaches death without fear has the strength
of wisdom. It is a gift to children, because "healthy
children will not fear life if their elders have integrity
enough not to fear death." (Marcia, p. 555)
Erikson extended Freudian teaching about the stages of development.
In contrast to Freudian classification, which described only
childhood, Erikson’s stages covered all human life.
Being socially directed, he was centered on the functions
of ego as main mechanism aiming to develop healthy mechanisms
of dealing with the surrounding world.
It goes without saying that Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories
of cognitive development are often compared. Piaget insists
that the main source of cognition are children themselves,
while Vygotsky says that it is social surrounding. Piaget
opposes Vygotsky’s concept of the ZPD stating that children
being biologically mature are able to develop cognitive skills
and adults do not play significant role in this process. Vygotsky,
in his turn, emphasizes that social environment helps children
to adapt to different life situations. “Piaget emphasized
universal cognitive change and Vygotsky's theory leads us
to expect highly variable development , depending on the child's
cultural experiences to the environment. Piaget's theory emphasized
the natural line, while Vygotsky favored the cultural line
of development” (Berk, 1994, p. 67). Piaget states that
children can act without outside help discovering the world
around them, Vygotsky in his Thoughts and Language says that
the success of cognitive development depends on social interaction.
Children can develop their speech in dialogues with other
people and this, in its turn, will develop their human abilities.
Despite all the differences and approaches in Piaget and Vygotsky’s
theories, they both had one common aim: to explain the process
of cognition when ideas and thoughts in children’ heads
transform into speech. Their theories made a great contribution
to the theory of cognitive processes.
Though Erikson based his stages of development on Freudian
psychosexual theory, he made some changes in basic features
of the theory. He didn’t believe sexuality and instincts
to be the only factors, which influenced the development of
personality. Erikson puts an emphasis on social and cultural
factors and their influence on the development of an individual.
He believed that each of eight developmental stages contained
task of psychosocial nature for an individual to resolve.
Erikson called the stages according to qualities, which should
have been developed by the personality during passing through
them. These stages are: hope or trust, will, purpose, competence,
fidelity, love, care and wisdom accordingly. Though Erikson
called tasks “crises”, which need to be overcome,
he didn’t believe as Freud that not passing any stage
made individual stuck in it (Graves, Larkin). He believed
that problematic issues could have been worked on any stage
in the context of current tasks.
References
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Allyn and Bacon. pg. 50, 156-57, 254, 352.
Bruner, J. (1966). Studies in cognitive growth : A collaboration
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Sons.
Graves, S. B., Larkin, E. (2006), Lessons from Erikson: A
Look at Autonomy Across the Lifespan, Journal of Intergenerational
Relationships, V. 4
Moll, Louis C. (1994). Vygotsky and Education: Instructional
implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology.
New York: Cambridge University Press.
Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive psychology. New York: Appleton-Century
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Piaget, J. (1972). The psychology of the child. New York:
Basic Books.
Piaget, J. (1990). The child's conception of the world. New
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Piaget, J., Gruber, H. (Ed.), & Voneche, J. J. (Ed.).
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Renner, J., Stafford, D., Lawson, A., McKinnon, J., Friot,
E., & Kellogg, D. (1976). Research, teaching, and learning
with the Piaget model. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma
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Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and language. Boston: MIT Press.
Vygotsky, L., & Vygotsky, S. (1980). Mind in society:
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Harvard University Press.
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