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Psychoanalytic Child Development Theories: Sigmund Freud

Child development was largely ignored throughout history, with children viewed simply as small adults. Interest grew in the early 20th century, focusing on abnormal behavior. Several major theories of child development were proposed to explain cognitive, social, and behavioral development from birth through adulthood. These included psychoanalytic theories from Freud and Erikson, cognitive theories from Piaget, and behavioral theories from Watson, Pavlov and Skinner that focused on environmental influences and conditioning.

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Arlyn Sayre Rodriguez
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100 views2 pages

Psychoanalytic Child Development Theories: Sigmund Freud

Child development was largely ignored throughout history, with children viewed simply as small adults. Interest grew in the early 20th century, focusing on abnormal behavior. Several major theories of child development were proposed to explain cognitive, social, and behavioral development from birth through adulthood. These included psychoanalytic theories from Freud and Erikson, cognitive theories from Piaget, and behavioral theories from Watson, Pavlov and Skinner that focused on environmental influences and conditioning.

Uploaded by

Arlyn Sayre Rodriguez
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Child development that occurs from birth to adulthood was largely ignored throughout

much of history. Children were often viewed simply as small versions of adults and little
attention was paid to the many advances in cognitive abilities, language usage, and
physical growth. Interest in the field of child development began early in the 20th-century
and tended to focus on abnormal behavior.

The following are just a few of the many child development theories that have been
proposed by theorists and researchers. More recent theories outline the developmental
stages of children and identify the typical ages at which these growth milestones occur.

Psychoanalytic Child Development Theories

Sigmund Freud

The theories proposed by Sigmund Freud stressed the importance of childhood events
and experiences, but almost exclusively focused on mental disorders rather that normal
functioning.

According to Freud, child development is described as a series of 'psychosexual stages.'


In "Three Essays on Sexuality" (1915), Freud outlined these stages as oral, anal, phallic,
latency and genital. Each stage involves the satisfaction of a libidinal desire and can later
play a role in adult personality. Learn more in this article on Freud’s stages of
psychosexual development.

Erik Erikson

Theorist Erik Erikson also proposed a stage theory of development, but his theory
encompassed development throughout the human lifespan. Erikson believed that each
stage of development was focused on overcoming a conflict. Success or failure in dealing
with conflicts can impact overall functioning. Learn more about this theory in this article
on Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development.

Cognitive Child Development Theories

Theorist Jean Piaget suggested that children think differently than adults and proposed a
stage theory of cognitive development. He was the first to note that children play an
active role in gaining knowledge of the world. Learn more in this article on Piaget’s
stages of cognitive development.

Behavioral Child Development Theories


Behavioral theories of child development focus on how environmental interaction
influences behavior and are based upon the theories of theorists such as John B. Watson,
Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner. These theories deal only with observable behaviors.
Development is considered a reaction to rewards, punishments, stimuli and
reinforcement. Learn more about these behavioral theories in these articles on classical
conditioning and operant conditioning.

Social Child Development Theories

There is a great deal of research on the social development of children. John Bowbly
proposed one of the earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed that early
relationships with caregivers play a major role in child development and continue to
influence social relationships throughout life. Learn more in this overview of attachment
theory.

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