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The developmental theory

The developmental theory definition describes the different theories associated
with how one grows from childhood into late adulthood, looking at both
psychological and physiological aspects. Developmental theorists consider all
parts of human experience, mainly focusing on recognizing patterns that lead to
mental or physical illness and developing preventative methods.
The main developmental theories influencing psychology today follow the
thought of major psychological schools of thought. The five most important
theories are those of Freud, Piaget, Erikson, Bowlby, and Bandura.
Psychoanalytic Theories
Psychoanalytic theories of development focus on aspects of the unconscious
and how they affect behavior. This school of thought was invented by Sigmund
Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. The main characteristics of Freud's theories
on human development revolve around repressed memories associated with
improper development. In other words, if the individual were to miss a stage of
development, it will be represented by an issue with that stage's corresponding
developmental error whenever the individual acts in the world.
Freud's Psychosexual Development Theory
Theories of development relied heavily on unconscious desires for Freud. His
main contribution to theories of development is the idea that one can repress
thoughts, and have the issue of expressing these thoughts with maladaptive
behavior. However, the way that Freud explained these developmental errors
seemed to be tinted through a lens of desire and sexual impulse that may not
apply in every situation. Freud's stages of psychosexual development were
the oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latent stage, and genital stage. Proper
development in all corresponding stages indicated healthy development.
Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development
Erik Erikson's theories of development did not focus on unconscious sexual
repression, but on the social interaction, one has during developmental stages.
To Erikson, the main characteristics of human development did occur in stage, but
the main influence seems to be certain situations one may encounter with others
and how those situations are dealt with. According to Erikson, these occurrences
did not take place until one was sexually mature, but across the entire life span. In
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this, Erikson progressed Freud's theory by acknowledging the initial stages of

development and adding onto them by taking into account social influences and
later stages of life.
Cognitive Development Theories
Cognitive theories of development focus on studying the mind and thought
patterns and how these cognitive factors affect human development. This type of
thinking studies how one's thoughts impact the way they view and behave in the
world, and how these thoughts can be changed in order to better influence
human development.
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget's theory focused on the way that a child thinks instead of an adult.
These days, this thought seems to be common sense, but understanding the
world from a child's perspective is harder than it seems. Piaget argued that the
thought processes that a child has mature just as much as their physical state. As
a result, he split cognitive development into four different stages: sensorimotor,
pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational. A good way to
view these is through child toys, designed according to human development and
many ideas that Piaget had. Sensorimotor toys focus on motor activities, and pre-
operational toys focus on developing language. Lastly, concrete and formal
operational stages involve understanding mental and abstract operations.
The downsides and critiques of this theory revolve around its lack of
acknowledgment for the physical processes associated with development.
Piaget's view differs from that of Freud's in that it is not focused on factors that
motivate behavior, but rather, intellectual development.
Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development
Similar to Piaget's theory, Lawrence Kohlberg developed theories of moral
development focusing on the moral aspects of human nature. He claimed that
humans develop in six stages associated directly with their moral influence and
the ability for moral reasoning. The main idea behind Kohlberg's theory is that as
one learns right behavior from wrong, their development progresses. This may
look like individual learning not to lie to others.
Critiques of this theory explain that it does not account for physical development
either, as well as relying heavily on cultural characteristics, which are not the
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same across all societies. Therefore, markers of moral development would be

skewed if measured.
Bowlby's Attachment Theory
Other theories of development focus on the role of caregivers in a child's
developmental stages, and how this affects their development for the rest of life.
John Bowlby pointed out the fact that humans not only need differing types of
social interaction in life, but they also form deep attachments, which affects
their style of attachment throughout the rest of life. Bowlby explained this
through the fact that some individuals strive to maintain a reliant connection in
their adult relationships while others are more avoidant.
Learning Theories
Learning theories of development focus on the ways that individuals learn from
their environment and how this affects one's development. These theories are
different from cognitive-developmental theories in that they focus on the way
individuals learn, rather than on how they think about the world and others.
Learning theories can also be tested and applied to real-life, unlike psychoanalytic
theories that can hardly be proven even when corresponding treatments are
effective.
Pavlov's Theory of Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov is most credited with his theories of development based on the idea
of learning through association. Pavlov explained that humans learn through
stimuli that are associated with a certain behavior or mood. Pavlov's reasoning
was that once these associations are made, they are learned and the behavior of
the individual would need to be changed by altering the association according to
that stimuli. For example, if someone were to grow up in a household where
desserts were always welcome in the morning, yet they are trying to lose weight
in adulthood, they would have to disassociate breakfast with dessert food.
Critiques of this theory emphasize its deterministic outlook, explaining that it
doesn't account for the thought processes associated with classical conditioning.
In addition, stimuli are almost always compounded in the world, making it difficult
to identify the problem stimulus and develop a treatment.