Developmental Theories

UNIT 3 Developmental Theories*

Structure
3.0 Learning Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Developmental theories
3.2.1 Approaches to Cognitive Development
3.2.2 Theories of language Development
3.2.3 Theories of Psychosocial Development
3.2.4 Ecological Systems Theory
3.3 Summary
3.4 Keywords
3.5 Review Questions
3.6 References and Further Reading
3.7 Web Resources

3.0 Learning Objectives

After reading this Unit, you will be able to:
• Gain insight into major psychosocial theories of development that explains
growth and changes in childhood years;
• Discuss major theoretical frameworks pertaining to cognitive development
in children and adolescents; and
• Ascertain the role of ecological perspective in human development, both
from western and Indian theories.

3.1 INTRODUCTION
The main focus for experts in the field of human development, are the behavioural
changes that occur in individuals across the different phases of life span, and to
study the individual differences and similarities within the same. It aims not only
to describe the intra-individual changes that take place but also to explain how
these changes came about and to find out ways to modify these changes so as to
be considered as optimal. As a student of school psychology, it is important to
note that these developmental changes are occurring constantly in an everchanging
context. With the constant interplay of heredity and environmental forces, the
healthy development of an individual is the result of a multitude of factors.
Developmental theorists and neuroscience experts assert that the first few years
of life comprising of the infancy and childhood phases, are the most crucial to
the overall and lifelong development of an individual. One of the primary roles
of a school psychologist is to cater to the developmental needs of a growing
child. It is important to acquire the basic knowledge about the salient features
of development so that it is possible to function as a school psychologist. In
the previous Unit, you learnt about the issues, and principles of developmental
psychology and the role of heredity and environment in individual differences. In
this Unit, you will learn about various developmental theories related to cognitive
and psychosocial development.
* Dr. Dhvani Patel, Former Faculty, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara 43
Developmental Factors in
Children and Adolescents 3.2 Developmental TheorieS
The mid-twentieth century witnessed a surge of developmental theories that
eventually led to the establishment of study of human development as a formal
discipline. Following are some of the prominent theories that are completely or
partially still followed for an in-depth understanding of human development.
3.2.1 Approaches to Cognitive Development
Cognitive development concerns how humans acquire, organize, store and use
the knowledge in their interactions with the world. Below are described important
theoretical perspectives that have contributed to our understanding of the process
of human cognition.
I. Cognitive Development Theory by Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) pioneered in the theoretical contributions made towards
the field of cognitive development. His theory was primarily based on observations
made by him on his own three children. He noted that children evolve in their
process of thinking and outlined it in form of stages, starting from infancy to
adulthood.
Stages Developmental Phenomenon
0-2 years • Children use their senses and ability to move to explore and interact
Sensorimotor with the surroundings.
• Children display the phenomena of ‘object permanence’ by the end of
this stage, which is becoming aware that an object continues to exist
even when out of sight.
• Engaging in 'Symbolic Thoughts' – at the end of this stage, the child
evidences thinking in terms of simple symbols.
2-7 years • Pre-schoolers acquire language ability and use it to explore and interact
Preoperational with the surroundings.
• Children actively engage in 'pretend play', with symbolic thinking on a
high but logical thinking at its lowest.
• Children in this stage display ‘egocentrism’, which is failure to see the
world from another’s perspective.
• Poor reasoning ability as evidenced in 1) Centration – the tendency to
see only one feature of the object instead of considering all the features
together, and
2) Irreversibility – the child’s failure to mentally reverse an action.
• Children also evidence failure on the principle of ‘Conservation’, which
is the ability to understand that changing the appearance of an object
does not change the nature of the object.
7-12 years • Children become capable of conservation thinking, acquire ability to
Concrete see others’ perspectives and engage in 'reversible thinking'.
Operations • Ability of logical thinking goes up but abstract thinking is still low.
• Limitation at this stage is the ‘concrete thinking’, where children get so
consumed with rules that they find it difficult to change them (or make
an exception).
12 years- • Not all individuals reach till this stage.
adulthood • Children become capable of abstract thinking.
Formal • Display of ‘egocentrism’ in adolescence as displayed by – 1) Personal
Operations fable – a belief among the adolescent that they are unique and protected
from all harm. This justifies their high tendency of risk taking, and 2)
Imaginary audience – a belief among the adolescents that they are as
much the centre in others’ life, as they are in their own. This gives rise
to extreme self-consciousness.

II. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory of Development

44 Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), a Soviet Psychologist, proposed the socio-cultural
 theory of cognitive development which was distinct from the one proposed Developmental Theories
by Jean Piaget. While Piaget laid emphasis on the importance of interaction
of the child with objects in the surroundings in the development of cognitive
abilities, Vygotsky stressed on the importance of social interactions with
skilled adults and peers. Listed below are two main concepts of his theory
that are briefly summarized –
1) Cognitive development is evidenced in children through the process of
scaffolding, which involves a highly skilled learner (adult/sibling/elder peer)
helping a low skilled learner (the child), followed by a gradual withdrawal of
the help extended so that the low skilled learner becomes capable of doing
the task by own self.
2) Each child’s development period consists of a zone of proximal development
(ZPD). ZPD is defined as distance between the child’s actual development
level as assessed by independent problem solving and a higher level of
potential development in guided activities with adults or peers. Using clues,
words of encouragement, modelling, explanations and prompts; the skilled
adult collaborates with the child to transfer them to a level slightly above
their competencies where they need assistance.

‘what a child can today with

assistance, she will be able to do
by herself tomorrow’
(Vygotsky, 1978)

Figure 3.1: Vygotsky’s concept of a zone of proximal development

Source: Cognitive development: The Science of Childcare (firstdiscoverers.co.uk)

Check Your Progress 1

1) Read the examples carefully, and label each of them with the help of
terms given in the box below:
Personal Fable, Zone of proximal development, centration, egocentrism
i) Darsh can solve math problems of grade 4 on his own, but with
the help of his math tutor, he can also solve math problems of grade 6.
......................... .
ii) When 4-years old Dhiya, wanted to gift a teddy to her grandmother
because that is what she would also have wanted. ....................... .
45
Developmental Factors in
Children and Adolescents iii) Little Suhani is upset that she got a smaller piece of cake than her elder
sister, Nandini. When her mother cut Suhani’s cake into two pieces,
she is very happy that she now has two pieces of cake and her elder
sister, only one. ......................... .
iv) When Nicky thinks he is special and nothing wrong can happen to him
even if he is driving drunk. ......................... .
2. Define zone of proximal development.
.....................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................

III. Bruner’s idea of knowledge acquisition

Jerome Bruner (b.1915), an American developmental psychologist introduced
Vygotsky’s ideas to Western scholars. He combined many aspects from Piaget’s and
Vygotsky’s theories. He posited three forms of knowing: enactive representation
(knowledge based in action or knowing how to do things); iconic knowledge
(based on representing knowledge through visual imagery); and lastly, symbolic
knowledge (based on language and is transmitted through culture).These forms
of knowledge partially overlap. For instance, when learning the sport of surfing,
enactive representation is most important and just reading books on surfing will
not enable a person to learn the water sport. On the other hand, once the person
learns surfing, they might improve performance by visualising ocean, river or
artificial waves, and glide across the surface of the water, as well as by verbal
feedback on the performance.
IV. Information Processing Theory– It is a memory model that looks into how
information is received and stored for shorter or longer periods of time. Attention
processes, maintenance and elaborative rehearsals are some of the key strategies
used to register and store information into the short-term memory (STM) and
long-term memory (LTM). Infants have memory capacity, and one instance to
prove it is by how they are able to differentiate unfamiliar and familiar faces by
the age of 5 to 6 months. Children in preschool move a step ahead when they
are able to use language to form memories. However, preschoolers may not be
aware of strategies to take the information from STM to LTM. Also, preschoolers
are able to sustain episodic memory which is related to personal events, and
procedural memory like learning to ride a bicycle. Children in middle childhood
arrive at an understanding of how their own memories work, which is termed as
‘metamemory’. They acquire strategies that enable them to store and organize
information in memory stores. This is possible with an advancement in their
language development.
V. Kohlberg’s View on Moral Development
Influenced by Piaget’s work with children, Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987),
American psychologist, developed his theory of moral development. His theory
was much more advanced as compared to Piaget’s two-stage theory of moral
judgment which differentiated younger children’s responses to moral dilemmas
that were fixed, versus older children’s views of moral dilemmas that were
relativistic. Let us see the main stages and the associated developmental features.

46
 Developmental Theories
STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
LEVEL I Stage 1 Obedience and Punishment Orientation
PRECONVENTIONAL The child comes to solve a moral dilemma by following the
MORALITY adults’ instructions that are considered as final. The decision
to obey is also reflected by the concern of getting punished.
Morality is something external to them.
Stage 2 Individualism and Exchange.
Children realise of a possibility of more than one right view.
Emphasis remains on doing what helps avoid punishment. What
is also seen is the reciprocity concept – ‘one gets what one does
to others’.
LEVEL II Stage 3 Good Interpersonal Relationships.
CONVENTIONAL In adolescence, morality gets based upon good actions towards
MORALITY the family and community.
Stage 4 Maintaining the Social Order.

Focus shifts to ‘society as a whole’. Morality is now based on

obeying laws, respecting authority and maintaining social order.
LEVEL III Stage 5 Social Contrast and Individual Rights
POSTCONVENTIONAL Focus shifts to upholding certain basic human rights as well as
MORALITY democratic privileges. Individuals start to evaluate their own
society as good or not, based on the rights and values that it
upholds.
Stage 6 Universal Principles.
This stage is based on personal values. Universal principles of
equality, justice, dignity and respect are the focus. Morality is
based on what is right and just.

Carol Gilligan, a social psychologist, worked with Eric Erikson in 1960s and
later on became Kohlberg’s research assistant. She believed that Kohlberg’s moral
development theory was biased toward males since the subjects of his study were
only males. Gilligan believed that men and women have different moral and
psychological tendencies. While men think in terms of rules and justice, women
emphasize more on care and relationships. In other words, she believed that
women were not inferior, rather different than men; and that their functioning is
based on ethics of care rather than ethics of justice.
Gilligan devised her theory as comprising of pre-conventional, conventional, and
post-conventional stages, where changes occur from the selfish stage, to social
stage to principled morality. Gilligan strongly asserted that the transition from
one stage to the other, is not because of the cognitive capabilities as proposed
by Kohlberg and Piaget, but rather due to changes in the sense of self. Carol
Gilligan’s work in the field of developmental psychology was phenomenal since
she put forward the importance of moral decisions based on the self and social
environment, and where the self can be a man or a woman.
3.2.2 Theories of Language Development
Children have an amazing ability to learn any language fluently in the first few
years of life. India, is a land of many languages and faces its own challenges of
multilingualism. In fact, bilingualism and multilingualism have become a norm
in India. Policies pertaining to ‘languages in education’ evidences a hierarchical
structure between dominant and minority languages resulting in a double divide:
(i) between English and major regional languages, and (ii) between major
regional languages and indigenous tribal minority (ITM) languages. UNESCO
has recognized 197 languages that are in the vulnerable, endangered or extinct
47
Developmental Factors in category in India alone! The National Education Policy 2020 recognizes the
Children and Adolescents
urgency of the matter and hence recommends mother tongue/regional language
as medium of education till Grade V and preferably till Grade VIII.
a) Contributions by Skinner–Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990),
an American psychologist and a behaviourist, believed that language
development was the result of operant conditioning. Strategies like imitating
others, shaping, prompts and rewarding mechanisms help the child acquire
language. For instance, each time the mother holds a glass of milk and
says ‘milk’, the child observes, retains the phonic sounds of the word and
associates the glass with ‘milk’. As the child grows up, the mother makes
her/him utter the word ‘milk’ and when she/he does, the mother smiles and
gives the glass (a reward). This continues till the child learns to communicate
one’s need for milk by uttering the right word for it. Skinner’s contingency
model of language development included (i) motivating operations (ii)
discriminative stimuli (iii) response, and (iv) shaping.
b) Contributions by Naom Chomsky– Naom Chomsky (b 1928-), American
linguist, was opposed to the ideas proposed by Skinner and stated that
children acquire language ability in a seemingly effortless manner and
that the mechanism for the same is hardwired into the brain, termed as the
language acquisition device (LAD). Chomsky further proposed the concept
of universal grammar, stating that all language have similar structure and
rules.
Stages of language and communication development in infancy and
childhood:
Language development occurs through a number of stages that are not culture
specific. The observations and age period of these developments is also
approximate, and one may evidence individual variations in such developmental
milestones.
Approximate Noted Observations
Age period
Infancy Infants communicate via body gestures, facial expressions and cries.
Caregivers are able to differentiate when the infant cries out of hunger or
discomfort.
First couple of Cooing–infants start to vocalize by making vowel-like sounds like ooooo,
months aaaaa. This works as a feedback for the infant on how he/she sounds.
Between 6 and Babbling – consonant sounds are now added like mamamama, dadadada
9 months and the infant engages in repeated vocalizations.
Around 10 Infant starts to understand the conversations that the adults are engaging in.
months of age “they understand more than they can say”.
12-13 months Holophrasic Speech- partial words are used to communicate the need. In
of age place of pani, the child may say ani or paa and these are idiosyncratic
and hence a caregiver close to the child only understands the holophrasic
speech. Around one year of age, the infant’s vocabulary evidences a growth
spurt, known as ‘naming explosion’ and the infant acquires about 200
words.
Around 15-18 Telegraphic speech–the infant begins to form short sentences which is
months of age generally a combination of nouns and verbs like Mamma-go, Doggie shoo.
Preschool Children acquire more new words and start to apply grammatical rules and
years by the age of 6 years, become fluent in spoken language.

48
 Developmental Theories
Check Your Progress 2
1) What is the difference between Chomsky and Skinner’s theory on
language development?
..................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................
2) How is Carol Gilligan’s work on moral development different from that
of Piaget and Kohlberg?
..................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................
3) Match the following language developments with appropriate age
brackets:
a) Holophrasic Speech i) around 15-18 months of age
b) Babbling ii) around 10 months of age
c) Telegraphic Speech iii) 12-13 months of age
d) “Babies understand more than iv) between 6-9 months
they can say”
4) An effective teacher-child relationship results in –
a) enjoyment in the process of c) a close bond with the parents
learning
b) better adjustment in school d) effective regulation of emotions
i) a-iv, b-iii, c-ii, d-i
ii) a-iii, b-iv, c-i, d-ii
iii) a-iii, b-ii, c-iv, d-i
iv) a-i, b-ii, c-iii, d-iv
4) Following sentences describe a stage of moral development theory
given by Kohlberg. Against each statement write down the correct stage
of development:
i) When morality is based on obeying laws and respecting authorities.
....................... .
ii) When morality is based upon good actions toward the family and
community. ..........................
iii) When morality is based on what is right and just. ............................
iv) When morality is based on basic human rights and democratic
privileges. ................................
v) When morality is based on following orders of adults or else facing
punishment. .............................

49
Developmental Factors in 3.2.3 Theories of Psychosocial Development
Children and Adolescents
I. Eric Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development
Built upon the theory of psychosexual development by Sigmund Freud, Erik
Erikson (1902-1994) introduced the theory of psychosocial development in
the 1950s to explain the influence of social dynamics from infancy till old age.
Erikson, trained in Freudian psychoanalysis, was convinced that social interactions
are more important in development than the sexual development as proposed by
Freud. His stage theory comprised of eight stages of psychosocial development
and this section will highlight the first five stages of development that extends
from infancy to adolescence. Erikson believed that each stage of development
provides a developmental crisis and the individual either is successful in handling
the crisis or unsuccessful. Successful dealing of the crisis results in healthy and
positive development and subsequent stages are affected by the handling of the
crisis at each stage.

ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES OF CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE

Stage Developmental Successful handling of Unsuccessful handling
crises crises of crises
Infancy Trust versus When infants’ needs are Neglect and mishandling
Mistrust cared for, trust develops of infant leads to mistrust
and the world appears as a
good place
Toddlerhood Autonomy versus Parents need to foster If independent self-
Shame and Doubt situations of independent direction is thwarted,
behaviours so that a sense child develops feelings of
of autonomy develops shame and doubt.
Pre-schoolers Initiative versus If children acquire a sense If children do not acquire
Guilt of responsibility, they a sense of responsibility,
develop initiative they experience guilt.
Elementary Industry versus Development of new Failure to develop new
school age Inferiority skills result in feeling of skills can make them feel
competence and an increase inferior.
in self-esteem.
Adolescence Identity versus Success in defining a role Failure to define their
Role confusion for themselves results identity leads to a
in developing a sense of state of confusion and
identity withdrawal.

II. Social Learning Theory– Canadian-American psychologist, Albert

Bandura (b. 1925) proposed the social learning theory which states that
social behaviour is acquired through observation and imitation of others’
behaviours. There are four mediational processes that are essential for a new
behaviour to be learnt. These are,
i. Attention – A behaviour needs to be attended from a wide range of
stimuli.
ii. Retention – The attended behaviour form needs to be retained in one’s
memory.
iii. Reproduction – One needs to have the required skills and abilities to
reproduce the behaviour.
iv. Motivation – also explained as ‘vicarious observation’ by Bandura,
means that a behaviour is enacted only if the individual has observed
his consequences as rewarding.
50
III. Attachment Theory– Proposed by the British Psychoanalyst, John Bowlby Developmental Theories
(1907-1990) in the 1940s, and later made testable by Mary Ainsworth.
Bowlby believed that children deprived of the most basic social, emotional
and relational needs, display deficiency in their adult relationships. He
contended that children are born with an attachment behavioural system
that leads them to seek and maintain proximity with an attachment figure.
This attachment behavioural system works on the following assumptions –
i) proximity seeking – need of the child to be with an attachment figure,
especially during stress.
ii) secure base – child experiences comfort and security from the attachment
figure.
iii) separation – the child objects upon the withdrawal of the attachment
figure. Starting from around 6 weeks of age, the attachment system keeps
evolving as a function of attachment figure’s responses toward the child
in need. Children who receive care and support from the attachment
figure, develop positive working models of self and others, as opposed
to one’s who are neglected. Neglected children cope with distress by
using affect-regulation strategies:
i) hyperactivation strategies – seen in clinging or coercive behaviours.
ii) deactivation strategies – thought suppression, and distancing from
others.
IV. Theories of Gender Role Development
Learning and cognitive processes determine the development of gender roles
and gender role identities. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory contributes to the
development of gender role formation in the early years. Children observe their
parents and other significant elders and imitate the behaviour of same-sex parent.
Imitation of appropriate behaviour gets followed with positive reinforcement
and hence the likelihood of reoccurrence of that behaviour increases. Imitation
of inappropriate behaviour gets followed with negative reinforcement and thus
the likelihood of reoccurrence of that behaviour decreases.
Gender Schema Theory by Sandra Bem (1981) integrates the social learning
theory with cognitive processes. The child in his/her growing years forms a
schema of ‘male’ and ‘female’ behaviours. He/she observes boy and girls and
organizes and categorises the information into a ‘boy’ schema and a ‘girl’ schema.
They further acquire the behaviour that is closer to their being a boy or a girl,
thereby developing their gender identities.

Check Your Progress 3

1) Match the following developmental crisis with appropriate age brackets,
as given by Erikson’s psycho-social stages of development:
a) Trust versus Mistrust i) Preschoolers
b) Initiative versus Guilt ii) Elementary school age
c) Autonomy versus Shame & iii) Toddlerhood
Doubt
d) Industry versus Inferiority iv) Infancy
i) a-i, b-ii, c-iii, d-iv
ii) a-iv, b-ii, c-iii, d-i 51
Developmental Factors in
Children and Adolescents iii) a-iv, b-i, c-iii, d-ii
iv) a-ii, b-iv, c-i, d-iii
2) Which of the following is true for Bowlby’s attachment theory?
i) Children learn to form attachments in childhood. (True/False)
ii) The attachment system evolves as a function of attachment figure’s
responses to the child in need. (True/False)
iii) Neglected children learn to develop positive working models of self
and others. (True/False)
iv) Children deprived of basic social and emotional needs display deficiency
in adult relationships. (True/False)

3.2.4 Ecological Systems Theory

Ecology has been defined as the study of relationship of biological forms with
the physical environment. The ecological perspective takes into consideration
the interaction of an individual with his/her physical and sociocultural context.
For instance, the concept of adjustment is not understood alone by the individual
factors like one’s personality but rather, as the transactional process of the
individual with his/her environment.
Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory: The seminal work on ecological
systems theory in 1979 asserts the role of environmental systems in human
development. His theory described the child’s ecology as comprising of levels of
environmental contexts, from most proximal to the most distal systems. With the
individual in the centre and other systems forming concentric layers, the structure
is akin to the Russian nesting dolls, one level opening into another. In 2006,
Bronfenbrenner revised his theory to term it as the bioecological system where
the active role of the individual in his/her development process is emphasized.

Levels of Analysis in Bronfenbrenner’s Model

Level 1 Individual – Individuals play an important role in choosing their relationships and
environments to an extent that influence his development process.
Level 2 Microsystem – are the immediate environments to an individual that foster close
personal interactions with others. For example, families, school teachers, peers.
Level 3 Mesosystem – involves the processes that occur among the multiple microsystems
that the individual is part of. In order to understand the individual’s developmental
process, one needs to understand the activities between the microsystems. For
example, the relationship between the child’s friends and parents, parents and
teachers.
Level 4 Exosystem – involves microsystems to which an individual is indirectly connected
but which still impact upon his/her development. For example, the work
organizations of the child’s parents. The work demands and job timings impact the
child’s upbringing.
Level 5 Macrosystem – influences development within and between all the other systems
and manifests itself in the cultural, religious and socioeconomic organizations of
the society. For example, socio-economic level of the family determines availability
of adequate resources for health, education and child care facilities.

52
 Developmental Theories

Figure 3.2: Bronfenbrenner’s child-centred Ecological Systems theory

Source: Cognitive development: The Science of Childcare (firstdiscoverers.co.uk)

Durganand Sinha’s Model of Deprivation: The eminent Indian psychologist

Durganand Sinha (1922-1998) adopted Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model in
1982 to study deprivation in the Indian context. He conceived the child’s ecology
as consistingof two concentric layers:
i) The upper and the most visible layers – comprises of home, school and
peer groups, with specific emphasis on physical objects, social roles and
relationships with the child.
ii) The supporting and the surrounding layer – comprises of the physical and
cultural environment in which the child resides, with emphasis on the impact
of the social class, caste, resources made available to the child.
The upper and the supporting layers combine and interact with one another to
impact upon the child’s interpersonal relations, socialization agents, cognitive
and perceptual functioning of the child.

Check Your Progress 4

1) Match the following levels of analysis of Bronfenbrenner’s model.
i) Individual a) Athlete’s parents’
socioeconomic status
ii) Microsystem b) Coach-athlete relationship
iii) Mesosystem c) Athlete
iv) Macrosystem d) Coach- athlete’s parents
2) Explain Sinha’s model of deprivation.
..................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................

53
Developmental Factors in
Children and Adolescents Box 3.1: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology
The evolutionary perspective and developmental theory had a history of setting
out as incompatible fields. At the outset, when Darwin (1859) proposed his
theory of natural selection, his focus was mainly on the origin, formation
and development of the embryo. While having a common starting point, the
two fields were set apart by developments in the field of genetics that took
precedence over determining the development pattern in human species. The
field of evolutionary psychology slowly emerged with the realization that
cognitive processes are better understood with an evolutionary perspective
that helps to find out the ‘whys’ of how humans behave the way they do, and
not the ‘how’s’ which was the focal point of development studies.
Shifting from the initial focus on adults and cognition, the field of evolutionary
developmental psychology (EDP) came about with the realization that the
process of natural selection is important in all life phases, but more crucial for
survival in the early developmental periods. Hence, we can conclude that the
field of EDP focuses on the application of evolutionary principles to human
development, with the underlying assumption that natural selection function
at all life stages. The EDP experts speak about ‘deferred adaptations’ which
are behaviours exhibited early in life to prepare one for an adult life. For
example, the contrasts in ‘free play’ pattern of young boys and girls, with girls
engaging in more free plays of parenting and boys’ free play more focused on
the ‘rough and tough’. These differences among boys and girls prepare them
for future adult social roles. EDP experts also talk of ‘ontogenic adaptations’
which serve particular functions during a given period and later, is discarded.
Example includes, the function of placenta before birth is to provide food and
oxygen to the growing embryo, but later discarded at the time of childbirth.

3.3 Summary
Now that we have come to the end of this unit, let us recapitulate all the major
points that we have learnt.
• Developmental theorists and neuroscience experts assert that the first few
years of life comprising of the infancy and childhood phases, are the most
crucial to the overall and lifelong development of an individual.
• Cognitive development concerns how humans acquire, organize, store and
use the knowledge in their interactions with the world.
• Jean Piaget pioneered in the theoretical contributions made towards the field
of cognitive development and laid emphasis on the importance of interaction
of the child with objects in the surroundings in the development of cognitive
abilities.
• Lev Vygotsky, proposed the socio-cultural theory of cognitive development
which stressed on the importance of social interactions with skilled adults
and peers.
• Skinner, a behaviourist, believed that language development was the result of
strategies like imitating others, shaping, promptly and rewarding mechanisms
help the child acquire language.
• Naom Chomsky stated that children acquire language ability in a seemingly
effortless manner and that the mechanism for the same is hard wired into
54 our brains termed as the language acquisition device (LAD).
• Kohlberg postulated theory of moral development into three stages: pre Developmental Theories
conventional, conventional and post conventional. Carol Gilligan believed
that men and women have different moral and psychological tendencies.
• Information Processing Model is a memory model that looks into how
information is received and stored for shorter or longer periods of time.
• Erik Erikson introduced the theory of psychosocial development in the 1950s
to explain the influence of social dynamics from infancy till old age.
• Albert Bandura proposed the social learning theory which states that
social behaviour is acquired through observation and imitation of others’
behaviours.
• John Bowlby believed that children deprived of the most basic social,
emotional and relational needs, display deficiency in their adult relationships
an that children are born with an attachment behavioural system that leads
them to seek and maintain proximity with an attachment figure.
• Learning and cognitive processes determine the development of gender roles
and gender role identities.
• The ecological perspective takes into consideration the interaction of
an individual with his/her physical and sociocultural context. Urie
Bronfenbrenner’s seminal work on ecological systems theory asserts the role
of environmental systems in human development. The model was adapted
to Indian context by Durganand Sinha that posited two layers, the upper and
the most visible layers, and the supporting and the surrounding layers.

3.4 Keywords
Life expectancy: The number of years an average person can expect to live when
born in a particular year.
Bilingualism: The ability to use two languages effectively.
Multilingualism: The ability to use multiple languages
Object Permanence: Becoming aware that an object continues to exist even
when out of sight.
Operant conditioning: Method of learning that provides for negative or positive
reinforcements are a consequence of behaviour.

3.5 Review Questions

1) Discuss Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
2) Explain Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development that provide meaning
to events during childhood and adolescence?
3) Critically evaluate Kohlberg’s theory of moral development.
4) Explain Ecological Systems perspective on human development.

3.6 References and Further Reading

Camilleri, C. (2015). In a different voice Carol Gilligan. Accessed https://www.
researchgate.net/publication/275648392_Carol_Gilligan on 12 Jan. 21 at 12.36
hours
Ciccarelli, S.k., & Meyer, G.E. (2008). Psychology (South Asian ed). Pearson.
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Developmental Factors in Ecological perspectives for successful schooling practice, https://files.eric.ed.gov/
Children and Adolescents
fulltext/ED233501.pdf Accessed on 16 Jan. 21 at 10.33 hours.
Ferguson, K. T., Cassells, R. C., MacAllister, J. W., & Evans, G. W. (2013).
The physical environment and child development: An international review.
International Journal of Psychology, 48(4), 437-468.
https://data.unicef.org/topic/early-childhood-development/home-environment/
Accessed on 02 Jan. 21 at 13.23 hours
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314694646_Attachment_Theory
Accessed on 7 January 2021 at 12.47 hours
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316046039_Ecological_Systems_
Theory Accessed on 6 January 2021 at 17.06 hours
Kloos, B., Hill, J., Thomas, E., Wandersman, A., & Elias, M. (2011). Community
psychology: Linking individuals and communities. Nelson Education.
Lewin, K. (1939). Field theory and experiment in social psychology: Concepts
and methods. American Journal of Sociology, 44(6), 868-896.
Machluf, K., Liddle, J.R., & Bjorklund, D.F. (2014). An Introduction to
Evolutionary Developmental Psychology. Evolutionary Psychology, 12 (2).
Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1177/147470491401200201
Maldonado-Carreño, C., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2011). Teacher–child relationships
and the development of academic and behavioral skills during elementary school:
A within-and between-child analysis. Child Development, 82(2), 601-616.
Accessed on 3 January 2021 at 11.30 hours
Orenstein GA, Lewis L. Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial Development. [Updated
2020 Nov 22]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls
Publishing; 2020 Jan-Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/
NBK556096/ Accessed on 4 January 2021.
Riffin C.A., L-ckenhoff C.E. (2015) Life Span Developmental Psychology. In:
Pachana N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://
doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_107-1
Understanding human development: theories and approaches, https://us.sagepub.
com/sites/default/files/upm-assets/106359_book_item_106359.pdf Accessed on
15 Jan. 21 at 14.05 hours
Yilmaz O., Bahçekapili H.G., Sevi B. (2019) Theory of Moral Development.
In: Shackelford T., Weekes-Shackelford V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary
Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-
16999-6_171-1

3.7 Web Resources

• Article on Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory;
Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory. “Every function in the cultural… | by
Sila Cakmak | BrainBiguous | Medium
• On Kohlberg’s theory of Moral development, visit;
https://youtu.be/GTzBrjxKHLg

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Answers to Check Your Progress Developmental Theories

Check Your Progress 1

1) i) Zone of proximal development
ii) Egocentrism
iii) Centration
iv) Personal fable
2) Zone of proximal development is the gap between the actual level of
development (of the child) and potential development that she or he may
achieve after educational support.
Check Your Progress 2
1) Chomsky proposes that the acquisition of language is an innate ability
whereas Skinner believed that a child acquires language through principles
of reinforcement theory and other learning strategies of imitation, shaping,
and prompting.
2) While Kohlberg and Piaget believed that transitions from one stage to the
other in cognitive development take place as a result of cognitive capabilities,
Gilligan believed that it was the changes in sense of self that resulted in
transitions from one stage to the next.
3) II. a-iii, b-iv, c-i, d-ii
4) i) Maintaining the social order
ii) Good interpersonal relations
iii) Universal Principles
iv) Social Contrast and Individual Rights
v) Obedience and Punishment Orientation
Check your Progress 3
1) III. a-iv, b-i, c-iii, d-ii
2) i) False
ii) True
iii) False
iv) True
Check your Progress 4
1) i-c, ii-b, iii-d, iv-a
2) Bronfennbrenner’s model was adapted to Indian context by Durganand
Sinha. It proposed two main layers, the outer visible layer comprises of
peers, relatives, friends. The supporting layer constitutes of the cultural and
physical environment.

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