Development Psychology

DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY
STUDY MATERIALS
INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY
DIPLOMA IN SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL ADMINISTRTION
© TU
STUDY MATERIAL FOR TEAM UNIVERSITY Page 1

1.1 PSYCHOLOGY: MEANING AND DEFINITION

The term Psychology is a combination of two Greek words Psyche and Logos which mean Soul
and Science, respectively.
Psychology is the scientific study of the activities of the organism in relation to its environment.
Psychology is a positive science which helps to understand, predict and control human
behaviour. It uses scientific methods to study different activities and experiences systematically.
The word „activities‟ includes both external behaviours and internal mental processes. It studies
behavior of living organisms, both animals and human beings. It acknowledges the role of
environment in shaping the behavior of organisms.
Thus, it is concluded that psychology is the scientific study of behaviours, experiences and
mental processes of the organisms in relation to the environment.
1.2. PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK: THE RELEVANCE OF PSYCHOLOGY

TO SOCIAL WORK
Psychology helps a social work professional service user in
 Understanding different activities of the individual

 Knowing the cause of the particular activity
 Knowing the positive and negative qualities of the individual
 Understanding intelligence, abilities, attitudes, motivation, aptitudes and personality of
the person
 Understanding actions and interactions of the individual in the peer group and causes of
his activities
 Learning about the situation where an individual is
 Understanding his parents and other family members and the rearing process
 Understanding the problems of the individual and seek help
1.3. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Most people use the terms „growth‟ and „development‟ interchangeably and accept them
as synonymous. But in reality, the meanings of these two terms are different.
1.3.1 GROWTH: CONCEPT AND DEFINITION

Growth refers to physical increase in some quantity over time. It includes changes in
terms of height, weight, body proportions and general physical appearance.
In Encyclopedia Britannica, growth is defined as “an increase in size or the amount of an
entity”. It means growth involves all those structural and physiological changes that take
place within individual during the process of maturation. For example, growth of a child
means the increase in weight, height and different organs of the child‟s body.
Hurlock has defined Growth as “change in size, in proportion, disappearance of old
features and acquisition of new ones”.
Growth refers to structural and physiological changes (Crow and Crow, 1962). Thus,
growth refers to an increase in physical size of whole or any of its part and can be
measured.
1.3.2. DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPT AND DEFINITION
Development refers to the qualitative changes in the organism as whole.
Development is continuous and gradual process (Skinner). According to Crow and Crow
(1965) development is concerned with growth as well as those changes in behavior which
results from environmental situation.”
Table 1.1A: Comparison of Growth and Development
GROWTH DEVELOPMENT
Growth refers to physiological changes Development refers to overall changes in the
individual. It involves changes in an orderly
and coherent type towards the goal of maturity
Changes in the quantitative respect is termed Development changes in the quality along
as growth with quantitative aspect.
Growth refers to physiological changes. Development refers to overall changes in the
individual. It involves changes in an orderly
and coherent type towards the goal of
maturity.
Growth does not continue throughout life. Development continues throughout life
Growth stops after maturation Development is progressive
Growth occurs due to the multiplication of Development occurs due to both maturation
cells and interaction with the environment
Growth is cellular Development is organizational

Growth is part of the development processDevelopment is a wider and comprehensive

term
Growth may be referred to the changes in Development describes changes in the
the particular aspects of the body and organisms as a whole
behaviour of the organisms
The changes produced by growth are Development brings qualitative changes which
subjects of measurement. They may be are difficulty to measure directly. They are
quantified and observable in nature measured through keen observations of
behavior in different situations
Growth may or may not bring development Development is possible without growth
1.4. PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1. Development involves change:- The human being is undergoing changes from the
moment of conception to the time of death. There are different types of change occur
such as, changes in size, proportions, disappearance of old features and acquisition of
new features.
2. Development is a continuous process:- Development continues throughout the life of
an individual. This process takes place in interaction with the environment in which a
person lives.
3. Development follows a direction and uniform pattern in an orderly manner:-
i). Development proceeds from the center of the body outward. This is the principle of
proximodistal development that describes the direction of development (from nearer
to far apart). It means that the spinal cord develops before outer parts of the body.
The child‟s arms develop before the hands and the hands and feet develop before the
fingers and toes.
ii). Development proceeds from the head downwards. This is called the cephalocaudal
principle. According to this principle, development occurs from head to tail. The
child gains control of the head first, then the arms and then the legs.
4. Individual Differences in the Development Process:- Even though the pattern of
development is similar for all children but the rate of development varies among
children. Each child develops as per his abilities and perception of his environment.
Children differ from each other both genetically and environmentally. So, both
biological factor and environmental situations have their impact on individual‟s
development which leads to individual differences in development. Understanding this

fact of individual differences in rates of development should aware us to be careful

about using and relying on age and stage characteristics to label children.
5. Development depends on maturation and learning:- Maturation refers to the
sequential characteristic of biological growth and development. The biological changes
occur in sequential order and give children new abilities.
Changes in the brain and nervous system account largely for maturation. These changes
in the brain and nervous system account largely for maturation. The child‟s
environment and the learning that occurs as a result of the child‟s experiences largely
determine whether the child will reach optimal development. An enriched environment
and varied experiences help the child to develop his/her potential.
6. Development is predictable: - Human development is predictable during the life span.
Although this development is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors,
however, it takes place in a pre-defined manner. Specific areas of development, such as:
different aspects of motor development, emotional behavior, speech, social behavior,
concept development, goals, intellectual development etc. follow predictable patterns.
For example, the growth of the child in height and weight etc. continue up to a certain
age. In general, it is also found that all children follow a commonality in the
development periods of life. All children generally grow following the periods like
prenatal period and postnatal period. The postnatal period includes infancy, babyhood,
childhood, puberty and so on.
7. Early development is more critical than later development:- Milton writes “ The
childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day.” Similarly, Erikson views
“childhood is the scene of man‟s beginning as man.” He explains that if parents gratify
the needs of the child for food, attention and love etc. , his perception towards people
and situation remains positive throughout his life. He develops positive attitudes, feels
secure, emotionally stable and adjusts well with the environment. If negative
experiences occur during early life of the child, maladjustments may take place. Glueck
concludes that delinquents can be identified as early as 2-3 years of age. Different
researchers view that the preschool years age are most important years of development
as basic foundation is laid down during this period which is difficult to change.
8. Development involves Social expectations:- In every society there are certain rules,
standards and traditions which everyone is expected to follow. Development is
determined by social norms and expectations of behaviors form the individuals.
Children learn customs, traditions and values of the society and also what behaviors are
expected from them. They realize from the approval or disapproval of their behavior.

Social expectations are otherwise known as “developmental tasks”. Havinghurst defines

developmental task as a “task which arises at or about a certain period in the life of an
individual. Developmental tasks arise mainly
(a) as a result of physical maturation, (b) form the cultural pressures of society, (c) out of the
personal values and aspirations of the individual. The developmental tasks remain the
same from one generation after another in a particular culture. As societies are evolving,
changing traditions and cultural patterns of a society are learned automatically by
children during their development process. These developmental tasks help in motivating
children to learn as well as help parents to guide their children.
9. Development has potential hazards:- Development may be hampered by various
hazards. Hazards may be of physical, environmental or psychological type. These
hazards may be originated from the environment in which the child grows or due to
hereditary factors. They have negative impact on physical as well as sociopsychological
development of the child. The growth of the child may be retarded, he may be an
aggressive person or he may encounter adjustment problems. For example, if a child is
slurring or stammering and parents neglect the child, the child may continue with this
problem.
10. Happiness varies at different periods of development:- Happiness varies at different
periods in the development process. Childhood is the happiest period of life and puberty
is the unhappy. The patterns of happiness vary from child to child and it is influenced by
the rearing process of the child.
1.5. FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
1. Hereditary Factors:- Heredity exerts an influence on human development. The child carries
genetic endowments from his/her parents. It is genetically transmitted characteristics from
one generation to the next. The physical characteristics like height, weight, eye color etc. and
psychological characteristics such as intelligence, personality, creativity and so on are
innately determined and hereditary. The genetic code provides the base on which brain and
body grow and manifest in observable appearance and behavior.
2. Environmental Factors:- Another important factor of human development is the
environment where an individual lives. The child lives and grows in his environment.
Environment consists of a wide range of stimuli and it provides the necessary input and
experiential base for development of the child. Enrichment or impoverishment of the
environment would produce differences in his abilities. For example, a child may have

inherited music talent from his parents through transmission of genes, but he may not excel
in music field if he does not get the proper environment and support to develop his innate
ability.
3. Home Environment:- Home environment exerts tremendous influence on child‟s
understanding of the external world. It builds self-concept and prepares him to face the
external world. The child begins to acquire knowledge through interaction with parents and
other family members. During his early years of development, the behaviours of the child are
modulated by the home environment. The environment of the family can be supportive or
stressful for the child. If it is supportive, warm and harmonious environment, the child
develops normally. In unsupportive and stressful home environment, broken families or
uncaring parents in the family, children may develop as maladjusted persons.
4. Cultural Factors:- Culture refers to a system of beliefs, attitudes and values that are
transmitted from one generation to the next. It is a product of past human behavior and is also
a shaper of future aspirations. The development of the child is influenced by family as well
as by the society. The child learns the habits, beliefs, attitude, skills and standards of
judgment through the socialization processes. The socialization processes of the child take
place according to the culture, customs and traditions of the society. For example, greeting
someone is a familiar experience but behavioral experiences are different in different
cultures. In Indian culture, people greet others by saying namaskar, folding hands or lying
down near the feet but in Western culture, people greet by handshake or kissing or saying
hello etc.
5. Socioeconomic Status (SES):- Socioeconomic Status plays a pivotal role in human
development. The index of socioeconomic status is determined by parental education,
occupation and income. The children of low socioeconomic status may develop as mal-
nourished, suffer from lack of knowledge in many aspects and their normal development may
get hampered. The parenting in high socioeconomic status families would be different from
low socio-economic status families. Children of the high socioeconomic groups of the
society get better social opportunities, are nurtured with better nutrition, good medical
treatment and are exposed to more intellectual stimulation than low socioeconomic group.
6. Normative influences:- Normative influences occur in a similar way for majority of people
in a particular group. These influences may be biological or environmental. For example,
biological events like sexual maturity or deterioration in old age. Environmental events, like
entering the school at about 6 yrs of age, parenthood etc. have the same influences on
individuals. Most of the people of the same age, at same place and time and generation have
common biological and environmental influences such as floods, famines and other natural
disasters. Non-normative influences include the unusual life events in an individual‟s life.
For example, death of a parent when a child is young or birth defects etc.

7. Education and Training: - Each child is equipped with certain abilities which need to be
nurtured through proper education and training. Therefore, the first and foremost step is to
identify and recognize the ability of the child and the next step is to provide adequate
opportunities to develop the same. If proper identification of the ability is not possible and
adequate facilities are not available to the child, then his innate ability may not be developed.
Thus, adequate education and training have influence on human development.
Human beings are animals which begin life as a single cell (one fertilized egg). We then change
from an embryo to a fetus followed by many physical changes throughout the gestation period
(nine months).
Sex determination is determined by the chromosome combination that is supplied by the male.
After birth, the neonate under goes developmental changes from infancy, childhood,
adolescence, adulthood, old age to death. The environment as well as heredity, influences the
expression of traits in an individual. Humans grow at different rates, however growth is at its
highest level during the first two years of life and adolescence while most people stop growing
between the ages of 18 and 30 years (early adulthood)
Theories of development
Psychoanalytical theory
Freud’s lexicon has become embedded within the vocabulary of western society. Words he
introduced through his theories are now used by everyday people, such as anal (personality),
libido, denial, repression, cathartic, Freudian slip, and neurotic.
Freud believed that when we explain our behavior to ourselves or others (conscious mental
activity), we rarely give a true account of our motivation. This is not because we are deliberately
lying. While human beings are great deceivers of others; they are even more adept at self-
deception. Our rationalizations of our conduct are therefore disguising the real reasons.

Freud’s life work was dominated by his attempts to find ways of penetrating this often subtle and
elaborate camouflage that obscures the hidden structure and processes of personality.
Freud was the founding father of psychoanalysis, a method for treating mental illness and also a
theory which explains human behavior.
Psychoanalysis is often known as the talking cure. Typically Freud would encourage his patients
to talk freely (on his famous couch) regarding their symptoms and to describe exactly what was
on their mind.
The Case of Anna O
The case of Anna O (real name Bertha Pappenheim) marked a turning point in the career of a
young Viennese neuropathologist by the name of Sigmund Freud. It even went on to influence
the future direction of psychology as a whole.
Anna O. suffered from hysteria, a condition in which the patient exhibits physical symptoms
(e.g., paralysis, convulsions, hallucinations, loss of speech) without an apparent physical cause.
Her doctor Josef Breuer succeeded in treating Anna by helping her to recall forgotten memories
of traumatic events.
During discussions with her, it became apparent that she had developed a fear of drinking when a
dog she hated drank from her glass. Her other symptoms originated when caring for her sick
father. She would not express her anxiety for her his illness but did express it later, during
psychoanalysis. As soon as she had the opportunity to make these unconscious thoughts
conscious her paralysis disappeared.
Breuer discussed the case with his friend Freud. Out of these discussions came the germ of an
idea that Freud was to pursue for the rest of his life. In Studies in Hysteria (1895) Freud
proposed that physical symptoms are often the surface manifestations of deeply repressed

conflicts. However, Freud was not just advancing an explanation of a particular illness.
Implicitly he was proposing a revolutionary new theory of the human psyche itself.
This theory emerged “bit by bit” as a result of Freud’s clinical investigations, and it led him to
propose that there were at least three levels of the mind.
Levels of mind
The Unconscious Mind
Freud (1900, 1905) developed a topographical model of the mind, whereby he described the
features of the mind’s structure and function. Freud used the analogy of an iceberg to describe
the three levels of the mind.
On the surface is consciousness, which consists of those thoughts that are the focus of our
attention now, and this is seen as the tip of the iceberg. The preconscious consists of all which
can be retrieved from memory.
The third and most significant region is the unconscious. Here lie the processes that are the real
cause of most behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part you
cannot see.
The unconscious mind acts as a repository, a ‘cauldron’ of primitive wishes and impulse kept at
bay and mediated by the preconscious area. For example, Freud (1915) found that some events
and desires were often too frightening or painful for his patients to acknowledge, and believed
such information was locked away in the unconscious mind. This can happen through the
process of repression.
Sigmund Freud emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind, and a primary assumption
of Freudian theory is that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater degree than people
suspect. Indeed, the goal of psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious conscious.

The Psych
Freud (1923) later developed a more structural model of the mind comprising the entities id, ego,
and superego (what Freud called “the psychic apparatus”). These are not physical areas within
the brain, but rather hypothetical conceptualizations of important mental functions.
Freud assumed the id operated at an unconscious level according to the pleasure principle
(gratification from satisfying basic instincts). The id comprises two kinds of biological instincts
(or drives) which Freud called Eros and Thanatos.
Eros, or life instinct, helps the individual to survive; it directs life-sustaining activities such as
respiration, eating, and sex (Freud, 1925). The energy created by the life instincts is known as
libido.
In contrast, Thanatos or death instinct, is viewed as a set of destructive forces present in all
human beings (Freud, 1920). When this energy is directed outward onto others, it is expressed as
aggression and violence. Freud believed that Eros is stronger than Thanatos, thus enabling
people to survive rather than self-destruct.

The ego develops from the id during infancy. The ego's goal is to satisfy the demands of the id in
a safe a socially acceptable way. In contrast to the id, the ego follows the reality principle as it
operates in both the conscious and unconscious mind.
The superego develops during early childhood (when the child identifies with the same sex
parent) and is responsible for ensuring moral standards are followed. The superego operates on
the morality principle and motivates us to behave in a socially responsible and acceptable
manner.
The basic dilemma of all human existence is that each element of the psychic apparatus makes
demands upon us that are incompatible with the other two. Inner conflict is inevitable.
For example, the superego can make a person feel guilty if rules are not followed. When there is
a conflict between the goals of the id and superego, the ego must act as a referee and mediate this
conflict. The ego can deploy various defense mechanisms (Freud, 1894, 1896) to prevent it from
becoming overwhelmed by anxiety.

Defense Mechanisms

Psychosexual Stages
In the highly repressive “Victorian” society in which Freud lived and worked women, in
particular, were forced to repress their sexual needs. In many cases, the result was some form of
neurotic illness.
Freud sought to understand the nature and variety of these illnesses by retracing the sexual
history of his patients. This was not primarily an investigation of sexual experiences as such. Far
more important were the patient’s wishes and desires, their experience of love, hate, shame, guilt
and fear and how they handled these powerful emotions.
It was this that led to the most controversial part of Freud’s work, his theory of psychosexual
development and the Oedipus complex.
Freud believed that children are born with a libido, a sexual (pleasure) urge. There are a number
of stages of childhood, during which the child seeks pleasure from a different ‘object.’

To be psychologically healthy, we must successfully complete each stage. Mental abnormality

can occur if a stage is not completed successfully and the person becomes ‘fixated’ in a
particular stage. This particular theory shows how adult personality is determined by childhood
experiences.

Dream Analysis
Freud (1900) considered dreams to be the royal road to the unconscious as it is in dreams that
the ego's defenses are lowered so that some of the repressed material comes through to
awareness, albeit in distorted form. Dreams perform important functions for the unconscious
mind and serve as valuable clues to how the unconscious mind operates.

On 24 July 1895, Freud had his own dream that was to form the basis of his theory. He had been
worried about a patient, Irma, who was not doing as well in treatment as he had hoped. Freud, in
fact, blamed himself for this, and was feeling guilty.
Freud dreamed that he met Irma at a party and examined her. He then saw a chemical formula
for a drug that another doctor had given Irma flash before his eyes and realized that her condition
was caused by a dirty syringe used by the other doctor. Freud's guilt was thus relieved.
Freud interpreted this dream as wish-fulfillment. He had wished that Irma's poor condition was
not his fault and the dream had fulfilled this wish by informing him that another doctor was at
fault. Based on this dream, Freud (1900) went on to propose that a major function of dreams was
the fulfillment of wishes.
Freud distinguished between the manifest content of a dream (what the dreamer remembers) and
the latent content, the symbolic meaning of the dream (i.e., the underlying wish). The manifest
content is often based on the events of the day.
The process whereby the underlying wish is translated into the manifest content is called dream-
work. The purpose of dream work is to transform the forbidden wish into a non-threatening
form, thus reducing anxiety and allowing us to continue sleeping. Dream work involves the
process of condensation, displacement, and secondary elaboration.
The process of condensation is the joining of two or more ideas/images into one. For example, a
dream about a man may be a dream about both one's father and one's lover. A dream about a
house might be the condensation of worries about security as well as worries about one's
appearance to the rest of the world.
Displacement takes place when we transform the person or object we are really concerned about
to someone else. For example, one of Freud’s patients was extremely resentful of his sister-in-
law and used to refer to her as a dog, dreamed of strangling a small white dog. Freud interpreted

this as representing his wish to kill his sister-in-law. If the patient would have really dreamed of
killing his sister-in-law, he would have felt guilty. The unconscious mind transformed her into a
dog to protect him.
Secondary elaboration occurs when the unconscious mind strings together wish-fulfilling images
in a logical order of events, further obscuring the latent content. According to Freud, this is why
the manifest content of dreams can be in the form of believable events.
In Freud’s later work on dreams, he explored the possibility of universal symbols in dreams.
Some of these were sexual in nature, including poles, guns, and swords representing the penis
and horse riding and dancing representing sexual intercourse.
However, Freud was cautious about symbols and stated that general symbols are more personal
rather than universal. A person cannot interpret what the manifest content of a dream symbolized
without knowing about the person’s circumstances.
'Dream dictionaries', which are still popular now, were a source of irritation to Freud. In an
amusing example of the limitations of universal symbols, one of Freud's patients, after dreaming
about holding a wriggling fish, said to him 'that's a Freudian symbol - it must be a penis!'
Freud explored further, and it turned out that the woman's mother, who was a passionate
astrologer and a Pisces, was on the patient's mind because she disapproved of her daughter being
in analysis. It seems more plausible, as Freud suggested, that the fish represented the patient's
mother rather than a penis!
Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development

Every person has his or her own unique identity. This identity is composed of the different
personality traits that can be considered positive or negative. These personality traits can also be
innate or acquired, and they vary from one person to another based on the degree of influence

that the environment has on the individual. The bottom line is that as human beings, we possess
many characteristics that are honed in many different aspects that eventually define who we are.
Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development emphasizes the sociocultural determinants

of development and presents them as eight stages of psychosocial conflicts (often known as
Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development) that all individuals must overcome or resolve
successfully in order to adjust well to the environment.
According to Erik Erikson’s theory, we all encounter a certain crisis that contributes to our
psychosocial growth at each of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Whenever we
experience such crisis, we are left with no choice but to face it and think of ways to resolve it.

Failure to overcome such crisis may lead to significant impact on our psychosocial development.

Stage One Trust vs. Mistrust
The first stage of the Erikson stages starts from infant to about 18 months. At this stage, infants
must learn how to trust others, particularly those who care for their basic needs. They should feel
that they are being cared for and that all their needs are met.
Small babies are new to this world and may view the outside world as threatening. Depending on
how they are treated by people around them, the sense of threat can be replaced by trust. When
this happens, they gain a sense of security and begin to learn to trust people around them.
The first and most important person to teach an infant about trust is usually the parents. Parents
are expected to take good care of their children and attend to their needs. For example, the
parents of a baby provide him with food, shelter, sustenance and make him feel very comfortable
and secure.
Stage Two Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
At stage two of the Erikson stages, children should be taught the basic ways of taking care of
themselves, including changing their clothes and feeding themselves. If a child can’t take care of
his own basic needs and continue to rely on others to take care of him, he may feel shameful
when he sees that other kids of his own age are able to perform tasks such as feeding themselves.
Stage Three Initiative vs. Guilt
As children continue to grow up, they like to explore and do things on their own. At stage three
of the Erikson stages, children can learn new concepts introduced in school and are expected to
practice these lessons in real life. They know that they can accomplish these tasks on their own,
but if they fail to do so and end up asking for assistance from others, they may feel a sense of
guilt.

Stage Four Industry vs. Inferiority
At Erikson’s psychosocial stage four, children mature and their level of self-awareness increases.
They understand logical reasoning, scientific facts, and other matters that are typically taught in
school.
Children also become more competitive during this Erikson stage of development. They want to
do things that other children of the same age can do. When they make the effort to perform a task
and succeed, they develop self-confidence. However, if they fail, they tend to feel that they are
inferior to others.
Stage Five Identity vs. Role Confusion
During adolescence, young people are expected to develop their sexual identity. This is gained
through the discovery of oneself and in the course of finding meaning to their personhood. They
may also experience identity crisis as a result of the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Some adolescents may feel confused and are unsure whether an activity is age-appropriate for
them. Crisis at this stage may also be brought about by expectations from themselves and from
people around them, e.g. their parents.
Stage Six Intimacy vs. Isolation
Stage six of the Erikson stages is very apparent for young adults who are in their 30s. People at
this stage become worried about finding the right partner and fear that if they fail to do so, they
may have to spend the rest of their lives alone.
Young adults are most vulnerable to feel intimacy and loneliness because they interact with a lot
of people in this phase of their lives. It’s not always a success story for every young adult to find
someone with whom they can share a lifelong commitment. Some may choose to spend the rest
of their lives as singles.

Stage Seven Generativity versus Stagnation
Adults who are in their 40s and 50s tend to find meaning in their work. They feel like at this
point in their lives, they should be able to contribute something meaningful to the society and
leave a legacy. If they fail to achieve this, they feel like they have been an unproductive member
of the society.
Stage Eight Ego Integrity vs. Despair
At the last stage of the Erikson stages, people are in their 60s or older who are typically retirees.
It is important for them to feel a sense of fulfillment knowing that they have done something
significant during their younger years. When they look back in their life, they feel content, as
they believe that they have lived their life to the fullest. If they feel that they haven’t done much
during their life, it’s likely that they will experience a sense of despair.
Behavioral theory
Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is a theory of learning based on the idea that
all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the
environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to environmental stimuli shape our actions.
According to this school of thought, behavior can be studied in a systematic and observable
manner regardless of internal mental states.
Basically, only observable behavior should be considered; cognitions, emotions, and moods are
far too subjective.
Strict behaviorists believed that any person can potentially be trained to perform any task,
regardless of genetic background, personality traits, and internal thoughts (within the limits of
their physical capabilities). It only requires the right conditioning.

A Brief History
Behaviorism was formally established with the 1913 publication of John B.
Watson's classic paper, "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It." It is best summed up by the
following quote from Watson, who is often considered the "father" of behaviorism:
"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in
and I will guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I
might select doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors."
Simply put, strict behaviorists believe that all behaviors are the result of experience.
Any person, regardless of his or her background, can be trained to act in a particular manner
given the right conditioning.
From about 1920 through the mid-1950s, behaviorism grew to become the dominant school of
thought in psychology. Some suggest that the popularity of behavioral psychology grew out of
the desire to establish psychology as an objective and measurable science. Researchers were
interested in creating theories that could be clearly described and empirically measured, but also
used to make contributions that might have an influence on the fabric of everyday human lives.
There are two major types of conditioning:
1. Classical conditioning is a technique frequently used in behavioral training in which a

neutral stimulus is paired with a naturally occurring stimulus. Eventually, the neutral
stimulus comes to evoke the same response as the naturally occurring stimulus, even
without the naturally occurring stimulus presenting itself. The associated stimulus is now
known as the conditioned stimulus and the learned behavior is known as the conditioned
response

2. Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) is a method of

learning that occurs through reinforcements and punishments. Through operant
conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that
behavior. When a desirable result follows an action, the behavior becomes more likely to
occur again in the future. Responses followed by adverse outcomes, on the other hand,
become less likely to happen again in the future.
Top Things to Know
 Learning can occur through associations. The classical conditioning process works by
developing an association between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring
stimulus. In physiologist Ivan Pavlov's classic experiments, dogs associated the
presentation of food (something that naturally and automatically triggers a salivation
response) with the sound of a bell, at first, and then the sight of a lab assistant's white
coat. Eventually, the lab coat alone elicited a salivation response from the dogs.
 Different factors can influence the classical conditioning process. During the first part
of the classical conditioning process, known as acquisition, a response is established and
strengthened. Factors such as the prominence of the stimuli and the timing of presentation
can play an important role in how quickly an association is formed.
When an association disappears, this is known as extinction, causing the

behavior to weaken gradually or vanish. Factors such as the strength of the
original response can play a role in how quickly extinction occurs. The longer
a response has been conditioned, for example, the longer it may take for it to
become extinct.

 Learning can also occur through rewards and punishments. Behaviorist B.F.
Skinner described operant conditioning as the process in which learning can occur
through reinforcement and punishment. More specifically, by forming an association
between a certain behavior and the consequences of that behavior, you learn. For
example, if a parent rewards their child with praise every time they pick up their toys,
the desired behavior is consistently reinforced. As a result, the child will become more
likely to clean up messes.1
 Reinforcement schedules are important in operant conditioning. This process seems

fairly straight forward simply observe a behavior and then offer a reward or punishment.
However, Skinner discovered that the timing of these rewards and punishments has an
important influence on how quickly a new behavior is acquired and the strength of the
corresponding response.
Continuous reinforcement involves rewarding every single instance of a behavior. It is
often utilized at the beginning of the operant conditioning process. But as the behavior is
learned, the schedule might switch to one of a partial reinforcement. This involves
offering a reward after a number of responses or after a period of time has elapsed.
Sometimes, partial reinforcement occurs on a consistent or fixed schedule. In other
instances, a variable and unpredictable number of responses or time must occur before
the reinforcement is delivered.
 Several thinkers influenced behavioral psychology. In addition to those already
mentioned, there are a number of prominent theorists and psychologists who left an
indelible mark on behavioral psychology. Among these are Edward Thorndike, a
pioneering psychologist who described the law of effect, and Clark Hull, who proposed
the drive theory of learning.
 There are a number of therapeutic techniques rooted in behavioral psychology.
Though behavioral psychology assumed more of a background position after 1950, its
principles still remain important. Even today, behavior analysis is often used as a
therapeutic technique to help children with autism and developmental delays acquire new
skills. It frequently involves processes such as shaping (rewarding closer approximations

to the desired behavior) and chaining (breaking a task down into smaller parts and then
teaching and chaining the subsequent steps together). Other behavioral therapy
techniques include aversion therapy, systematic desensitization, token economies,
modeling, and contingency management.
 Behavioral psychology has some strengths. Behaviorism is based on observable
behaviors, so it is sometimes easier to quantify and collect data when conducting
research. Effective therapeutic techniques such as intensive behavioral intervention,
behavior analysis, token economies, and discrete trial training are all rooted in
behaviorism. These approaches are often very useful in changing maladaptive or harmful
behaviors in both children and adults.
 It also has some weaknesses. Many critics argue that behaviorism is a one-dimensional
approach to understanding human behavior. They suggest that behavioral theories do not
account for free will and internal influences such as moods, thoughts, and feelings. Also,
it does not account for other types of learning that occurs without the use of
reinforcement and punishment. Moreover, people and animals can adapt their behavior
when new information is introduced even if that behavior was established through
reinforcement.
 Behavioral psychology differs from other perspectives. One of the major benefits of
behaviorism is that it allowed researchers to investigate observable behavior in a scientific
and systematic manner. However, many thinkers believed it fell short by neglecting some
important influences on behavior. Freud, for example, felt that behaviorism failed by not
accounting for the unconscious mind's thoughts, feelings, and desires that influence people's
actions. Other thinkers, such as Carl Rogers and the other humanistic psychologists, believed
that behaviorism was too rigid and limited, failing to take into consideration personal agency.
More recently, biological psychology has emphasized the power the brain and genetics play in
determining and influencing human actions. The cognitive approach to psychology focuses on

mental processes such as thinking, decision-making, language, and problem-solving. In both

cases, behaviorism neglects these processes and influences in favor of studying just
observable behaviors.
One of the greatest strengths of behavioral psychology is the ability to clearly observe and
measure behaviors. Weaknesses of this approach include failing to address cognitive and
biological processes that influence human actions. While the behavioral approach might not be
the dominant force that it once was, it has still had a major impact on our understanding of
human psychology. The conditioning process alone has been used to understand many different
types of behaviors, ranging from how people learn to how language develops.
But perhaps the greatest contributions of behavioral psychology lie in its practical applications.
Its techniques can play a powerful role in modifying problematic behavior and encouraging more
positive, helpful responses. Outside of psychology, parents, teachers, animal trainers, and many
others make use of basic behavioral principles to help teach new behaviors and discourage
unwanted ones.
Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model
of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded
cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction
with the environment.
Piaget was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s, where his job was to develop French
versions of questions on English intelligence tests. He became intrigued with the reasons
children gave for their wrong answers to the questions that required logical thinking. He believed
that these incorrect answers revealed important differences between the thinking of adults and
children.
Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development.
His contributions include a stage theory of child cognitive development, detailed observational

studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different
cognitive abilities.
What Piaget wanted to do was not to measure how well children could count, spell or solve
problems as a way of grading their I.Q. What he was more interested in was the way in which
fundamental concepts like the very idea of number, time, quantity, causality, and justice and so
on emerged.
Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less
competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children think in strikingly different
ways compared to adults.
According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically inherited
and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge are based.
Piaget’s theory differ from others in several ways
▪ It is concerned with children, rather than all learners.
▪ It focuses on development, rather than learning per se, so it does not address learning of
information or specific behaviors.
▪ It proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative differences, rather than a

gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviors, concepts, ideas, etc.
The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and then
the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using hypotheses.
To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a

result of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children construct an

understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they
already know and what they discover in their environment.
There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:
1. Schemas (building blocks of knowledge).

2. Adaptation processes that enable the transition from one stage to another
(equilibrium, assimilation, and accommodation).
3. Stages of Cognitive Development:
o sensorimotor,
o preoperational,
o concrete operational,
o Formal operational.
Schemas
Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It would mean
that you would not be able to make so much use of information from your past experience or to
plan future actions.
Schemas are the basic building blocks of such cognitive models, and enable us to form a mental
representation of the world. Piaget (1952, p. 7) defined a schema as: "a cohesive, repeatable
action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a
core meaning."
In more simple terms Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behavior a
way of organizing knowledge. Indeed, it is useful to think of schemas as “units” of knowledge,
each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions, and abstract (i.e., theoretical)
concepts.

Wadsworth (2004) suggests that schemata (the plural of schema) be thought of as 'index cards'
filed in the brain, each one telling an individual how to react to incoming stimuli or information.
When Piaget talked about the development of a person's mental processes, he was referring to
increases in the number and complexity of the schemata that a person had learned.
When a child's existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around it, it is
said to be in a state of equilibrium, i.e., a state of cognitive (i.e., mental) balance.
Piaget emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development and described how they
were developed or acquired. A schema can be defined as a set of linked mental representations of
the world, which we use both to understand and to respond to situations. The assumption is that
we store these mental representations and apply them when needed.
For example, a person might have a schema about buying a meal in a restaurant. The schema is a
stored form of the pattern of behavior which includes looking at a menu, ordering food, eating it
and paying the bill. This is an example of a type of schema called a 'script.' Whenever they are in
a restaurant, they retrieve this schema from memory and apply it to the situation.
The schemas Piaget described tend to be simpler than this - especially those used by infants. He
described how - as a child gets older - his or her schemas become more numerous and elaborate.
Piaget believed that newborn babies have a small number of innate schemas - even before they
have had many opportunities to experience the world. These neonatal schemas are the cognitive
structures underlying innate reflexes. These reflexes are genetically programmed into us.
For example, babies have a sucking reflex, which is triggered by something touching the baby's
lips. A baby will suck a nipple, a comforter (dummy), or a person's finger. Piaget, therefore,
assumed that the baby has a 'sucking schema.'

Similarly, the grasping reflex which is elicited when something touches the palm of a baby's
hand, or the rooting reflex, in which a baby will turn its head towards something which touches
its cheek, are innate schemas. Shaking a rattle would be the combination of two schemas,
grasping and shaking.
Assimilation and Accommodation
Jean Piaget (1952; see also Wadsworth, 2004) viewed intellectual growth as a process of
adaptation (adjustment) to the world. This happens through:
 Assimilation Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation.
 Accommodation This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work,
and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.
 Equilibration This is the force which moves development along. Piaget believed that
cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds.
Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information through
assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new
information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation).
Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to be
frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge
(accommodation). Once the new information is acquired the process of assimilation with
the new schema will continue until the next time we need to make an adjustment to it.

Example of Assimilation
A 2-year-old child sees a man who is bald on top of his head and has long frizzy hair on the
sides. To his father’s horror, the toddler shouts “Clown, clown” (Siegler et al., 2003).
Example of Accommodation

In the “clown” incident, the boy’s father explained to his son that the man was not a clown and
that even though his hair was like a clown’s, he wasn’t wearing a funny costume and wasn’t
doing silly things to make people laugh.
With this new knowledge, the boy was able to change his schema of “clown” and make this idea
fit better to a standard concept of “clown”.
Stages of Development
Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development which reflect the increasing sophistication
of children's thought:
1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)
2. Pre-operational stage (from age 2 to age 7)
3. Concrete operational stage (from age 7 to age 11)
4. Formal operational stage (age 11+ - adolescence and adulthood).
Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and child development is determined by
biological maturation and interaction with the environment. Although no stage can be missed
out, there are individual differences in the rate at which children progress through stages, and
some individuals may never attain the later stages.
Piaget did not claim that a particular stage was reached at a certain age - although descriptions of
the stages often include an indication of the age at which the average child would reach each
stage.
Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-2 years)

The main achievement during this stage is object permanence - knowing that an object still
exists, even if it is hidden.
It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e., a schema) of the object.
Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
During this stage, young children can think about things symbolically. This is the ability to make
one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other than itself.
Thinking is still egocentric, and the infant has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others.
Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)
Piaget considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's cognitive development
because it marks the beginning of logical or operational thought.
This means the child can work things out internally in their head (rather than physically try
things out in the real world).
Children can conserve number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9). Conservation is the
understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes.
Formal Operational Stage (11 years and over)
The formal operational stage begins at approximately age eleven and lasts into adulthood. During
this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts, and logically test
hypotheses
Educational Implications

Piaget (1952) did not explicitly relate his theory to education, although later researchers have
explained how features of Piaget's theory can be applied to teaching and learning.
Piaget has been extremely influential in developing educational policy and teaching practice. For
example, a review of primary education by the UK government in 1966 was based strongly on
Piaget’s theory. The result of this review led to the publication of the Plowden report (1967).
Discovery learning – the idea that children learn best through doing and actively exploring - was
seen as central to the transformation of the primary school curriculum.
'The report's recurring themes are individual learning, flexibility in the curriculum, the centrality
of play in children's learning, the use of the environment, learning by discovery and the
importance of the evaluation of children's progress - teachers should 'not assume that only what
is measurable is valuable.'
Because Piaget's theory is based upon biological maturation and stages, the notion of 'readiness'
is important. Readiness concerns when certain information or concepts should be taught.
According to Piaget's theory children should not be taught certain concepts until they have
reached the appropriate stage of cognitive development.
According to Piaget (1958), assimilation and accommodation require an active learner, not a
passive one, because problem-solving skills cannot be taught, they must be discovered.
Within the classroom learning should be student-centered and accomplished through active
discovery learning. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, rather than direct tuition.
Therefore, teachers should encourage the following within the classroom:
 Focus on the process of learning, rather than the end product of it.
 Using active methods that require rediscovering or reconstructing "truths."
 Using collaborative, as well as individual activities (so children can learn from each
other).
 Devising situations that present useful problems, and create disequilibrium in the child.
 Evaluate the level of the child's development so suitable tasks can be set.
Critical Evaluation
Support
 The influence of Piaget’s ideas in developmental psychology has been enormous. He

changed how people viewed the child’s world and their methods of studying children.
He was an inspiration to many who came after and took up his ideas. Piaget's ideas have
generated a huge amount of research which has increased our understanding of cognitive
development.
 His ideas have been of practical use in understanding and communicating with children,
particularly in the field of education (re: Discovery Learning).
Criticisms
 Are the stages real? Vygotsky and Bruner would rather not talk about stages at all,
preferring to see development as a continuous process. Others have queried the age
ranges of the stages. Some studies have shown that progress to the formal operational
stage is not guaranteed.
For example, Keating (1979) reported that 40-60% of college students fail at formal
operation tasks, and Dasen (1994) states that only one-third of adults ever reach the
formal operational stage.
 Because Piaget concentrated on the universal stages of cognitive development and

biological maturation, he failed to consider the effect that the social setting and culture
may have on cognitive development.

Dasen (1994) cites studies he conducted in remote parts of the central Australian desert
with 8-14 year old Aborigines. He gave them conservation of liquid tasks and spatial
awareness tasks. He found that the ability to conserve came later in the aboriginal
children, between aged 10 and 13 (as opposed to between 5 and 7, with Piaget’s Swiss
sample).
However, he found that spatial awareness abilities developed earlier amongst the
Aboriginal children than the Swiss children. Such a study demonstrates cognitive
development is not purely dependent on maturation but on cultural factors too – spatial
awareness is crucial for nomadic groups of people.
Vygotsky, a contemporary of Piaget, argued that social interaction is crucial for cognitive
development. According to Vygotsky the child's learning always occurs in a social
context in co-operation with someone more skillful. This social interaction provides
language opportunities and language is the foundation of thought.
 Piaget’s methods (observation and clinical interviews) are more open to biased
interpretation than other methods. Piaget made careful, detailed naturalistic observations
of children, and from these he wrote diary descriptions charting their development. He
also used clinical interviews and observations of older children who were able to
understand questions and hold conversations.
Because Piaget conducted the observations alone the data collected are based on his own
subjective interpretation of events. It would have been more reliable if Piaget conducted
the observations with another researcher and compared the results afterward to check if
they are similar (i.e., have inter-rater reliability).
Although clinical interviews allow the researcher to explore data in more depth, the
interpretation of the interviewer may be biased. For example, children may not
understand the question/s, they have short attention spans, and they cannot express

themselves very well and may be trying to please the experimenter. Such methods meant
that Piaget may have formed inaccurate conclusions.
 As several studies have shown Piaget underestimated the abilities of children because his
tests were sometimes confusing or difficult to understand (e.g., Hughes, 1975). Piaget
failed to distinguish between competence (what a child is capable of doing) and
performance (what a child can show when given a particular task). When tasks were
altered, performance (and therefore competence) was affected. Therefore, Piaget might
have underestimated children’s cognitive abilities.
For example, a child might have object permanence (competence) but still not be able to
search for objects (performance). When Piaget hid objects from babies he found that it
wasn’t till after nine months that they looked for it. However, Piaget relied on manual
search methods – whether the child was looking for the object or not.
Later, research such as Baillargeon and Devos (1991) reported that infants as young as
four months looked longer at a moving carrot that didn’t do what it expected, suggesting
they had some sense of permanence, otherwise they wouldn’t have had any expectation
of what it should or shouldn’t do.
 The concept of schema is incompatible with the theories of Bruner (1966) and Vygotsky
(1978). Behaviorism would also refute Piaget’s schema theory because is cannot be
directly observed as it is an internal process. Therefore, they would claim it cannot be
objectively measured.
 Piaget studied his own children and the children of his colleagues in Geneva in order to
deduce general principles about the intellectual development of all children. Not only was
his sample very small, but it was composed solely of European children from families of
high socio-economic status. Researchers have therefore questioned the generalizability of
his data.

 For Piaget, language is seen as secondary to action, i.e., thought precedes language. The
Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978) argues that the development of language and
thought go together and that the origin of reasoning is more to do with our ability to
communicate with others than with our interaction with the material world
Theory of Moral Development
The Theory of Moral Development is a very interesting subject that stemmed from Jean Piaget’s
theory of moral reasoning. Developed by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, this theory made us
understand that morality starts from the early childhood years and can be affected by several
factors.
Morality can be developed either negatively or positively, depending on how an individual

accomplishes the tasks before him during each stage of moral development across his lifespan.
History of the Theory
How did Kohlberg come up with the theory of moral development? All his ideas started from the
research he performed with very young children as his subjects. He found out that children are
faced with different moral issues, and their judgments on whether they are to act positively or
negatively over each dilemma are heavily influenced by several factors. In each scenario that
Kohlberg related to the children, he was not really asking whether or not the person in the
situation is morally right or wrong, but he wanted to find out the reasons why these children
think that the character is morally right or not.
STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
The formation of a system of underlying assumptions about standards and principles that govern
moral decisions.

Moral development involves the formation of a system of values on which to base decisions
concerning "right" and "wrong," or "good" and "bad”. If Values are underlying assumptions
about standards that govern moral decisions.
Although morality has been a topic of discussion since the beginning of human civilization, the
scientific study of moral development did not begin in earnest until the late 1950s. Lawrence
Kohlberg (1927-1987), an American psychologist building upon Jean Piaget's work in cognitive
reasoning, posited six stages of moral development in his 1958 doctoral thesis. Since that time,
morality and moral development have become acceptable subjects of scientific research. Prior to
Kohlberg's work, the prevailing positivist view claimed that science should be" value-free" that
morality had no place in scientific studies. By choosing to study moral development
scientifically, Kohlberg broke through the positivist boundary and established morality as a
legitimate subject of scientific research.
There are several approaches to the study of moral development, which are categorized in a
variety of ways. Briefly, the social learning theory approach claims that humans develop
morality by learning the rules of acceptable behavior from their external environment (an
essentially behaviorist approach). Psychoanalytic theory proposes instead that morality develops
through humans' conflict between their instinctual drives and the demands of society. Cognitive
development theories view morality as an outgrowth of cognition, or reasoning, whereas
personality theories are holistic in their approach, taking into account all the factors that
contribute to human development.
The differences between these approaches rest on two questions: 1) where do humans begin on
their moral journey; and 2) where do we end up? In other words, how moral are infants at birth ?
And how is "moral maturity" defined? What is the ideal morality to which we aspire? The
contrasting philosophies at the heart of the answers to these questions determine the essential
perspective of each moral development theory. Those who believe infants are born with no moral
sense tend towards social learning or behaviorist theories (as all morality must therefore be

learned from the external environment). Others who believe humans are innately aggressive and
completely self-oriented are more likely to accept psychoanalytic theories (where morality is the
learned management of socially destructive internal drives). Those who believe it is our
reasoning abilities that separate us from the rest of creation will find cognitive development
theories the most attractive, while those who view humans as holistic beings who are born with a
full range of potentialities will most likely be drawn to personality theories.
What constitutes "mature morality" is a subject of great controversy. Each society develops its
own set of norms and standards for acceptable behavior, leading many to say that morality is
entirely culturally conditioned. Does this mean there are no universal truths, no cross-cultural
standards for human behavior? The debate over this question fuels the critiques of many moral
development theories. Kohlberg's six stages of moral development, for example, have been
criticized for elevating Western, urban, intellectual (upper class) understandings of morality,
while discrediting rural, tribal, working class, or Eastern moral understandings. (See Kohlberg's
theory of moral reasoning.) Feminists have pointed out potential sexist elements in moral
development theories devised by male researchers using male subjects only (such as Kohlberg's
early work). Because women's experience in the world is different from men's (in every culture),
it would stand to reason that women's moral development might differ from men's, perhaps in
significant ways.
Definitions of what is or is not moral are currently in a state of upheaval within individual
societies as well as, at least, in the Western world. Controversies rage over the morality of
warfare (especially nuclear), ecological conservation, genetic research and manipulation,
alternative fertility and childbearing methods, abortion, sexuality, pornography, drug use,
euthanasia, racism, sexism, and human rights issues, among others. Determining the limits of
moral behavior becomes increasingly difficult as human capabilities, choices, and
responsibilities proliferate with advances in technology and scientific knowledge. For example,
prenatal testing techniques that determine birth defects in utero force parents to make new moral

choices about whether to birth a child. Other examples of recently created moral questions
abound in modern-day society.
Therefore, the study of moral development is lively today. The rise in crime, drug and alcohol
abuse, gang violence, teen parenthood, and suicide in recent years in Western society has also
caused a rise in concern over morality and moral development. Parents and teachers want to
know how to raise moral children, and they turn to moral development theorists to find the
answers. Freudian personality theories became more widely known to the Western public in the
1960s and were understood to imply that repression of a child's natural drives would lead to
neuroses. Many parents and teachers were therefore afraid to discipline their children, and
permissiveness became the rule. Cognitive development theories did little to change things, as
they focus on reasoning and disregard behavior. (After a great deal of criticism in this regard,
Kohlberg and other cognitive development theorists did begin to include moral actions in their
discussions and education programs, but their emphasis is still on reasoning alone.) Behaviorist
theories, with their complete denial of free will in moral decision-making, are unattractive to
many and require such precise, dedicated, behavior modification techniques to succeed that few
people are able to apply them in real-life situations.
The continuing breakdown of society, however, is beginning to persuade people that

permissiveness is not the answer and another approach must be found. Schools are returning to"
character education" programs, popular in the 1920s and 1930s, where certain "virtues" such as
honesty, fairness, and loyalty, are taught to students along with the regular academic subjects.
Unfortunately, there is little or no agreement as to which "virtues" are important and what
exactly each "virtue" means. For example, when a student expresses dislike of another student, is
she or he practicing the virtue of "fairness" or, rather, being insensitive to another's feelings? If a
student refuses to salute the flag, is he or she betraying the virtue of "loyalty" or, rather, being
loyal to some higher moral precept? These complex questions plague "character education"
programs today, and their effectiveness remains in dispute.

Another approach to moral education that became popular in the 1960s and 1970s is known as
"values clarification"
Stages of moral development
Childhood is often divided into five approximate stages of moral development:
Stage 1. Infancy; the child's only sense of right and wrong is what feels good or bad;
Stage 2. Toddler years; the child learns "right" and "wrong" from what she or he is told by
others;
Stage 3. Preschool years; the child begins to internalize family values as his or her own, and
begins to perceive the consequences of his or her behavior;
Stage 4. Ages 7-10 years; the child begins to question the infallibility of parents, teachers,
and other adults, and develops a strong sense of "should" and "should not"
Stage 5. Preteen and teenage years; peers, rather than adults, become of ultimate importance
to the child, who begins to try on different values systems to see which fits best; teens also
become more aware of and concerned with the larger society, and begin to reason more
abstractly about "right" and "wrong."
Or "values modification." The purpose of these programs is to guide students to establish (or
discern) their own system of values on which to base their moral decisions. Students are also
taught that others may have different values systems, and that they must be tolerant of those
differences. The advantages of this approach are that it promotes self-investigation and
awareness and the development of internal moral motivations (which are more reliable than
external motivations), and prevents fanaticism, authoritarianism, and moral coercion. The
disadvantage is that it encourages moral relativism, the belief that "anything goes." Pushed to its
extreme, it creates social chaos because no one can be held to any universal (or societal) moral

standard. "Values clarification" is generally seen today to be a valuable component of moral

education, but incomplete on its own.
Lawrence Kohlberg devised a moral education program in the 1960s based on his cognitive
development theory. Called the Just Community program, it utilizes age-appropriate (or stage-
appropriate) discussions of moral dilemmas, democratic rule-making, and the creation of a
community context where students and teachers can act on their moral decisions. Just
Community programs have been established in schools, prisons, and other institutions with a fair
amount of success. Exposure to moral questions and the opportunity to practice moral behavior
in a supportive community appear to foster deeper moral reasoning and more constructive
behavior.
Overall, democratic family and school systems are much more likely to promote the
development of internal self-controls and moral growth than are authoritarian or permissive
systems. Permissive systems fail to instill any controls, while authoritarian systems instill only
fear of punishment, which is not an effective deterrent unless there is a real chance of being
caught (punishment can even become a reward for immoral behavior when it is the only attention
a person ever gets). True moral behavior involves a number of internal processes that are best
developed through warm, caring parenting with clear and consistent expectations, emphasis on
the reinforcement of positive behaviors (rather than the punishment of negative ones), modeling
of moral behavior by adults, and creation of opportunities for the child to practice moral
reasoning and actions.
As previously stated, there is disagreement as to the exact motivations involved in moral

behavior. Whatever the motivations, however, the internal processes remain the same.
The Four Component model describes them as follows:
1. Moral sensitivity. Empathy (identifying with another's experience) and cognition of the
effect of various possible actions on others;

2. Moral judgment. choosing which action is the most moral;

3. Moral motivation. Deciding to behave in the moral way, as opposed to other options; and
4. Implementation. Carrying out the chosen moral action.
According to personal (social) goal theory, moral (or pro-social) behavior is motivated by the
desire to satisfy a variety of personal and social goals, some of which are self-oriented (selfish),
and some of which are other-oriented (altruistic).
The four major internal motivations for moral behavior as presented by personal (social) goal
theorists are: 1. empathy;
2. The belief that people are valuable in and of themselves and therefore should be helped;
3. The desire to fulfill moral rules; and
4. Self-interest.
In social domain theory, moral reasoning is said to develop within particular social "domains":
moral (e.g., welfare, justice, and rights), social-conventional (social rules for the orderly function
of society), personal (pure self-interest, exempt from social or moral rules).
Most people in fact have more than one moral "voice" and shift among them depending on the
situation. In one context, a person may respond out of empathy and place care for one person
over concern for social rules. In a different context, that same person might instead insist on
following social rules for the good of society, even though someone may suffer because of it.
People also show a lack of consistent morality by sometimes choosing to act in a way that they
know is not moral, while continuing to consider themselves "moral" people. This discrepancy
between moral judgment (perceiving an act as morally right or wrong) and moral choice
(deciding whether to act in the morally "right" way) can be explained in a number of ways, any
one of which may be true in a given situation:

 weakness of will (the person is overwhelmed by desire);

 weakness of conscience (guilt feelings are not strong enough to overcome temptation); or
 Limited/ flexible morality (some latitude allowed in moral behavior while still
maintaining a" moral" identity).
The Moral Balance model proposes that most humans operate out of a limited or flexible
morality. Rather than expecting moral perfection from ourselves or others, we set certain limits
beyond which we cannot go. Within those limits, however, there is some flexibility in moral
decision-making. Actions such as taking coins left in the change-box of a public telephone may
be deemed acceptable (though not perfectly moral), while stealing money from an open,
unattended cash register is not. Many factors are involved in the determination of moral
acceptability from situation to situation, and the limits on moral behavior are often slippery. If
given proper encouragement and the opportunity to practice a coherent inner sense of morality,
however, most people will develop a balanced morality to guide their day-to-day interactions
with their world.
Levels of Morality Development
Level 1: Pre-conventional Morality
The first level of morality, pre-conventional morality, can be further divided into two stages:
obedience and punishment, and individualism and exchange.
Stage 1: Punishment- Obedience Orientation

Related to Skinner’s Operational Conditioning, this stage includes the use of punishment so that
the person refrains from doing the action and continues to obey the rules. For example, we
follow the law because we do not want to go to jail.
Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation

In this stage, the person is said to judge the morality of an action based on how it satisfies the
individual needs of the doer. For instance, a person steals money from another person because he
needs that money to buy food for his hungry children. In Kohlberg’s theory, the children tend to
say that this action is morally right because of the serious need of the doer.
Level 2: Conventional Morality
The second level of morality involves the stages 3 and 4 of moral development. Conventional
morality includes the society and societal roles in judging the morality of an action.
Stage 3 Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation

In this stage, a person judges an action based on the societal roles and social expectations before
him. This is also known as the “interpersonal relationships” phase. For example, a child gives
away her lunch to a street peasant because she thinks doing so means being nice.
Stage 4 Law and Order Orientation

This stage includes respecting the authorities and following the rules, as well as doing a person’s
duty. The society is the main consideration of a person at this stage. For instance, a policeman
refuses the money offered to him under the table and arrests the offender because he believes this
is his duty as an officer of peace and order.
Level 3 Post-conventional Morality
The post-conventional morality includes stage 5 and stage 6. This is mainly concerned with the
universal principles that relation to the action done.
Stage 5 Social Contract Orientation

In this stage, the person is look at various opinions and values of different people before coming
up with the decision on the morality of the action.

Stage 6 Universal Ethical Principles Orientation

The final stage of moral reasoning, this orientation is when a person considers universally
accepted ethical principles. The judgment may become innate and may even violate the laws and
rules as the person becomes attached to his own principles of justice.

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INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY

DIPLOMA IN SOCIAL WORK AND SOCIAL ADMINISTRTION

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1.1 PSYCHOLOGY: MEANING AND DEFINITION

1.2. PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK: THE RELEVANCE OF PSYCHOLOGY

 Understanding different activities of the individual

1.3. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

1.3.1 GROWTH: CONCEPT AND DEFINITION

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Growth is part of the development processDevelopment is a wider and comprehensive

1.4. PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

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fact of individual differences in rates of development should aware us to be careful

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Social expectations are otherwise known as “developmental tasks”. Havinghurst defines

1.5. FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

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The Case of Anna O

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The Unconscious Mind

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To be psychologically healthy, we must successfully complete each stage. Mental abnormality

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Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development

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Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development emphasizes the sociocultural determinants

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Stage One Trust vs. Mistrust

Stage Two Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Stage Three Initiative vs. Guilt

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Stage Four Industry vs. Inferiority

Stage Five Identity vs. Role Confusion

Stage Six Intimacy vs. Isolation

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Stage Seven Generativity versus Stagnation

Stage Eight Ego Integrity vs. Despair

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Behaviorism was formally established with the 1913 publication of John B.

There are two major types of conditioning:

1. Classical conditioning is a technique frequently used in behavioral training in which a

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2. Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) is a method of

Top Things to Know

When an association disappears, this is known as extinction, causing the

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 Reinforcement schedules are important in operant conditioning. This process seems