Theories of Human Development - Essay Example

Chapter 1 and 2 Analysis

Chapter 1: Understanding Life Span Human Development

When studying human development, it is crucial to understand the significant developmental domains, such as moral, cognitive, emotional, and physical. Besides, one has to understand how people usually develop within each domain at particular age stages. The utilization of psychological theories is also essential to comprehend the reasons for this development and the ways in which it presents itself at every age and stage. The aim of this chapter is to assess the influences on development from the conception of a child to the late adolescence. Notably, the chapter elaborates on the theories of life-span development with information concerning a person's own development to support these theories.

A sense of trust allows the child to recognize new experiences; it acknowledges the fear of the unknown as part of life. The second stage is the anal stage; it ranges from 1-2 years of age. During this time, Freud believed that the libido's primary focus was on controlling the bladder, bowel movement (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). During this point, the problem is toilet training, as a child must learn to manage its own body needs. In developing, this helps to create a sense of independence and achievement.

Human development scientists describe physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development as the three specific domains. Physical development corresponds to physical and biological processes, growth of the body and organ, the functioning of physiological systems such as the brain, health and well-being, physical signs of aging, and motor skills (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). Cognitive development is concerned with thinking and other functions of mind and intellect, such as vision, focus, language, learning, knowledge, imagination, and problem-solving. Ultimately, psychological growth applies to the facets of self, social and interpersonal experiences, such as motivations, feelings, personality characteristics, morals, social skills, and relationships, and roles played in the family and broader society.

Another main point discussed in this chapter is that the standard course of an average human's growth goes from conception to late adulthood. The first stage, called the prenatal stage, describes the development of humans from conception to birth. After that is the stage of infancy, which is the first two years of life. After that, the child will transition to the early stage of infancy, which lasts from two to six years (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). The child will then enter the middle stage of adolescence, which typically occurs from six to twelve years, or before the start of puberty. Initially, the individual will go through the stage of adolescence where most important development takes place: during puberty. This occurs at about the age of 12 to 20 years. The person would then pass through the early stage of adulthood after puberty, which lasts between the ages of 20 to 40 years, and will then progress into the middle stage of adulthood from 40 to 65 years. He will eventually be in the late adulthood period at the age of more than 65years.

Description, clarification, and optimization are the three aims of developmental psychology. Development is a lifelong phase; development is multidirectional, development includes both benefit and loss, development is defined by lifelong plasticity, its historical-cultural milieu forms development, development is affected multiply and development must be studied by various disciplines (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). Nature's prime component is heredity. Heredity is the passing of parent or ancestor traits to the offspring. It involves genes, which could affect the offspring's development. Also, maturation also has an impact on a person’s growth. Maturation is the developmental changes that are genetically programmed by naturally occurring genes.

Notably, developmental shifts in nurturing orientation are due to the climate. The environment is the activities and circumstances outside of the person that the person presumes to influence and be influenced. The environment involves living in a crowded country, having dirty air, in the comfort of our homes having clean water from the tap, and living in poverty. All the physical and social external conditions can affect one's growth. Learning is the mechanism by which experience causes permanent changes in thought, emotions, or behavior. Through the environment, one learns things that lead to a permanent change in thoughts, feelings, and be behavior. Description, clarification, and optimization are the three aims (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). Development is a lifelong phase, development is multidirectional, development includes both benefit and loss, development is defined by lifelong plasticity, development is formed by its historical-cultural context, development is affected multiply and development must be studied by multiple disciplines.

Chapter Two - Theories of Human Development

The first fundamental issue faced is the occurrence to which that nature is responsible for development or nutrition is mainly the key factor in the development of the individual. The second issue is action and passivity. This refers to how much a person could be actively involved with the biosphere that contributes to their advancement, or rather, the person is more passive and the uncontrollable forces drive development. Another problem is the face of consistency and discontinuity; this defines the magnitude of the incremental shift or the drastic changes influencing the individual's growth.

Moving on, irregular behavior and Individual variation refer to the question of identifying developmental anomalies and differentiating whether the individual's development is progressing normally or not. Lastly, the precision of universality and meaning refers to the ability to show that each individual evolves the same way, or there are cultural factors that may vary from each individual (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). Freud's definition of human existence bends toward nature.  The psychic force, which includes Id, ego, and superego, powers individuals. Human development is dependent on the ego's ability to balance both the Id and the superego to make the most logical decision for satisfying the Id. Therefore, individuals do not know the inner forces that have affected their actions.

Gottlieb, on the other hand, tries to explain that there is no person who has the course of development woefully unequipped. Therefore, the social situation affects individual development. Skinner, Bandura, and Piaget perceived human development as more of an approach to action (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). While Skinner and Bandura stated that individuals, through conditioning and observation, establish and acquire habits. Piaget states that individuals evaluate their own creation by means of the interactions they experience.

The five core issues in human development are the goodness-badness of humanity, nature-nurture, activity-passivity, continuity-discontinuity, and specificity of universal applicability-context. In respect to Freud's psychosexual philosophy, the question of nature-nurture is all about nature as evolution is the key to development, but family affects an infant in the initial phases of development. His theory is more passive than active because, out of reach, human beings are motivated and affected by outside forces (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). This is intermittent as the transition is sudden and concert-like, although the principle is also universal where progression from one individual to another is identical.

Erikson’s philosophy on nature and nurture is also comparable. As pertaining to this theory, it is more active than passive; humans contribute to their own creation. Compared to Freud's theory, psychodynamic theory is both discrete and universal, but it can be articulated differently from one society to another for universality. Looking at Skinner’s philosophy, it is mainly dietary, because other things are beyond their influence. It is more reflective, as the world defines human beings, connecting them to the dimension of nurture. This is constant because the frequency of it determines the responses.

Finally, it is context-specific since development depends on the knowledge that each person has acquired. Bandura's theory is more constructive and nurturing. It is also intermittent and context-specific. Any action that takes place after the desired result is the mechanism of an external force that affects the ability to respond (Sigelman & Rider, 2018). The theory of Piaget is more of nature as growth and development that blend with practice guide us through the same stage, and it is more involved. It is indeed discontinuous and universal for this principle too. Additionally, the theory of Gottlieb is both nature and nurture, dynamic, intermittent as well as discontinuous as well as context-specific.