Contemporary Developmental Psychologist - Essay Example

Vygotsky theory has close relations which Jean Piaget theory in which posits that sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic spheres influences individual ability to learn. According to Vygotsky, learning is a process, which occurs when an individual within a given environment is willing to accommodate the new things in his or her environment. Albert Bandura social learning theory Albert Bandura came up with a social learning theory in which he argued that children learn through observation. Bandura argued that learning process did not only occur due to the external reinforcement, but also intrinsic factors such as satisfaction, pride, and accomplishment (Pillemer, et.al. 2005).

Children observe the activities within their environment and develop similar characters in handling their issues. Bandura’s theory is a contemporary theory and it has a close relation to Jean Piaget cognitive development theory. Bandura and Piaget believe that parental influence is instrumental in influencing individual development. The external environment contributes to the development of a given traits of an individual. John Bowlby Attachment theory The attachment theory proposed by John Bowlby argued that infants developed relationship with their mothers (caregivers) in terms of emotional, social, and cognitive development.

This attachment influenced the behavior of the infant in later life. He observed that children separated from their mothers at early stages suffered emotionally. This theory has a close relationship with the Erickson psychosocial theory of development. As proposed by Erickson, psychosocial factors, which influence the relationship between the child and the environment, influence the social conduct of the child in later years (Shwalb, et.al. 2005). John Bowlby theory is a contemporary theory of social learning.

Similarities and differences of the above theories The theories proposed by Bandura, Vygotsky and Bowlby present a common view that learning occurs in a social environment. Children tend to imitate what they observe in their social environment. Further, Bandura and Vygotsky theories posit that cognitive influence is also responsible for the choices that a child would make when learning in a social environment. Thus learning does not only occur through observation, but also through individual voluntary choices.

Another common feature about Bowlby, Bandura and Vygotsky social theories is that what the children learn in their environment influences their later life. Although Bowlby, Bandura and Vygotsky had similar features in their theories they have some differences. Bowlby argued that parental attachment was responsible for cognitive and social development whereas Bandura and Vygotsky argued that learning occurred due to individual voluntary will. While the choice to accept a given feature would depend on the cognitive ability, the social factors that contribute to cognitive development contributes towards the choice made.

Another difference in the theories is that Bowlby argued that individual accomplishment would depend on parental attachment which influences the cognitive development, on the other end Bandura and Vygotsky do not explain how cognitive influence contribute to learning. Analysis of theories The Bandura’s observation learning theory can act for development delay because it argues that learning occurs through what an individual observes. This means that a delay in observing a given feature in