The main reason why child development theories are important is because they give a formidable explanation on how children grow into adulthood and how both internal and external factors surrounding their upbringing are central to what they turn out to be. These theories put a focus on a good range of issues which fall into three broad categories as either social, emotional or cognitive issues. In this regard, developmental psychologists either factor in all these categories into deciding what contributes to human development and what does not. It is crucial to realize that these theories provide a framework for thinking about growth. The theories are classified into major theories also known as grand theories and mini-theories. Grand theories attempt to focus on every aspect of development using a stage approach while mini-theories focus on a specific approach such as cognitive or social growth.
The major theories include Freud’s Psychosexual Development Theory, Erikson's Psychosocial Developmental Theory and Behavioral Child Development Theories. The first theory asserts that childhood experiences and desires from the human conscience greatly influenced human behavior. This occurs during several occasions where the child encounters various forms of conflict and how they respond greatly influences their adult behavior. Sexual interest is at the core of it all. The second theory is the development of the first and describes growth and development as being resultant of social changes. The third theory espouses the idea that psychology should focus on more quantifiable aspects of growth in order to be a scientific discipline.
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The mini-theories include Piaget’s Cognitive Development theory, Bowlby’s attachment theory, Bandura’s social learning theory and Vygotsky’s social-cultural theory. These theories simply focus on the idea that a child’s development is greatly influenced by their social interaction(Lindenberger, 2001).
There exists no absolute theory. A child’s development is affected by both internal and external issues; nature and nurture. For example, when it comes to anxiety, it usually stems from a point of lack of peace or confidence in issues which were allowed to build up over time such as trust and have not been dealt with effectively. These often stem from cognitive and social factors. Maybe the best way for Cecilia’s baby to develop whenever she’s not around during the day is daycare during the day and then her parents could spend time with the baby after daycare before Cecilia returns home. That way, the child is balanced socially. She is not neglected by grandparents who are likely to be busy or overly attended to. She also is able to interact with other people beyond her family. This results in a balanced child who is well exposed.
Reference
Lindenberger, U. (2001). Lifespan theories of cognitive development. In International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (pp. 8848-8854). Elsevier Science.
