Theories of human development are used to describe changes that happen to human beings as they grow from childhood to adulthood. They help to understand various child development stages and challenges faced across their lifespan. The theories attempt to describe and explain the emotional, cognitive and moral development of children in relation to the environment in which they grow. Several theories have been established to understand the stages of child development. The main theories are; Piaget's Cognitive Theory, Erikson's Psychosocial development theory, Bandura's Social learning theory, Bowlby attachment theory and Freud's development theory among others (Lefrancois, 2019).
Jean Piaget's theory highlighted that human cognitive abilities develop through four specific stages. He also added that children obtain knowledge as they explore the world around them. The stages of development depend on the age of the child. Ahmad et al., (2016) asserted that the child's cognitive ability from birth to two years is associated with sensory and motor pathways where the child thinks by trying to understand the people around them. The preoperational stage follows from two to seven years where the child uses symbols and signs to understand things. After age 7 to 12 years operational concrete stage takes place where the child's reasoning becomes focused and logical. The last stage starts from adolescence to adulthood where children begin thinking in abstract ways while making life decisions.
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Erikson's theory of psychosocial development focused on the resolution of different situations to become a successful complete person. The theorist used eight developmental stages which tried to explain and resolve conflicting ideas to gain confidence as a member of the society. A person may feel inadequate by failure to master these tasks. Some of the stages he used are trust against mistrust, integrity versus despair, isolation versus intimacy, and role confusion versus identity among others. His work was an expansion of Freud's stages of the cultural implications of a child's development (Kali & Cavanaugh, 2018). Bandura's Social learning theory was developed by Albert Bandura who asserted that behaviors are learned through observation and modeling. However, he explained that reinforcement, operant, and classical conditioning processes could not fully impact human learning. He added that children acquire new skills through observing and listening to the advice of parents and peers.
Bowlby's attachment theory asserted that the relationship that exists between children and their parents is vital to the development of the child both social and intellectual capacity. The children deserve intimate relationships to create an attachment to receive maximum care and protection. The attachment to their parents provides proximity and a safe haven for exploration to develop a secure attachment style. Freud Psychosexual theory is a psychoanalytic theory that analyzed patients suffering from mental illness. According to Lefrancois (2019), the theorist believed that childhood experience and unconscious desires influence his or her behavior. The theory highlights five stages of development pertaining to the child’s body where each stage may encounter conflict that plays a significant role in the child's development.
Behavioral Child development theories were developed when a new school of thought called behaviorism became dominant in psychology. According to these theories, human behavior is influenced by environment occurrences that trigger reactions towards stimuli, rewards, and punishment. The main behaviorists such as John B. Watson, Ian Pavlov, and B.F Skinner assert that learning purely depends on the process of association and reinforcement. The theories focused on observable behaviors that are influenced by environmental interaction rather than internal thoughts and feelings (Kail et al., 2018).
The theory which best describes the theories of human development is Piaget's cognitive development theory. It is a revolutionary theory that provides foundations for other development theories. The theory asserts that children think differently than adults and their reasoning capacity is divided into four categories where each stage has its own important qualities depending on the level of development (Ahmad & Malik, 2016). Jean Piaget was the author of the theory and a notable scientist and psychologist of the time.
References
Ahmad, S., & Malik, M. (2016). Play and Cognitive Development: Formal Operational Perspective of Piaget's Theory. Journal of Education and Practice , 7 (28), 72-79.
Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2018). Human development: A life-span view . Cengage Learning.
Lefrancois, G. R. (2019). Theories of human learning . Cambridge University Press.
