Freud, Erikson and Bronfenbrenner Developmental Theories Assignment Sample

• Subject Name : Psychology

Table of Contents

Question 1.

Question 2.

Question 3.

Question 4.

Reference List

Psychology - Question 1

The three mentioned developmental theories proposed by Freud, Erikson and Bronfenbrenner depicts different aspects or factors that impact upon a child during the developmental age. Both the theorists Freud and Erikson provided importance upon early life experiences though Freud mostly focused on the how a child isinternally influenced by any kind of stimulus in the environment (Steele, 2017). As per the concept of Erikson, more focus is needed to be given upon the environmental and social factors (Christensen, 2016). However, it has been observed that these theorists along with Bronfenbrenner have demonstrated the interrelationship between the external world of a child and internal mechanism to act upon each other’s; in more simpler term, this theorist has depicted that there are direct and indirect influences that shape the personality of a child (Stoll, 2017). For instance, it can be stated that the age between births to one year is the time when a child is likely to develop a sense of trust or mistrust their care giver as proposed by Erikson. However, Freud depicted that in this stage primary pleasure is obtained through sucking and biting and the issue that can develop in this stage is oral fixation. On the other hand, Bronfenbrenner depicts that it is the immediate external environment or Microsystems consisting parents, peers and near relatives affect a child directly. The relationships developed in this system are highly impactful upon the future development of the child.

Therefore, combining these three theories can develop a contemporary theory that will be more appropriate to the contemporary context of development of a child. It can be stated that Freud depicted that early life experiences are responsible developing the personality of a child. However, Mayo (2018) mentioned that in the psychosexual theory the main focus is given on the internal mechanism of a child and it is highly important how child will react to a particular incident. Therefore, it can be stated that the life span development theory will include the importance of a child’s uniqueness of response as it differs from child to child as basic needs and biological forces of two children are never the same. On the other hand, the theory of Erikson suggests that there are predetermined stages of development through which the personality of a child is developed. However, as per this theory the most focus is needed to be environmental factors and social aspects that highly impacts upon the development of the perception, thoughts and other components of personality. On the other hand, direct influencers such as parents, peers, teachers and relatives are to be observed to have huge impact upon the personality of individuals. Therefore, the combined theory assimilating the basic concepts regarding the three theories mentioned above, it can be stated that it is required to focus on the indirect and direct external influencers and their role in impacting upon the internal mechanisms of a child. These external influences may combine with the internal needs and instincts and may actually develop a unique personality.

Psychology - Question 2

As per the theory of Piaget, child’s inbuilt tendency is responsible for its cognitive development as the child is always thriving for adapting to new experiences though Vygotsky has depicted that the development is driven by the social interaction of the child (Sharkins et al. 2017). It has also been depicted by Piaget that children learn through self-discovery whereas; Vygotsky suggested that the learning of children depends on instruction and guidance. The cultural differences and time differences are ignored by Piaget as accepted by Vygotsky. The mental readiness of a child is provided importance highly by Piaget, whereas; Vygotsky has focused on the scaffolding of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) in accelerating a child’s learning. While language is considered as a way to cognitive development by Vygotsky, it is considered as a result of cognitive development by Piaget.

Therefore, incorporating the ideas from these theories and their differences may be combined into some strategies with justification. These strategies are as mentioned below:

• Both the social interaction and inbuilt tendency of a child to adapt to new experiences has been provided importance by the two theorists for cognitive development. Therefore, children in kindergarten and primary schools may be provided with interactive materials through which they can communicate to other children and through solving practical problems given to them will accelerate their learning (Quinn, Donnelly & Kidd, 2018).
• As compared to Vygotsky, Piaget accepted the role of self-discovery in cognitive development. Therefore children may be provide with learning materials such as technology based learning that will help in self-discovery can be fruitful for the children going to kindergarten.
• It is evident and suggested by Vygotsky that the cultural and time differences are important. Therefore, it is required to design the learning materials in a way that addresses the need of both the diverse and non-diverse child. However, considering the universal nature of cognitive development requires the materials to be appropriate to the age and capacity of the children to learn new things at a specific age.
• The mental readiness of a child and the role of teacher in correct scaffolding of the ability and skills the child may have it important to consider in learning of the children of kindergarten and primary school. Therefore, children are to be prepared by the teachers for every upcoming learning material that would be learned (London, 2020). On the other hand, scheduling and maintaining the gap between the understanding of the new materials and the delivering the required outcome is also very important to be considered by the teachers of kindergarten school.
• As language development has been considered as an indicator of cognitive development, it can be stated that it will be effective for the teachers to monitor the learning status of the children through the language development. However, tactful use of the language may also help the teachers to develop vocabulary of the children.

Therefore, it can be stated that two cognitive developmental theory suggested by Piaget and Vygotsky can be combined applied in learning programs of the kindergarten children.

Psychology - Question 3

The four parenting styles suggested by Baumrind are Authoritarian, Permissive, Uninvolved and Authoritative parenting style.

Authoritarian

Parents that follow this kind of parenting style can be considered as disciplinarians. These parents use a discipline style that is strict in nature and there is a little chance of negotiation. In order to shape the behavior of the children, punishment is given (Liu et al. 2018). Communication flows from only parents to the child and parents can be considered as less nurturing and highly expecting.

Permissive

The permissive parenting offers limited guidance and control over the children’s direction. The children of permissive parents are allowed to figure out and dealing of problems on their own. Communication style that is present between permissive parents and their children is mostly open and children are allowed to make decisions. Naturally, permissive parents are more warm and nurturing in nature. There is some typical expectation or no expectation yet from the parents towards their children.

Uninvolved

As compared to permissive and authoritarian parents, uninvolved parents are mostly detached and unsure about their parenting responsibilities. Here, there is no limit or particular disciplines that are required to be followed by the children (Echedom, Nwankwo & Nwankwo, 2018). This is mainly characterized by lack of information and caring of the child. Communication is not open and limited and parents do not offer nurturing. Parents do not impose any expectation upon their child.

Authoritative

These parents can be considered as reasonable and nurturing. However, these parents have clear and high expectations from their children. Children are mostly observed to be benefitted by this style of parenting. The expectations and the reasons behind those expectations are clearly conveyed by the parents to their children. The children are always connected with their parents through effective and frequent communication and understanding the level of understanding of the children. These parents can be considered as nurturing in nature.

Parenting styles may differ from culture to culture. A per the views of Van Herwijnen et al. (2018), cultural norms are responsible for shaping a child’s development. Cultural norms influence the beliefs and values of the parents due to which their expectations toward their children differ. On the other hand, some cultural consider a particular type of behavior as appropriate, whereas; that particular type of behavior may be accepted in other cultures. As mentioned by Echedom & Nwankwo (2017), the presence or absence of the father in the family highly impacts upon the child outcomes. It has been observed that active non-resident fathering evidently impacted in positive manner upon the child outcomes. On the other hand, when the nonresident fathers adopt authoritative parenting style the outcomes become more effective. Children of divorced parents may experience different difficulties that may shape their personalities in different manner. Resilience to particular incidents may become high. However, it has also been observed that the responsibilities regarding social capital, financial resources are more effective ion care of joint parenting context that is not equally implemented in the non-resident forms of the family.

Psychology - Question 4

Adolescence and middle adulthood are considered to be two significant life stages by Erikson. The crisis of adolescence is addressed as the crisis of Identity vs. Role confusion. On the other hand, the crisis of middle adulthood has been depicted as Generativity and Stagnation. In the adolescence stage, the individual starts to develop a sense of self and personal identity. However, in middle adulthood, individuals already have generated the personal identity and sense of self is already there.

Adolescence is the stage where it is time for them to be adult to explore different roles, attitudes and identities. However, an individual in his or her middle adulthood are less likely to explore different role as there is already develop interrelationships in the society of the individual. As per the views of Syed & McLean (2017), individuals that are supported and encouraged in this stage are likely to develop a strong sense of self that is known who they actually are and what is their goal. On the other hand, people with already established sense of self are likely to contribute to the society and new generation by teaching and guiding others. However, a lack of strong sense of self may lead to mid life crisis. As argued by Jhangiani (2017), the crisis coincides with the generativity of the individuals and they may feel pressurized as they are expected to contribute to the well development of the generations to come. Failure to achieve the committed aspiration may also contribute to the midlife crisis.

Therefore stagnation depicts the inability to move towards the psychological growth or movement. However, Wojciechowska (2017) mentioned that after several encouragement and support adolescents may not develop their true sense of self and may still lack the sense of self that creates a situation of confusion. The confusion is about what the identity is and what to accomplish in life. In comparison to that, the role of a middle aged person is to contribute to the family as well as to the community. However, Newton, Stewart & Vandewater (2019) argued that the lack of ability to contribute to home leads them in lower investment in the growth of themselves and others. As per some psychologists mid-life crisis results from imminent response to menopause and reduced reproductive ability of their spouses. Therefore, it can be stated that while the adolescents are continuously searching for their own identity and goal in life, middle age is the stage of individuation.

The self-awareness in this stage is high and the actions and behaviors demonstrated are based on their sense of self. This potentially positively contributes to the society and increase the effectiveness of living. On the other hand, self-actualization is the virtue of this stage which cannot be easily achieved by the adolescents as they could not develop a sense of self leading to emerging confusions and reduced stability of the behavioral and perceptual norms.

Reference List for Psychology

Christensen, J. (2016). A critical reflection of Bronfenbrenner s development ecology model. Problems of Education in the 21st Century;, 69. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: https://www.uav.ro/jour/index.php/jpe/article/download/682/748

Echedom, A. U., & Nwankwo, T. V. (2017). RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN READING ATTITUDES AND PERCEIVED PARENTING STYLES OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA. Library Research Journal, 2(1), 66-83. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: https://journals.unizik.edu.ng/index.php/lrj/article/download/16/16

Echedom, A. U., Nwankwo, T. V., & Nwankwo, E. U. (2018). Influence of Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, and the Uninvolved Parenting Styles on the Reading Attitudes of Students in Anambra State, Nigeria. Journal of Library and Information Sciences, 6(2), 1-25. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020

Jhangiani, R. (2017). Pragmatism vs. idealism and the identity crisis of OER advocacy. Open Praxis, 9(2), 141-150. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: https://www.learntechlib.org/p/181419/article_181419.pdf

Liu, J., Xiao, B., Coplan, R. J., Chen, X., & Li, D. (2018). Cross-lagged panel analyses of child shyness, maternal and paternal authoritarian parenting, and teacher-child relationships in Mainland China. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(12), 4116-4125. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020

London, A. E. (2020). The Difference Between Homogeneous Grouping and Heterogeneous Grouping in Gifted Students’ Reading Achievement. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3496&context=doctoral

Mayo, J. A. (2018). The Efficacy of Concept Mapping as a Learning Tool in Life-Span Development Classes. Perspectives In Learning, 17(1), 5. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1173&context=pil

Newton, N. J., Stewart, A. J., & Vandewater, E. A. (2019). “Age is opportunity”: Women’s personality trajectories from mid-to later-life. Journal of Research in Personality, 80, 43-54. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, 

Quinn, S., Donnelly, S., & Kidd, E. (2018). The relationship between symbolic play and language acquisition: a meta-analytic review. Developmental Review, 49, 121-135. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_2602612_8/component/file_3001229/content

Sharkins, K., Newton, A., Causey, C., & Ernest, J. M. (2017). Flipping theory: Ways in which children’s experiences in the 21st century classroom can provide insight into the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. Southeast Asia Early Childhood Journal, 6, 11-18. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: http://202.45.132.61/index.php/SAECJ/article/view/995/692

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Stoll, J. D. (2017). From Developmental Categories towards Cultural Trajectories. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: http://gwenstoll.com/file_download/65/J.+Dana+Stoll+%282017%29.+From+Developmental+Categories+towards+Cultural+Trajectories.pf

Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (2017). Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: https://psyarxiv.com/zf35d/download?format=pdf

Van Herwijnen, I.R., Van Der Borg, J.A., Naguib, M. and Beerda, B., 2018. The existence of parenting styles in the owner-dog relationship. PloS one, 13(2). Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?type=printable&id=10.1371/journal.pone.0193471

Wojciechowska, L. (2017). Subjectivity and generativity in midlife. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 48(1), 38-43. Retrieved on: 18 June 2020, from: https://content.sciendo.com/downloadpdf/journals/ppb/48/1/article-p38.xml

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