THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Theories of Human Development and the Factors that Influence Development



Theories of Human Development and the Factors that Influence Development

Introduction

There are many theories of development that have evolved over the past century in the Western world, that explain the development of human personality, their behaviour and how the environmental factors influence the human beings and how these conditions and factors are interrelated. Some of the development theories are based on physical and emotional conditions in the earliest years of life. Some theories explain the impact of family, community, and culture on behaviour. Some theories suggest about learning and thought processes; some theories argue on completion of specific tasks at specific stage of life and some theories explain the human personality and behaviors. Below we would discuss the main developmental theories such as epigenetic, psychoanalytic, behaviorist, classical conditioning, social learning, cognitive theory, humanism, etc.

Discussion

Psychoanalytic Theory of Freud

Freud psychoanalytic theory revolves around Id, Ego, and Superego. He refers these terms to different components of the human psychology. He called one part of mind as rational mind or ego, which is under control. He believed that the human action is often the product of another, darker side of the self, which he referred as Id. He stated that the egocentric pleasure-seeking part of us, the Ego must struggle to keep other factors under control. The Ego relies on an internalised set of cultural rules (the Superego) for guidance. He stated that the Ego fights a losing battle, as it is caught between the primitive Id and Superego. When the Ego losses its control, it expresses out in the form of hysteria or other severe mental disorders. When the Superego gets control and it suppresses the Id, it produces an unemotional and depressed individual, who do what others demand. He believed that human beings always want to minimize pain and maximize please, according to him, human beings act according to their selfish desires. He also produced the basic concept of defence in human psychology (Baran & Davis, 2011, pp. 81).

Environmental and Epigenetic Theory

Erikson argued that there are eight stages of human development. First stage was oral-sensory stage, which was associated with basic trust and mistrust. Second was the muscular-anal stage associated with autonomy and shame. Third was locomotor stage associated with initiative and guilt and the fourth was latency stage associated with industry and inferiority .These two theories differ on the role they relate to genes. In the epigenetic theory, human individuals have a direct propensity to acquire some cultural traits rather than others as part of their developmental pathways. These traits impact directly or indirectly by natural selection and evolution processes. Epigenetic theory states that natural selection operates on genetic variation and explains behaviour differences between cultures. (Holcomb,1993, pp. 141)

Behaviourist Theory of Watson

Behaviourism is the word first used by Watson. He studied the people's behaviour and actions, rather than mental activity. He stated that the past experiences determine the future actions of a ...