The understanding of a child’s development is essential and allows an appreciation of changes in emotions, cognitive, physical, and social growth in children. As a child develops from early childhood to teenage, adolescence and early adulthood, many changes occur in behavior, physical, social and emotional aspect (Ausubel, 2002). Some of these changes may influence the future of the child, develop new trends in lifestyle and behavior, and even impact on the level of performance. Adolescence for instance, is associated to cognitive and physical changes in a child that influence whom the child relates with, decision making abilities, and emotions. Some changes, however, may be genetically inherited. For instance, some adolescents take after their parents talents such as music, while others may become politicians, farmers etc.
In most cases, development in early childhood plays a massive role in development of behavior in adolescence (Berk, 2012). Schools, peers and family in this case play a crucial role in molding behavior, which determines ones future. In schools for instance, children are taught the rewards of proper behavior, and the consequences of immorality. This shapes a child’s behavior and assists the child in making decisions about the future. As a parent, it should be a responsibility to watch over the developmental stages of a child, and influence these changes to regulate the child’s development at an early stage (Bowes, 2009).
Human growth, development, and learning can be explained from the frameworks provided in developmental theories. Most of the developmental theories were developed by psychologists and sociologists who tried to sought to explain human behavior at different stages. However, the psychological, physical and cognitive aspects of developmental theories have been criticized based on their assumptions. The theories assume that human development is systematic, and the principles that govern physical and psychological changes can be investigated scientifically (Munck and O'Hearn, 1999). Most developmental theories tend to focus on the psychological development aspect of a virtual child in explaining the physical, social, cognitive, and emotional changes observable in a child’s development. Some of the developmental theorists focused on the physical domain, others on cognitive functioning while others concentrated on the physical domain. Although their interests were diverse, all their work was based on the fundamental principles underlying child’s development (Gavazzi, 2011). Some of the developmental theories explaining a virtual child’s development are as discussed below:
Sigmund Freud theory of psychosexual development.
Freud stresses on the importance of childhood experiences and events, but almost focused on mental disorders rather than normal functioning. According to this theorist, child’s development is characterized by psychosexual stages. He outlined the stages of child’s physical development as oral, anal, latency and genital. The idea was that every stage satisfies the libidinal desire of a child, which later plays a role in adult personality. Fred argues that personality is established at the age of five, and human development is characterized by three features; id, ego, and the super ego. Every personality has its demands and failure to meet such demands interferes with the development in the next stage (Shaffer and Kipp, 2010). Freud suggested that if a child does not complete a stage his/her future personality could be affected.
Eric Erickson theory of psychosocial development.
Like Freud, Erickson believed that human development involves a series of stages. Unlike Freud, Erickson describes the social aspect of human development in a human being’s lifespan. He felt that the identity of the ego keeps changing, and this affects the interacting and social element of a child. He believed that the sense of competence in human beings results to behavior and action motivation (Watts, Cockcroft and Duncan, 2009). Erickson believed that child’s development is characterized by conflicts, and development is characterized by overcoming such conflicts. For example, adolescence is characterized by the establishment of a sense of personal identity. The level of success in determining one’s personal identity impacts on the overall functioning or future. For instance, failure to develop ones identity at adolescence may result to role confusion, which may hinder talent development in a child.
Jean Piaget theory of cognitive development.
Piaget’s theory describes the cognitive development of a child as characterized by processes and abilities. He argued that early cognitive development comprises of processes that are based on actions, which later progress into changes in mental operations. The key concepts in this theory are schema, assimilation and accommodation. Schema involves the mental and physical actions involved in a child’s understanding and interpretation. For instance, a child may have a schema about a dog if his/her sole experience is that of small dogs. Such a child may understand that all dogs are small, have four legs, and furry (Talay-Ongan and AP, 2005). If the same child meets a large dog, then the information is modified to the existing schema so that it includes the new information. Assimilation involves modification of schema while accommodation refers to altering existing schemas as a result of new experiences.
Behavioral developmental theories.
Developed form the works of John Watson, Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner, behavioral theories focus on the effects of environment on interaction. They deal with observable behavior, how one reacts to different scenarios, and what stimulates behavior. It differs from other theories of development in that it lacks the internal feeling or thoughts element. Instead, behavioral theory focuses on how experiences shape a child’s behavior (Shaffer, 2009). For instance, given a reward over an excellent performance, a child may develop the urge to work hard while his/her peers may also gain the urge to work hard and reach such a rewarding position. The same applies to punishments; many children will behave accordingly to minimize the risk of being punished.
Other developmental theories include the attachment theory developed by John Bowbly who argued that early relationships in a child determine their social aspect. He argued that caregivers play a significant role in a child’s social life, and in developing relationships. Albert Bandura also proposed that child’s developmental aspect is built from observing from other people. Unlike other behavioral sociologists, Bandura was for the idea that external reinforcements play a significant role in a child’s behavioral development, but they are not the only means that children learn. Instead, there are other intrinsic forces such as pride, accomplishment and satisfaction, which also influence learning (Newman and Newman, 2012).
Conclusion.
The whole concept under developmental theories provides an explanation towards why a child goes through different experiences in developing behavior. The family, peers, cultural background, and schools provide a platform towards behavior development. Parents, for instance, play a crucial role where they can dictate behavior while the kids observe and learn behavior through their conduct. Most children tend to display their behavior at the adolescence stage (Ausubel, 2002). Early adolescence may be marked by learning while later the learnt behavior is displayed into action. While a child may be more cautious about behavior, most adolescents seem to be ignorant about the consequences of behavior (Bjorklund, 2005). Social, cognitive, emotional and physical developmental theories argue that the experiences in early childhood determine future trends in behavior. If behavior is not monitored at early childhood, the consequences may generate at adolescence where the children are more or less uncontrollable.
TOTAL WORD COUNT- 1139.
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