Chapter Introduction

Theories of Development

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  • What Theories Do
    • Questions and Answers
    • Facts and Norms
  • Grand Theories
    • Psychoanalytic Theory: Freud and Erikson
    • Behaviorism: Conditioning and Social Learning
    • Cognitive Theory: Piaget and Information Processing
    • Comparing Grand Theories
    • OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES: Toilet Training—How and When?
  • Newer Theories
    • Sociocultural Theory: Vygotsky and Beyond
    • The Universal Perspective: Humanism and Evolutionary Theory
    • A VIEW FROM SCIENCE: If Your Mate Were Unfaithful
  • What Theories Contribute
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WHAT WILL YOU KNOW?

  1. How does a theory differ from a fact?

    Theories explain facts. Facts are known and observable, whereas theories are concepts and ideas that attempt to organize facts to help them make sense. Theories raise questions or suggest hypotheses, and they lead researchers to gather facts, which may suggest conclusions. Conclusions may verify or refute a theory.

  2. Does development occur in stages, or more gradually, day by day?

    It depends on which grand theory one adopts. Freud, Erikson, and Piaget said that development occurs in stages, whereas behaviorists (learning theorists) and information processing theorists argue that development occurs gradually.

  3. What limitations do Freud, Erikson, Watson, Skinner, and Piaget share?

    They were all men from Western Europe or North America and were born at least 100 years ago. Their backgrounds make their perspectives limited. Of course, all theorists’ perspectives are limited by their backgrounds, but the fact that all grand theorists share a similar background makes the group of theories less generalizable.

  4. Why is it better to use several theories to understand human development rather than just one?

    It is beneficial to be eclectic because each theory has shortcomings, and another theory might be able to fill in the gaps. Taking an eclectic approach produces a more well-rounded view of development.

When I was little, on special occasions we drove to my grandparents’ farm, the childhood home of my father and his three brothers and one sister, all married with children. When we arrived, my brother and I played with our 12 cousins, including three other girls my age. I remember turkey, mashed potatoes, and lemon meringue pie on a big table; horses and hay in the barn; grandma in an apron; grandpa resting his big hands over a huge coffee mug; enormous wooden rocking chairs in the sitting room. But my strongest single memory is a bitter one: One Christmas, Grandma gave her three other young granddaughters and me similar dolls, precursors of Barbie. Mine had a peach-colored gown; my cousin’s (the only daughter of Grandma’s only daughter) had a white bride’s dress and veil.

Why did I feel rejected? In hindsight, I can think of several laudable reasons for Grandma’s choice. But when I was 6, my observations of my relatives led to childish conclusions about presents and brides and then to resentment. It is not surprising that I formed a simple theory: that Grandma loved my cousin more than me.

We all construct theories, sometimes called “folk theories” to indicate that they are not scientific, or “ethnotheories” when they arise from a specific culture or ethnic group. [Lifespan Link: Ethnotheories are discussed in Chapter 7.]

This chapter outlines five theories of human development, or actually ten, since each theory has at least two versions. Many more theories refer to the human life span; some are explained later. Before beginning, however, you should know that theorizing is part of human nature. In fact, according to “theory theory,” young children spontaneously develop theories to explain whatever they observe, because that is what humans do (Gopnik & Shulz, 2007). My theory led me to conclude that Grandma loved my cousin most of all.