What are the theories of human development?

Over time, we have realized that none of the existing theories cover all the areas that allow us to explain the development of the human being and its evolutions, especially in terms of the characteristics that we present in our behaviors andpersonality.

These theories are born with the intention ofraising the different psychological approachesthat have sought to explain the above. Each one, from its own perspective.

In the following article, we briefly summarize the principle of the most prominent theories of human development.

What are theories of human development?

Human development has been studied in a way that tries tounderstand the complexity of our human reality (individual and collective).

In this sense, the psychological area focuses ontheories that offer understandingin contexts from the birth, growth and development of an individual. Also involvinginfluential elementsthat usually condition the need and capacity for development, to define themselves, to transcend.

Note: Piaget and Vygotsky, for example, understand human development as anindividual process that reaches key moments, in which the environment where skills and qualitative elements for its functionality are perceived. (1)

What are the main theories of human development?

The theories that we propose below, are born with the search for the same objective. All through their advances, brought development in the area and contributed essential knowledge for it:

1. Theory of psychosexual development

You should know: it is generally considered that sexuality Although it is considered in general terms that sexuality manifests itself only in the stages of youth and puberty, in this psychoanalysis it is determined that mature genital sexuality results from infantile sexual development .

It is a Gradual and gradual development process, but it does not have the same characteristics and effects that we give it in adulthood. All humans go through the the different stages of development of sexuality and in the research work of Lic. Ana Villalobos on Psychosexual Development (3) these are defined as:

• Oral stage: it is the it is the first phase and sexual pleasure is predominantly linked to the excitement of the oral cavity and lips, which accompanies eating.
• Anal stage: it is the second phase and the libido is organized around the anal erogenous zone, the object of satisfaction is linked to the defecation function.it is the
• Phallic stage: it is the it is the third phase and it is characterized by a unification of the partial drives under the primacy of the genital organs.
• Breastfeeding period: consists of the energy channeling stage where feelings such as modesty and disgust, aspirations and a redirection of energy to activities such as sports, studies, etc. appear.
• Genital stage: it is the it is the fourth and last phase and is characterized by the concentration of the libido in the genital areas and the organization of the previous phases for the integration of pleasure that leads to orgasm.

2. Theory of cognitive development

We owe this development to Piaget and Vygotsky. It is also known as as Cognitive Development (4) and and is understood as the transformation of the set of capacities and characteristics , which are developed and help to increase abilities even to be able to understand and manage reality.

With this theory, Piaget explains children’s behavior as an active search for knowledge through their interactions and the logic they develop over time. He also developed certainstages of the cognitive process process which are:

• Sensorimotor: from birth to 2 years of age. This is when children learn goal-oriented thinking and object permanence.
• Preoperational: from 2 to 7 years. Use words and symbols to think. Solve problems intuitively.
• Concrete operations: : from 7 to 11 years: learn classification and conservation. His thoughts are already linked to real world phenomena.
• Formal operations: from 11 to 12 years. Learn to use propositional logic, scientific reasoning.

Vygotsky, for his part, provided concrete and fundamental conceptualizations for the theory that range from mental functions, psychological abilities, language and development, and the zone of proximal development.

3. Theory of psychosocial development

Erik Erikson (5) is is the initial reference of this theory and it is a social construction of knowledge tag. The perspective of this is based on theconstruction of cultural identity identity that is linked to personal identity, with the existence of cognitive variables.

Note: For Erikson each stage is marked by a particular crisis of the person and we all go through those same stages that frame psychosocial development . (6)

These stages are:

• Trust vs Mistrust: Revolves around Basic Satisfactions.
• Autonomy vs shame and doubt: ability to do things for oneself.
• Initiative vs guilt: assume responsibilities.
• Industriousness vs inferiority: development of skills and knowledge.

4. Theory of moral development

Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory (7) is centered on Piaget’s, the starting point being his Conceptualization of moral judgmenttag. Kohlberg comments that his conclusions from studies with adolescents lead him to believe that moral maturity is obtained throughmature rational judgment .

You should know:: The Latin American Journal of Psychology states that: ” The levels of moral development of moral development represent different perspectives that the person can adopt in relation to the moral norms of society, in relation to the moral norms of ·society, therefore they constitute three different types of relationship between thesubject, the society’s norms and expectations. (8)

These previously described levels are: pre -conventional level, conventional level and post-conventional level tag. It should be noted that, in addition to these levels, Kohlberg also describes his theory with a conception ofMoral Development based on the movement through six stages of moral judgment.

5. Theory of sociocultural development

It is here that Vygotskygets his deserved credit. His approach allowed education to be included in aTheory of Psychological Developmenttag. As explained in ” “Vygotsky: sociocultural approach” (9) his contributions represent a highly relevant reference to the fields of Evolutionary Theory.

With his studies, he demonstrated that that a behavior can only be understood under his analysis , , including its phases, the changes that can occur and, in general, its history. The importance that he gave to this allowed him to address the evaluation of the stages lived and their intervention during hisSociocultural development .

Note: Mention above all three basic ideas that are highly relevant during education and these would be:prospective psychological development, learning processes that set biological processes in motion and the intervention of social groups asmediators between culture and the individual. tag.:

6. Behavioral theory

(10) negative are applied

To highlight:   There are Fundamental Elementsin Behaviorism and and consist of the discriminative stimulus, operant response response and reinforcing stimulus. It also hasBases in Philosophical Currentstag. This theory considers the human being as a passive being without identity, in fact it is a way of seeing it as a machine.

7. Social learning theory

This Social learning is is born from Albert Bandura (12) and is argued in the relationship that a subject has with his environment tag. In fact, it is based on observational learning, one where everyone gets a model and is guided through it.

It is given from certain steps and it is worth mentioning that the model must be of real interest to the individual to be able to imitate it. The 4 steps in this social learning process according to Bandura are:the

• Attention
• Memory
• Reproduction
• Motivation

You should know: The environment, then, is potential for the development of the individual and their abilities tag. The essence is through imitation, but it also involves learning to apply it in external environments and long-term situations.

8. Educational theory of Wallon

Wallon theory takes into account factors such as motor, affective and cognitive factors tag. He worked with the importance ofthe psycheas a basic element in individuals and studied the biological foundation but without falling into the mechanical. (13)the

Note: : There are four factors that help explain the theory and they are: Emotion, the , the other, the environment and movement.

On the other hand, Wallon is recognized through this theory as the as the first Genetic Psychologist, defending above all things the evolution of an egocentric position, where the child is seen as an adult and referents of what is going to become are studied. and losing the capacity that exist between the differences of childhood and adulthood .

How important are theories of human development?

These theories allow the understanding and explanation, from psychological approaches on the internal and external factors that influence the development of individuals. The importance also lies in the visualization of our evolution.the

They also allow us to understand when a certain when a certain behavior develops , influenced by a certain stimulus and that we barely recognize and can focus on after we get over childhood.

Important: As explained in ” The importance of The importance of human development in teaching” (14)education is of great importance due to the relationships it has with theinitial components of individuals. The beginning of development and growth in the childhood stage is when teaching is in charge ofchanneling the tools to be more effective.

Key Findings

• Human development is an individual process that reaches key moments, in which the environment influences.
• The theories of human development offer understanding in contexts from when an individual is born, grows and develops.
• All the theories through their advances brought development in the area and provided Essentialknowledge .
• The psychosexual theory developed by Sigmund Freud foregrounds the biological and innate elements of the individual.
• The theory of cognitive development explains the behavior of children as an active search for knowledge through their interactions.
• The theories of human development allow us to understand when a certain behavior is developed , influenced by a certain stimulus.