Assignment: Structural Organismic Theories

Assignment: Structural Organismic Theories

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Assignment: Discussion on Structural Organismic Theories

Structural Organismic theories view the human organism as progressing through universal, structured stages of development (Parke & Gauvain, 2009). Sigmund Freud focused on how personality and emotions are formed in early childhood. In psychoanalytic and psychodynamic theory, the id, ego andsuperego  are interrelated facets of the personality that play different roles throughout the child’s development.

Infants are controlled by the instinctual drives of the id. As the infant develops, the ego takes greater control, whereby the child becomes rational, understands reality and uses socially acceptable behaviors to satisfy their needs. Finally, when the child develops a conscience by internalizing social or parental values, the superego takes control.

Early experiences, specifically in the first six years, impact the way in which the id, ego and superego develop and interact. This forms the child’s personality. For example, early unsatisfied needs and the nature of attachment to caregivers will impact later behaviors.

In contrast to Freud, Jean Piaget focused on the biological process of intellectual development. Piaget’s theory is based on two biological principles: organization, which describes cognitive development as a biologically organized process, and adaptation, which describes the process of development as the child adapts to their environment.

In Piaget’s theory, the intellectual process of understanding the world comprises four stages in which cognition progresses from immediate, sensory experiences to abstract, complex problem solving and understanding of the world. More specifically, infants use motor and sensory facilities, preschoolers use mental structures and symbols such as language and pictures, school-goers increasingly use logic, and adolescents can engage in abstract thinking.

Knowledge Check

1

Question 1

Please select the correct statement about development theories.

Ethological   theory and psychoanalytic theory have nothing in common.

In   operant conditioning, desirable behavior is reinforced by a positive   response to the behavior.

Dynamic   systems and contextual approaches only look at the environment but not the   individual.

Structural   Organismic perspectives focus on the biological aspects of development.