Explain How Theories Of Development Influence Current Practice

Perhaps the most influential explanation of attachment was presented by John Bowlby who began developing his ideas in the 1940s. Bowlby was commissioned by the World Health Organisation to investigate whether young children were likely to be harmed if they are separated from their mothers in the early years. (Hayes, 1996). Bowlby (1951) reported that infants possesses an innate need to attach to one main attachment figure (this was usually the mother). According to Hayes (1996), this is a special relationship which is qualitatively different from the relationship they form with any other kind of person. He described this as the process of monotropy; however, Bowlby did not deny that babies formed lots of attachments. (Bailey et al. 2008).

Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory describes the way that people collect and categorise information to make sense of their surroundings (Woolfolk & Margetts 2013, p. 81). Piaget’s theory is known as constructivist as it is based on the idea that people are active in their own learning (Institute for Inquiry 2017). The theory is based around the idea that a thinking process change and develop from birth to adulthood. According to Piaget, there were four influences involved in the changes that thinking undertakes. These influences included biological maturation, activity, social experiences and equilibration (Kamii 1985, p. 574). He also identified four stages in which people cognitively developed: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete

Bowlby’s attachment theory has greatly influenced practice. His theory of attachment explains the importance of having a figure that the child shares a strong bond with. Having an attachment can significantly support a child’s development as Barbara Woods suggests that “his theory of attachment proposed that attachment is innate in both infants and mothers, and that the formation of this attachment is crucial for the infants development” Wood, B (2001, p.53). Bowlby believed that forming an attachment will help a child develop in all areas e.g. emotionally, physical and mentally. However if they did not form an attachment in the sensitive period, the child may have issues or problems in their cognitive, emotional and social development.

Piaget studied the thinking and logic of children and he believed that children had different logic to adults. Piaget started his theory by observing and studying his own children and concluded that children learn and build their ideas on what they see and experience, not by what they are taught. The more the children see and gain in experience the more their schemas would change and develop as they add new information.

Piaget developed the theory of stage development; he had based his theories on his children by carrying out detailed observations where he came up with four stages in each process. But he believed a child had to be at a certain age to learn something or they simply couldn’t learn it or know it. I believe he underestimated children’s abilities and knowledge. The first stage was called sensorimotor stage- in this stage children learnt through using their 5 senses, touch, taste, smell, seeing and hearing. He believe they understood that the

The best-known neo-Freudian was Erik Erikson. He formulated his own theory of personality development. He projected that everyone goes through psychosocial stages rather than psychosexual stages as Freud proposed. Erikson has identified eight stages of psychosocial development that each person goes through during their entire life span. In Erikson's theory, the stages of development process unfold as we go through life. Each of these stages has tasks that have to be mastered in order to build toward a satisfying and healthy developed life. Those who do not master the task will have a hard time dealing with crises.

Another principle of the attachment theory is the need to develop social, cognitive and emotional skills. To relate this to the attachment theory, the child would of had a primary caregiver who reinforced social, cognitive and emotional development, if a child was not being stimulated accordingly bowlby 's theory of maternal deprivation this would result in long term cognitive, social, and emotional difficulties. This is supported by

It believes that children are organism’s (Piaget referred to them specifically as “little scientists”) that grow at the same speed and are continually developing, therefore, are only able to learn as they are physically, mentally and biologically able, building up the amount of information their body and mind can process as they get older.

Piaget’s cognitive development theory states that a child’s knowledge comes from his or her experiences as they explore their world (Berk, 2007).

Erik Erikson, in seeking to understand and describe human development, developed a theory in the early 1900s. His theory progressed to assume that humans must deal with or cope with the conflicts of a certain stage of life before they can move on to a higher level of development (Ashford et al, 2013). He organized eight different stages of psychosocial development from infancy to old age. Each of the eight stages represents an internal conflict that will greatly define who and individual becomes and the choices they will make later in life based on their experiences within each stage.

Jean Piaget view children as little scientist and believed that they are actively exploring their world as they try to make sense of things that are happing around them. Piaget observed the motor still and language of children as they developed. With that being said, Piaget thinks that children progress from four distinct cognitive stages. Such stages he referred to as the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage and formal operational stage. He believed that each stage was a fundamental stage in how children think and

Bowlby is considered to be the Father of Attachment Theory. He believed infants have a biological predisposition to form attachments with others because they depend on others to fulfill their needs for survival. He also believed attachment instinct could be activated by various threats, such as fear and separatism. This instinct is activated because primary caregivers allow infants to develop a sense of security and secure base for the infants to explore the world. The attachment theory developed when Bowlby sought better understanding of attachment through other fields such as evolutionary biology, ethology, developmental psychology, and cognitive science.

A valid statement that is underpinned by most theorists who believe that cognitive understanding relates to developmental stages in age and maturity. Piaget believed that learning was supported by action. That thought is developed by experiencing and active experimenting.

Years on, many researches and observations have been undertaken and new psychoanalytical theories started to reject Freud's and Erikson's staged view on child development and replaced it by introducing child emotional development in the context of development of self and attachment with significant others.

Freud and Erikson both held a belief that human development was influenced by unconscious thought. These theorists and other psychoanalysts believe that behavior is solely the surface characteristic. To truly understand, you must dig much deeper into a person’s mind. It is also believed that the early experiences of development with parents shape development (Santrock 2014). Both theorized that human development involved distinct stages or discontinuity. Erikson studied human development many years after Freud’s