Developmental psychology

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- Preface
- Theoretical problems of development psychology
  - 1.1 The subject, objectives and methods of psychology
  - 1.2 Conception of age and psychological development stages
- The problem of the periodization of mental development in developmental psychology
  - 2 The problem of the periodization of mental development in developmental psychology
  - 2.1 Biogenetic concepts in foreign developmental psychology
  - 2.2 The theory of Jean Piaget’s mental development
  - 2.3.Epigenetic principle of development by E.Erikson
  - 2.4 Cultural-historical concept of mental development by Vygotsky
- Psychological aspects of ontogenetic development period
  - 3.1.Newborn crisis
  - 3.2 Infancy (2-12 months)
  - 3.3 Toddlerhood (1-3 year)
  - 3.4 Preschool age (3- 6-7 year)
  - 3.5 Early school age (7—10,11 years)
  - 3.6 Adolescence (10-11 — 15-16 years)
  - 3.7 Youth (17-18 – 26 years)
  - 3.8 Aduldhood
  - 3.9 Late aduldhood
- Practice
  - 1.1 The subject, objectives and methods of psychology
  - 2 The problem of the periodization of mental development in developmental psychology
  - 2.4 Cultural-historical concept of mental development by Vygotsky
  - 3.4 Preschool age (3- 6-7 year)
  - 3.6 Adolescence (10-11 — 15-16 years)

- Алғы сөз
- Даму психологиясының теориялық мәселелері
  - 1.1 Психологияның пәні, міндеттері мен әдістері
  - 1.2 Жастың психологиялық тұжырымдамасы және психикалық дамудың кезеңділігі туралы мәселе
- Даму психологиядағы психикалық дамудың кезеңділігі туралы мәселе
  - 2 Даму психологиядағы психикалық дамудың кезеңділігі туралы мәселе
  - 2.1 Шетелдік және отандық психологиядағы қозғаушы күштердің, ақыл-ой дамуының көздері мен жағдайлары туралы пікірлер
  - 2.2 Ж.Пиаженің психикалық даму теориясы
  - 2.3.3Э. Эриксонның жеке тұлғаны дамытудың эпигенетикалық теориясы
  - 2.4 Л.С. Выготскийдің психикалық дамуының мәдени-тарихи тұжырымдамасы
- Онтогенетикалық даму кезеңдерінің психологиялық сипаттамалары
  - 3.1.Сәби дағдарысы
  - 3.2 Нәресте (2-12 ай)
  - 3.3 Ерте жастағы (1-3 жас)
  - 3.4 Мектепке дейінгі жас (3- 6-7 жас)
  - 3.5 Кіші мектептік жас (7-10,11 жас)
  - 3.6 Жасөспірім жас (10,11-15,16 жас)
  - 3.7 Жастық жас (17,18 – 26 жас)
  - 3.8 Кемел жас
  - 3.9 Кәрілік
- Практика
  - 1.1 Психологияның пәні, міндеттері мен әдістері
  - 2 Даму психологиядағы психикалық дамудың кезеңділігі туралы мәселе
  - 2.4 Л.С. Выготскийдің психикалық дамуының мәдени-тарихи тұжырымдамасы
  - 3.4 Мектепке дейінгі жас (3- 6-7 жас)
  - 3.6 Жасөспірім жас (10,11-15,16 жас)

2.3Epigenetic principle of development by E.Erikson

Erikson extended Freud’s work by describing stages of development to include all of the human lifespan, from infancy through old age. Freud had little to say about stages beyond his genital stage (adolescence), although Erikson quotes him as stating that the important tasks of adulthood are “to love and to work”. By contrast, Erikson’s stages of young adulthood, and the middle and later years, are well developed and offer many insights into the kinds of tasks presented to each of us by life itself as people mature and grow older. As with many other psychologists whose work is based in the psychoanalytic tradition following Freud, Erikson can be called an ego psychologist because he thought of the ego as something more than a check on the demands of the id and a moderator between id and superego. Rather, the ego has a life of its own. Although partly conscious and partly unconscious, the ego more clearly represents the total personality than does the id. Also, along with other ego psychologists, Erikson stressed the importance of social interactions in development, as opposed to Freud’s emphasis on development as a psychosexual process. The role of sex was indeed downplayed by Erikson, as it was by most post- or neo-Freudians in the psychodynamic tradition (including Jung, Adler, Horney, and Sullivan). Although he did not overtly deny psychosexual phenomena such as oral fixation and Oedipus complex, Erikson not only downplayed the role of sex but also even the unconscious mind, focusing more on interpersonal, social, and cultural influences.

Erikson saw that each stage of development presents its own unique challenges, which he called crises. Erikson believed that these crises of the ego presented challenges to one’s individual identity. Successful development of the personality (or psychosocial development) depends on meeting and overcoming these tasks or crises.

For each stage, Erikson specified a basic strength that arises from successful resolution of the identity crisis that the developing person faced at that stage. For Erikson, psychological growth is indeed growth of the ego. The opposite of a basic strength is called core pathology. For example, in Erikson’s first stage (the period that Freud called the oral stage) hope is the basic strength, withdrawal the core pathology. It can be argued Crane (2005) that Erikson’s theory qualifies as a stage theory in the same way that Piaget’s or Kohlberg’s theories do because once again the stages refer to qualitatively different behavior patterns; they concern general issues; they unfold in an invariant sequence; and they are thought to be culturally universal. This may work as a generality, but one must also consider that life’s difficulties, such as divorce or loss of a job or loved one, can set a person back (regression).

First Stage: Basic Trust versus Basic Mistrust (Psychosexual Mode is Oral, Respiratory, Sensory, Kinesthetic) The crisis the child faces at the first stage concerns basic trust versus basic mistrust. The basic strength of the first stage is hope, or the expectation that difficulties in life, presenting whatever challenges they may, will eventually result in a positive outcome. This sense of hope is, in turn, needed to meet the challenges presented at later stages of development. The antithesis of hope is a lack of hope and withdrawal. The crucial social interactions are with the mother or mother surrogate. What must be emphasized is that, through these interactions, the child learns both trust and mistrust, but in the right proportion: a healthy sense of mistrust is also necessary for successful dealings with others in social relations. As with Freud, Erikson recognized that problems will develop not only if the infant’s basic needs are neglected, but also if it is overindulged. With Erikson, however, the child’s needs are not merely oral, and are not primarily sexual. In addition to experiencing pleasure from breast or bottle, the child needs physical contact and consistency in attention. The child’s sense of trust grows along with the development of the ego: it senses that its needs will be met in an orderly fashion while also learning the importance of delay of gratification. An important example of ego development and trust building is when the child learns to accept its mother’s absence without undo anxiety. Later theorists, picking up on Freud and Erikson, stressed the importance of successful attachment bonding between mother and child. The child must not only learn to trust in its mother but also to trust in itself. This comes with learning of self-regulation, as when the child acclimatizes to teething and learns to suckle at the breast more gently. Erikson believed that the mother or mother figure plays an important part in the child’s development of trust, not only by meeting the child’s basic comfort and nurturance needs, but by having confidence in herself. He believed that an anxious mother transmitted this anxiety to the child, which he saw as unhealthy: a mother’s tension causes a corresponding state of tension in her baby, resulting in a feeling of insecurity and lack of trust.

Second Stage: Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt (Pyschosexual Mode is Anal, Urethral, and Muscular) That the toddler struggles to gain a sense of autonomy or control of bodily functions, large, and small motor skills, should be quite obvious to the parents of such children. Walking, talking, and later dressing and feeding oneself, as well as learning to control bowel functions, are all tasks that the child learns during this stage. And increasingly, she or he wants to do these things without adult help. But adults realize that the child is not always capable of doing these things herself, and patience with letting her have her own way can wear thin. The child, in turn, seems at times to be at war with her parents. She wants to do things on her own, yet can’t – a very frustrating situation all around! The child often feels ashamed of his or her lack of control when, for example, sitting on a potty trying to control urinary or bowel functions. The parent also risks increasing the child’s shame, either unintentionally (by a lack of patience, for instance) or intentionally (by exhibiting anger or ridicule). Shame and doubt are the natural opposites of childhood autonomy. How is a parent to handle such conflicts? There are, unfortunately, no easy answers to the dilemma of the willfulness seen in the “terrible twos.” Will is indeed the basic strength of this stage, compulsion the negative core weakness. The parents must be patient with the child but not to the point of sainthood. Parents must establish – and children desperately need – rules or standards of proper behavior. The child must learn the meaning of the word “no.” But often the willful child learns this only too well – she frequently defies parental requests using this same word. Here Erikson, like Kohlberg, stresses the learning of “law and order.” But parents who over control their children risk increased shame and lack of a sense of autonomy: such over controlling behavior can break the child’s will and (Erikson believed) lead to the kinds of “anal” neuroses (extreme compulsiveness or messiness) described by Freud. Erikson also noted that different cultures have different standards of parental expectations for children’s behavior. The Lakota Sioux tribe, for instance, does not try to force children to learn how to control their toilet behavior; instead, children learn naturally in time through imitation. By contrast, the standards for children in the United States today may seem much more restrictive; Erikson (even back in his time) thought that our society was very restrictive and “sanitized.” In recapping, Erikson expanded Freud’s ideas about the so-called anal stage in several ways. First, he expanded the notion of the child’s need for control or autonomy beyond just toilet training, to a number of physical challenges such as walking, learning to do things for him or herself, and so forth. Second, he emphasized the role of the development of the ego here as in other stages, as opposed to Freud’s developmental psychology anchored in id impulses. And third, rather than see the challenges of childhood from the limited standpoint of a given culture, he noted that these challenges and the way they are handled by parents and society differ across cultural settings.

Third Stage: Initiative versus Guilt (Psychosexual Modes are Genital, Locomotor) Here again Erikson does not break away from Freud – he does acknowledge oedipal factors in development – but yet at the same time he expands and broadens the description of this stage by increasingly recognizing social factors. On the more traditional side he states that “Infantile sexuality and incest taboo, castration complex and superego all unite here to bring about that specifically human crisis which the child must turn from an exclusive, pre-genital attachment to his parents to the slow process of becoming a parent, a carrier of tradition” (1950/1985, p. 256). But notice that this Freudian endorsement also contains the notion that the child identifies with the parent, and by doing so learns to adopt and internalize the role of the same-sex parent through observation and imitation. Initiative is implied in these attempts at imitation, but guilt occurs when the child’s developing conscience feels in competition with the parent (i.e., oedipal feelings). The parents are viewed by the child as big, powerful, and threatening – and the truth in these perceptions is evident even if one discounts the Freudian notions of castration anxieties or penis envy. Initiative is actualized through the child’s expanding repertoire of capabilities. Children at this age are extremely active and mobile, or in Erikson’s terms, locomotive. They are talkative, and they experiment and learn through imaginative play. (The latter idea seems likely to have been inspired by Erikson’s training in the Montessori method; notice, too, the parallel with Piagetian theory.) The child’s conscience can put a damper on this very active development, however, if parents instill guilt feelings by insisting too strongly on “good” behavior. Thus while the basic strength associated with this period is a sense of purpose, the core weakness is inhibition.

Fourth Stage: Industry versus Inferiority (Psychosexual Mode is Latency) According to Erikson, the child has at this stage (per Freud) sublimated oedipal impulses and “now learns to win recognition by producing things. He has mastered the ambulatory field and the organ modes . . . . He develops industry – i.e., he adjusts himself to the inorganic laws of the tool world . . . . His ego boundaries include his tools and skills: the work principle . . . teaches him the pleasure of work completion by steady attention and persevering diligence”. The basic strength of this stage is therefore competence. The child that is ill prepared for school or lacks the tools for learning from life’s experience will despair. Successful resolution of crisis at this stage stems largely from preparation at earlier stages. Erikson used the term inertia (as in inert, or passiveness) to define the core pathology, the antithesis of competence. But for most children, this is a period of relative calm, as it was in Freud’s exposition. Inner conflicts give way to increased learning and mastery of the skills needed to succeed in later life.

Fifth Stage: Identity versus Role Confusion (Psychosexual Mode is Puberty) Adolescence is a time of great change: the body and the sexual organs mature, new expectations for social and academic adjustments arise with the transition to middle school, self-image typically suffers, and life can be very stressful, especially in the earlier transition stage. The basic task of this period is to separate oneself from one’s parents – especially the same-sex parent – and to assume an identity of one’s own. The latter is a very difficult task; many people do not fully succeed in it today until they are well beyond their teen years! Oedipal conflicts again return with full force (in agreement with Freud), but the child who is no longer quite a child must now learn to displace the sexual feelings for his or her opposite sex parents onto others. In the later phases, this is done partially through ritual courtship practices traditionally known in our own society as “dating.” Teens not to merely learn “who they are,” they must at the same time learn to define and invent themselves. Identities are tried out like new suits of clothes. Role models may be parents, teachers, coaches, film stars, athletes, or “outlaws.” Parents can rightly guess that the latter is a potential nightmare. But parental perceptions can be distorted too; teen rebelliousness sometimes takes a “dark” turn, but this doesn’t mean that the youngster has lost her or his core set of values. “Metallic” or “Goth” appearances and piercings are usually just experiments (thought tattoos are permanent), and the worried parent can usually get through these stages with the mantra that “this, too, shall pass!” But there are times when the wise parent must put his/her foot down and assume a more authoritarian role: teens, like small children, sometimes require the imposition of rules and limits, especially where their activities border on danger – as in the cases of drug experimentation, permissive sexual behavior, or hanging out with the “wrong crowd.” The conflict for the parent, then, is how much freedom to grant, and how much control to assume, over the young person who is at once both a child and an adult. The fostering of mutual respect and appreciation of the positions of both parties is the key. The teen years are indeed a time of identity crisis, or in Erikson’s terms “a turning point of increased vulnerability and heightened potential”. The basic task is, in Erikson’s terms, fidelity or truthfulness and consistency to one’s core self or faith in one’s ideology. The core pathology is repudiation of the assumption of a healthy role formation. Repudiation can take the form of defiance of authority or of resignation and despair, which Erikson termed diffidence. Some of the coping mechanisms for the teen who is confronting his or her identity that Erikson discusses are:

- Foreclosure: In order to suppress the anxiety that attends lack of identity, some adolescents prematurely assume an identity of convenience; someone else’s value system, such as that of one’s parents, without giving the matter very much thought or consideration. Example: “My father was a dentist – I know that’s what he has in mind for me and that is what I shall become.”
- Moratorium: A “time out” or suspension of the search for oneself while exploring different options. Example: Erikson himself used this strategy in his youth as he wandered through Europe before committing himself to a career.
- Diffusion: This essentially represents a kind of apathy in which the youth lacks any kind of passion or commitment. Example: “I don’t really feel committed to anything – I do what I can to get by in school.” As another example, from Arthur Miller’s (1949/1976) play, Death of a Salesman, the character Biff states: “I just can’t take hold, Mom, I just can’t take hold of some kind of a life” (cited in Erikson, 1959/1980, p. 97).
- Positive role identity or identity achievement: This is the sense of really knowing who one is and in general, where one is headed in life. Example: “I know that I value justice – I intend to study law and do my part to make a better world.”
- Negative role identity: This refers to the rebellious denial of the expectations of parents or society; the opposite is instead chosen. Example: The son of a police officer decides to join a gang of drug users and petty thieves.

Sixth Stage: Intimacy versus Isolation (Psychosexual Mode is Genitality) Erikson viewed intimacy or closeness and mutual sharing with another as the basic strength of this stage, isolation as its core pathology. Erikson believed that intimacy between two people as a couple was only possible when each had developed a strong sense of identity separately. Unfortunately, many couples in his day married at a very young age, so this was by no means always the case. The dilemma is that it is difficult (though possible in rare cases) for two people to grow and mature together unless they have first matured separately. Not surprisingly, divorce is a common outcome for couples who marry while still quite young and immature. Young adults often still have not advanced in maturity from adolescence. Although some have achieved a level of maturity by the early twenties, many others do not arrive at this level until well into their thirties – and still others never do attain full maturity! In today’s complex world, attainment of maturity and relative independence seems to take considerable time. Perhaps it is fortunate, then, that people tend to marry somewhat later than they did in the 1950s. By genitality Erikson referred to sexual intimacy. This is the physical correlate of psychological intimacy. Good sexual relations depend on the ability of each partner to share and care, not to exploit or hurt the other. Sexual love must be unselfish.

Seventh Stage: Generativity versus Stagnation (Psychosexual Mode is Procreativity) To a great extent both Freudian and Eriksonian psychoanalysis emphasized the normalcy of traditional morality. At the times they were writing conventional social standards called for young men and women to marry and produce children. The man was expected to have a career or profession, which for the woman was optional. Times have obviously changed, as today marriage itself is seen by many people as an option, even if they are engaged in a long-term relationship and have children. Homosexual marriage, though quite controversial as of this writing, may one day be accepted in society. But homosexuality itself, once seen as a psychological disorder, is no longer considered such by psychiatrists and psychologists. When Freud and Erikson were writing, sexual intercourse culminating in mutual orgasm in a marital relationship was considered the ideal expression of complete fulfillment between a man and a woman. Since the pioneering work of Masters and Johnson (1966), ideas about sex and love have changed. The combination of sex, love, and commitment (whether or not people are married) still resonates with many people as an ideal kind of relationship. But other options – for instance, protected sex for its own sake between consenting adults prior to or without marriage – are now also acceptable to many people. Variations in sexual practices that go beyond standard intercourse are also now widely accepted by sex researchers and by the public as valid and welcomed alternatives in promoting mutual satisfaction to sexual partners. With these changing mores in mind, some of the earlier psychoanalytic writings may seem quaint to today’s reader. Freud in particular, for all his talk about sexual repression, would today be seen as a bit prudish in his ideas, and in his own life. But Freud began a trend of openness about sexual matters that continued well into the twentieth century, and changes in attitudes toward sexual practices were only beginning to be felt at the time the first edition of Erikson’s Childhood and Society first appeared in 1950; thus this context must be considered when evaluating his work. Remember too that Erikson was breaking new ground by extending the stages of development into the adult years and throughout the remainder of the lifespan. His writings on the later stages of development were highly innovative, if somewhat sketchy. Erikson’s ideal of generativity thus includes what many see as old-fashioned notions about conventional sex between married adults. But he also went beyond this: generativity in its broadest sense refers to creative and productive activity through work (recall Freud’s purported dictum on the importance of “love and work” from above). Generativity is about much more than sex and procreation! Erikson’s concept embraces a sense of caring for the future; caring for the next generation. Indeed, Erikson included working for a better world as part of his concept. He recognized that fulfillment in life can be achieved without necessarily having children (or procreativity). But it does require the ability to care for and about others. The opposing concept to generativity is stagnation, or the loss of self in selfabsorption. Erikson also realized that, though generativity is a dominant theme in the middle years (thirties, forties, and fifties), this kind of caring concern for future generations has its seeds in early adulthood – the childbearing years – and continues throughout the remainder of the lifespan. A sense of connectedness of one generation with another is implied in the concept, and generativity is, in the broadest sense, a symbolic link to immortality through acts and works that will survive the individual. Based on his own research as well as that of others, Dan McAdams (2001) stated that “Highly generative adults tend to express a more spiritual understanding of life . . . than do less generative adults. Generativity is also positively associated with volunteerism, community involvement, and voting. Social institutions such as schools, churches, and government agencies depend on the generative efforts of adults.”

Eighth Stage: Integrity versus Despair (Psychosexual Mode is “Generalized”). Integrity in the later years of life implies acceptance of a life that was well-lived. It does not mean that life is over, for these can often be very productive years. But by this age a person begins take a reflective and evaluative look back at his or her life. A person may ask questions like “Was my life fulfilling?” or “What was I able to accomplish?” Life is full of choices and there are always many roads that were not taken by all of us. Everyone makes mistakes, including some major or even tragic ones. To be fulfilled does not mean that one has led a perfect life! But if one has managed life reasonably well and come to grips with one’s shortcomings, practiced meaningful selfforgiveness where called for, and taken into account both positive and negative factors from one’s past, then a positive sense of integrity ensues. Despair, however, implies a lack of further hope. Despair can result from unfulfilled potential or a feeling that one has wasted one’s life, without hope for personal redemption. Despair is often disguised by an outward attitude of contempt toward others. Such contempt, according to Erikson, really reflects contempt for the self, projected outward. After a lifetime of living and learning, Erikson stated that wisdom is the basic strength associated with later years, based on the welllived life. Disdain is the core pathology of this stage.

Sociogenetic aspects of mental development. Social learning theory accepted principles of conditioning and reinforcement of earlier behaviourists and built upon these principals. These theorists also considered inner motivational factors and challenged the assumption that learning represents a change in behaviour.

Behaviourism, also known as the learning perspective, proposes that all things that people do, from acting to thinking and feeling, can be regarded as behaviours. This perspective studies behaviour instead of constructs of the mind. The two most important behaviourist theorists are John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner. Watson believed that directly observable events—stimuli and responses—should be the focus of study, not the internal constructs of the mind. Watson thought that children could be taught to develop in any way adults wanted if adults controlled the stimulus-response associations.

Edward Thorndike initially proposed that humans and animals acquire behaviors through the association of stimuli and responses. He advanced two laws of learning to explain why behaviors occur the way they do: The Law of Effect specifies that any time a behavior is followed by a pleasant outcome, that behavior is likely to recur. The Law of Exercise states that the more a stimulus is connected with a response, the stronger the link between the two. Ivan Pavlov's groundbreaking work on classical conditioning also provided an observable way to study behavior. Although most psychologists agree that neither Thorndike nor Pavlov were strict behaviorists, their work paved the way for the emergence of behaviorism.

1. F. Skinner, a behaviourist heavily influenced by the ideas of Watson and pioneers such as Ivan Pavlov and Edward Thorndike, also proposed a conditioning theory that reinforcement and punishment form children’s behaviour. According to Skinner, a child’s behaviour can be encouraged by following it with a wide variety of forms of reinforcement, such as praise, a friendly smile, or a new toy. Other behaviours can be discouraged by punishments, such as withdrawal of privileges or disapproval.

Social learning theory (also known as Social Cognitive Theory) is the idea that people learn by watching what others do and that human thought processes are central to understanding personality. Social learning theory stemmed out of work by N.E. Miller and J. Dollard in 1941. Their proposition posits that if humans were motivated to learn a particular behavior that particular behavior would be learned through clear observations. By imitating these observed actions the individual observer would solidify that learned action and would be rewarded with positive reinforcement (Miller & Dollard, 1941). The proposition of social learning was expanded upon and theorized by Albert Bandura from 1962 to the present.

Bandura agrees with Skinner that operant conditioning is an important type of learning, particularly for animals. However, Bandura argues that people are cognitive beings—active information processors—who, unlike animals, think about the relationships between their behavior and its consequences. They are often more affected by what they believe will happen than by what they actually experience. Consider your own situation as a student. Your education is costly and time-consuming and imposes many stressful demands. Yet, you tolerate the costs and toil because you anticipate greater rewards after you graduate. Your behavior is not shaped by immediate consequences; if it were, few students would ever make it through the trials and turmoil of college. Instead, you persist as a student because you have thought about the long-term benefits of obtaining an education and have decided that the benefits outweigh the short term costs you must endure. Bandura emphasizes observational learning as a central developmental process. Observational learning is simply learning that results from observing the behavior of other people (called models). A 2-year-old may learn how to approach and pet the family dog by simply watching his older sister do it. An 8-year-old may learn a very negative attitude toward a minority group after hearing her parents talk about this group in a disparaging way. Observational learning could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work. We must attend carefully to a model’s behavior, actively digest, or encode, what we observe, and then store this information in memory (as an image or a verbal label) in order to imitate what we have observed. And, as we will see in the box on page 50, children do not need to be reinforced to learn this way. Observational learning permits young children to quickly acquire thousands of new responses in a variety of settings where their “models” are pursuing their own interests and are not trying to teach them anything. In fact, many of the behaviors that children observe, remember, and may imitate are actions that models display but would like to discourage—practices such as swearing, smoking, or eating between meals. So Bandura claims children are continually learning both desirable and undesirable behaviors by observation and that, because of this, child development proceeds very rapidly along many different paths.

Bronfenbrenner begins by assuming that natural environments are the major source of influence on developing persons—and one that is often overlooked by researchers who choose to study development in the highly artificial context of the laboratory. He defines environment (or the natural ecology) as “a set of nested structures, each inside the next, like a set of Russian dolls.” In other words, the developing person is said to be at the center of and embedded in several environmental systems, ranging from immediate settings such as the family to more remote contexts such as the broader culture. Each of these systems is thought to interact with the others and with the individual to influence development in important ways.

Bronfenbrenner’s theory truly revolutionized the way developmentalists considered the environment of a child’s development. In the 1940s and 1950s, for example, developmentalists would likely examine the effect of one aspect of the child’s environment and attribute all differences between children to differences in that aspect of the environment.

For example, cognitive, social, and even biological differences between children of divorce and children of intact families might all be attributed to the effects of the divorce on the children. With Bronfenbrenner’s theory it was now possible to consider the many different levels and types of environmental effects that might influence a child’s development.

For Vygotsky, social interaction precedes development. Consciousness and cognition are the end products of socialization and social behaviour. Social context and environment can include interactions with parents, teachers, friends, and siblings and with objects such as books and toys. Children are active in making these interactions by constructing their own knowledge, skills, and attitudes and not just copying the world around them.