Concept and Science of Human Development

Theories of human development

According to Fearon (2019, p.115), human development is the process of enlarging people's opportunities and freedoms as well as improving their well-being. In essence, human development entails the authentic freedom of ordinary people in deciding what to do, who to be, and how to live. Economist Mahbub ul Haq developed the human development concept. On the other hand, Wikipedia.org (2018) defines human development as the science that examines why and how people of all ages and circumstances remain the same or change over time. The author further argues that human development involves human condition study, with its core being the approach of capability. Fearon (2019, p.118) argues that human development theories are frameworks applied in describing and explaining the changes that a person experiences throughout their lifetime. A few methods focus on specific stages of life, for instance,(childhood) or life areas (such as how an individual develops a sense of wrong or right).

Fearon (2019, p.120)defines human advancement as the science that attempts to figure out how and why everything in individuals is equal, and situations change or continue to be sustainable. Human advancement includes examining human condition using the capability approach as the backbone. Human development entails of 7 stages or eight stages in the scenario where conception to birth is included. For Kenny's case above, the eight stages of human development would be used. There are many theories on human development; however, the three that will be examined here are the Psychodynamic theory supported by Erikson, Freud, and Levinson. The Cognitive theory supported by Piaget, Siegler, and Vygotsky and lastly the Behaviourist theory put forward by Skinner, Gardner, and Pavlov.

Psychodynamic Theory

The psychodynamic approach incorporates all psychology theories that see human functioning on the lens of the interaction of forces and drives within an individual, mainly unconscious and between the diversity of personality structures. This theory supports the idea that the psychosocial development stages and the unconscious mind are the keys to understand human behaviour (Ryan, 2015). The psychodynamic theory, according to Sigmund Freud, expresses that youthful experiences affect our grown-up lives, thus building our character. Events that occur during our young lives are likely to stay in the oblivious and triggers issues even when we are grown-ups (McLeod, 2017).

Assumptions of Psychodynamic Theory

Sigmund Freud developed a collection of theories between the 1890s and 1930s, which formed a psychodynamic approach basis to psychology. Sigmund's theories are clinically derived, implying that it is based on the patient's feedback during therapy. Sigmund treated patients for anxiety linked disorders or depression. Sigmund psychodynamic theories are founded on various assumptions as follows:

Unconscious motives powerfully influence our feelings and behaviours. This implies that our motives, feelings, and decisions are strongly influenced by our past encounters and stored in our unconscious. Posey and Cushing (2019.np).argue that the unconscious mind constitutes inaccessible mental processes that influence feelings, judgments, or behaviours. Henkel et al. (2019,p1) highlight that Freud deems the unconscious mind as the primary source of human behaviour.

Our feelings and behaviour as adults, including psychological issues, are rooted in our childhood experiences: According to Posey and Cushing (2019.np), psychodynamic theory outlines those childhood events that occur greatly influence our adult lives, thus shaping our personality. This implies that events happening in childhood are likely to remain in the unconscious and trigger issues in adulthood. Personality is shaped by modifying drivers through different conflicts at different periods in childhood.

All behaviour is determined: All behaviours have a root cause (ordinarily unconscious), even a tongue slip. According to Posey and Cushing (2019.np), a psychodynamic theory is highly determinist as it perceives our behaviour as triggered entirely by uncontrollable unconscious factors. Unconscious feelings and thoughts are likely to transfer to the conscious mind in Para praxes form, famously identified as Freudian slips or the tongue slip. In essence, what is really on our mind is revealed by saying something we did not intend. Freud perceived tongue slips to provide an insight into the unconscious mind, and there is no accident in every behaviour; thus all behaviour is determined.

Personality constitutes three parts: superego, the id, and ego: The id is the instinctive and primitive personality constituent. The id comprises of all the innate personality components present at birth, inclusive of the sex life instinct identified as Eros and the (Thanatos) aggressive death instinct (Zhao and Wang, 2019.np).On the other hand, the ego develops to mediate between the real external world and unrealistic id. The superego incorporates society's morals, and values learned from parents and the community at large. The superego and the id (parts of unconscious minds) continually conflict with the (ego) the conscious part of the brain. The conflict between the unconscious and conscious mind creates anxiety, which could be handled through the use of defensive mechanisms by the ego.

Psychosocial Theory

Erikson believed that one’s personality or character is developed in a predetermined order via eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy throughout adulthood. During each level, the individual experiences a psychosocial emergency, which could have a constructive or antagonistic result for character improvement (McLeod, 2018). The social-emotional development, of Ericson eight levels of the eight stages, is shown in the chart below:

Cognitive Theory

The cognitive theory involves the study of how the mind processes information. Cognition envelopes all thought processes which operate through manipulating the knowledge that comes into the brain. Two things happen whenever the mind gets new information. The mind stores it as either new data or takes it from memory and registers it as not new information. Cognition is also referred to as knowing and involves three simple steps to the thinking process. These steps are selective Attention, memory, and perception (Davis, 2019). These three simple steps are said to be the three aspects of cognition.

Perception: means the way an individual sees things or the way we look at things. It is the way we select, organize, and interpret an event or situation that evokes or cause a response. This event or thing is called stimuli (Bannister and Fransella, 2019, np). For example, two persons may look at a tree with some fruit between its branches. One person may see it as half full, and the other will look at it as half empty.

Selective Attention: is the mechanism of focusing on a particular item or thing in or around our environment for a specific length of time (Bannister and Fransella, 2019, np). Since Attention is minimal, selective Attention helps us to block out unimportant details to be able to concentrate on what matters.

Memory: is the psychological capacity that enables individuals to code, store, and recoup data from an earlier time. Memory is a fundamental learning procedure, as it allows individuals to develop a personality or a sense of who they are. There are numerous kinds of memory, such as short and long term memory. Declarative and procedural memory is the constituent of long term memory. Declarative memory is acquired through education and knowledge learned through personal experiences, while procedural memory is learned through routines. (Cognifit.com, 2019).

Behaviourist Theory

In simple terms, behaviourist theory believes that factors from the environment influence behaviour. Behaviourism is the concept that, by measurable actions (behaviours), human or animal psychology can be evaluated objectively rather than thoughts and feelings that cannot be observed. (Alane, 2019). Behaviourism concludes that people learn habits through conditioning, which combines a cue or stimuli in the environment, such as a sound, with a reaction, such as what a person does when they hear that sound. B.F skinner claimed that observable behaviours are visible representations of unconscious mental processes and that studying such observable behaviours was more convenient. His behavioural approach was to understand the relationship between the behaviours of animals and their environment.

Case Summary

Kenny is 11 years old and lives in London with his family. He was born eight weeks prematurely to a drug addict mom (Christine) who was also just 18 years old when she gave birth to Kenny. He was dependent on drugs when he was born and spent three months at the hospital. Christine never bonded with Kenny as most mothers and children do from prenatal to birth. She clearly states that Kenny was a mistake.

Kenny had problems settling and cried a lot as a baby and was slow to walk and talk. He was often left with different carers and alone in his playpen for hours unattended. Both Kenny and his mother have been physically, emotionally, and verbally abused by his father, Greg. At the age of 2, Kenny's grandmother Judy took him to live with her for one year. During this time, Kenny improved both physically and mentally. He began playing and interacting with other kids. .........

How can we relate the above-cited theories to Kenny?

Biological and environmental factors

According to Goodway, Ozmun, and Gallahue (2019.np), specific biological factors, for instance, nutrition, genetics, and gender, are instrumental in early development. These factors influence a child in both a positive manner that enhances their development and in a negative approach that compromises developmental outcomes. Physical environmental factors, for instance, exposure to substances or toxins before or after birth, impacts a child's physical development. Problems linked with this type of exposure may be premature birth, birth weight, and long term medical conditions.

From pre-natal to birth, Kenny was exposed to hard drugs through his mum, and this has impacted on his biological and psychological growth. He was dependant on it after birth. He was prematurely born probably because of It or at least partly because we know his mum had him when she was only 18; so young and we know that the chance of having a premature baby increases the more youthful the mum is. His slow to walk and talk can also be linked to his pre-birth environment, the influence of drugs, but as well as the lack of stimuli that is lack of toys, many carers each with a different caring style, and the apparent neglect from his mother.

Early years of Kenny were not good as he experienced an unstable family environment, with his father physically abusing his mother and her continuing life of drugs and prostitution. He was often left with many carers, which must have determined his attachment style towards his mother and foster father. His attachment style can be described as insecure-avoidant as, according to his mum, his relationship to the rest of the family often ends in fights, which make them often leave him behind to avoid conflicts. On the other hand, at the age of two and for a year, Kenny was taken under the care of his grandmother, where he thrived under proper care. He learned to read and count and made friends with other kids. The teachers were also helpful all through his childhood.

Adolescent development: Kenny’s Physical and Neurological changes

According to Hansen, Bretl, and Amini ( 2019.np), an individual transforms from a child to an adulthood period identified as adolescence and experiences significant neurological, physical, and psychological changes. The initial step of neurological and physical changes occurs during puberty. The diverse development areas, including neurological, physical, social, and emotional, interact closely with one another, and the physical transformation is likely to trigger a negative or positive emotional response in the adolescent. Worthman, Dockray, and Marceau (2019,p.31) highlight that puberty is a gradual process and starts with an increment in hormone production, thus recording physical changes. These include rapid growth in an individual's weight and height.

According to Hansen, Bretl, and Amini (2019.np), a human brain is not fully developed when a person reaches puberty; the mind changes rapidly during adolescence, although it does not grow much in absolute size. While neurons that are not useful are pruned, others are actively used to increase myelinated fatty sheath to conduct rapidly. The amygdala and limbic system situated deep inside the brain are crucial rewards and emotions (Hansen, Bretl and Amini, 2019.np). The amygdala and limbic system develop relatively early. The frontal lobe, located behind the forehead, is crucial for executive functioning, which includes reasoning, planning, self -discipline and considered decision making matures last and is not fully mature until the age of 25 years. To this end, adolescents and young people take risks and are prone to hot cognitions, which imply making decisions based on experiences and emotions as opposed to logical thinking. For instance, Kenny experiences peer pressure with kids from the neighbourhood, daring him to shoplift for them.

Pre-natal factors that impacted Kenny’s life

According to Soke et al. (2019, p.9), prenatal risk factors include toxin exposures, maternal illness, certain maternal infections, and nutritional deficiencies. Risk factors during the prenatal period consist of prematurity and low birth weight, pregnancy-related complications, and infection exposure during pregnancy. Christine was both in drug addiction and prostitution. As a result, Kenny was born eight weeks prematurely and was drug dependent, and he stayed three months in the hospital where Christine visited him frequently. This has impacted Kenny's adult life as he is demanding, stressful, and out of control.

Attachment theory

Volling (2019, p.3) argues that attachment theory highlights that a secure physical and emotional attachment to at least one primary caregiver is fundamental for development. Kenny had a secure attachment to his grandma, so he missed her when he moved with his mother stepdad and brother and sister to another area of the town. At the age of two and for a year, Kenny was taken under the care of his grandmother, where he thrived under proper care. He learned to read and count and made friends with other kids. The teachers were also helpful throughout his childhood.

References

Bannister, D. and Fransella, F., 2019. Inquiring man: The psychology of personal constructs. Routledge.

Fearon, P., 2019. Closing in on causal links between environmental exposures and human development using observational data–“confound those confounders!”. Journal of ChildPsychologyand Psychiatry, 60(2), pp.115-118.

Fearon, P., 2019. Closing in on causal links between environmental exposures and human development using observational data–“confound those confounders!”. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60(2), pp.115-118.

Goodway, J.D., Ozmun, J.C. and Gallahue, D.L., 2019. Understanding motor development: Infants, children, adolescents, adults. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Hansen, D.M., Bretl, B.L. and Amini, B., 2019. Adolescent Development in Context: Social, Psychological, and Neurological Foundations.

Henkel, M., Zimmermann, J., Huber, D., Staats, H., Wiegand-Grefe, S., Taubner, S., Frommer, J. and Benecke, C., 2019. Patient characteristics in psychodynamic psychotherapies. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 36(1), p.1.

Posey, A. J., & Cushing, J. (2019). Little Freudian Slippage: Coverage of the Psychodynamic Perspective in the Undergraduate Personality Course. Teaching of Psychology, 0098628319853941

Posey, A.J. and Cushing, J., 2019. Little Freudian Slippage: Coverage of the Psychodynamic Perspective in the Undergraduate Personality Course. Teaching of Psychology, p.0098628319853941

Soke, G.N., Rosenberg, S.A., Hamman, R.F., Fingerlin, T.E., Rosenberg, C.R., Carpenter, L., Lee, L.C., Giarelli, E., Wiggins, L.D., Durkin, M.S. and DiGuiseppi, C., 2019. Prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal factors associated with self-injurious behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 61, pp.1- 9.

Volling, B.L., 2019. Widening the lens on family processes and the development of parent-child attachment relationships. Attachment & human development, pp.1-5.

Worthman, C.M., Dockray, S. and Marceau, K., 2019. Puberty and the evolution of developmental science. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 29(1), pp.9-31.

Zhao, G. and Wang, Y., 2019, August. Analysis on Paul’s Personality Development from Freud’s Personality Structure Theory. In 1st International Symposium on Innovation and Education, Law and Social Sciences (IELSS 2019). Atlantis Press.