LEARNING THEORIST

ARNOLD GESELL

Maturational Theory
Typical maturing patterns that all kids follow
Milestones of development
Twin study motor skills

SIGMUND FREUD
Experiences in early childhood influence later development
Sexual factors are major factors
Psychoanalysis
Id- basic instincts
Ego- mediator, rational part
Superego- ideas about moral acceptable behavior

JEAN PIAGET
Development takes place in distinct stages of

cognitive development
Adults influence but the child is building their own
thinking systems

LEV VYGOTSKY

Development is primarily drive by language,

social context and adult guidance

JOHN WATSON

Applied the concepts of classical conditioning to emotional

reactions
Believed that the human personality developed through
the conditioning of various reflexes

BF SKINNER
Reinforcement and punishment molds behavior
Negative and positive reinforcement

Children are conditioned by their experiences

Operant conditioning

ALBERT BANDURA
Focus on inner motivational factors
Self-regulatory mechanisms contribute to a persons

behavior
Not just environmental

URI BRONFENBRENNER

Ecological Systems

Theory

NOAM CHOMKSY

Linguistic theory
Learning language is innate
Children do not need formal teaching to learn to speak

ABRAHAM MASLOW

ERIK ERIKSON

Continued off of Freuds work

8 stages of development and more influence on

environmental factors

LEARNER DEVELOPMENT
STAGES

QUESTIONS
How do children develop?
What do children learn and in what order?
What affects learning?
Do all children develop in the same ways?
What are the similarities and differences in growth and

development?

THE NATURE OF DEVELOPMENT

The child is a blend of many parts that interrelate in

different ways and change with growth over time.

Biological processes describe changes in the body.
Cognitive processes are those changes in ones
thought, intelligences and language.
Socioemotional processes reflect changes in an
individuals relationships with other people,
emotions and personality.
(Gordon and Browne, pages 130-131).

MILESTONES

PHYSICAL/MOTOR MILESTONES

Gross motor
Fine motor
Perceptual motor

AFFECTIVE MILESTONES
Social
Emotional
Creative
Spiritual

INTELLECTUAL MILESTONES

Cognitive
Communication
Language

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Infancy (First 12 months of life)
Toddlerhood (1 2 Years)
Early Childhood (3 5 Years of Age)
Middle and Late Childhood (6 11 Years of Age)
Adolescence (12 19 Years of Age)
Young Adulthood (20 40 Years of Age)
Middle- Aged Adulthood (41 64 Years of Age)
Older Adulthood (65 Years of Age and Older)

LEARNER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT