Theories of Development
Amanda M. Glover
Walden University

There are dozens of developmental theories. There are theories that believe developmental a child learn behavior and other theories believe children are subjects of their environment. There is an age-old debate, dating back to the earliest Greek philosophers, of whether knowledge is innate-that is we are born with it-or whether it is learned through experience (Cohen, 2011). There is no proven scientific way to determine if nature or nurture controls a child’s behavior and how they develop. The developmental theories that I lean toward the most are as a Piaget’s cognitive stages of development, Freud’s psychosexual development, and Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. Piaget’s cognitive stages of development suggest that at each stage of a person’s life they learn a new skill and as they process in age their skills progress. He has identified four major stages; sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Sensorimotor occurs from birth to 2, at this stage the child is learning to use his or her hands, feet, and eyes. He or she learns to walk and crawl or use the bathroom. The next stage is preoperational occurs from 2-7, at this stage a child “engages in symbolic thought, but dominated by perception” (Perdue University , 2009). The third stage is concrete operational this occurs from ages 7 to 11. At this stage a child’s thoughts are more rational and logical. Children become less egocentric and better at conservation tasks. This means that the child understands that although the appearance of something changes, the thing itself does not (Mcleod, 2010). The final stage is formal operational occurs from age 11 to adulthood. At this stage the child is able to determine what the difference is between right and wrong. The child is starting establish concrete