Week Two-Card-Life Span Development Chapter 2

Sigmund Freud has laid the foundation for psychoanalysis as we know it today. He developed the theory of how significant the early years were and are to human development. Throughout the years, other psychoanalysts came along with their theories either building upon Freud's theories or straying away from them. Freud's theories were interpreted as being very carnal, as he used references to sex and pleasure when describing the development of children, and many were not comfortable with the correlations. Despite the sexual references, psychoanalysts were "influenced by Freud, but searching for a different perspective" (Fiore p. 32). They began to look at other factors that they felt did and could significantly affect human development like environment, genetics, social experiences, and culture amongst other factors. Erik Erikson was a psychoanalyst who built on Freud's theory, but from a social perspective. He conducted many studies around the world to gather information to explain human development. Erikson's theories showed how humans have crisis at each stage of development, and in order to move to the next stage, the crisis must be resolved first. Other theorists like Jean Piaget was intrigued by how children developed intelligence and focused his studies of human development on cognition. Another influential psychologist was Lev Vygotsky, who based his theories of human development on "children's interaction with the adults around them" (Fiore p. 36). He felt that children development was based on the acts of the influential adults they interacted with often. Another behavioral theorist, Ivan Pavlov, created the theory of classical conditioning just by observing a dog that salivated when it ate food. He opened the doors for others like John Watson and B. F. Skinner, who tied conditioning to human development and "the use of consequences to modify or shape voluntary behavior or actions" (Fiore p. 39).
With the history of the theories of human development, it seems as though there will be plenty more discoveries of how humans develop as time and technology continue to evolve. From my perspective as a parent with three children, I see some similarities and some differences amongst each of them. Each child responds differently to the morals, values, rules, routines, affection, and boundaries set in our household. Being a stay at home mom gave me the advantage to observe my children from the day they were born until the present time and compare characteristics at different ages and stages in early childhood. Some characteristics of theories developed from some of the aforementioned psychoanalysts are accurate. I have witnessed how genetics, culture, social influence, and the basic needs all play a role in their development.  I have also realized that what may work for one child may not work for the other, and sometimes it really depends on the day of the week, the amount of rest they had, time of day (lunch, dinner, etc.), the weather, and many other factors. There is no human development theory mentioned that is specific to any individual.  These theorists have provided the world with resources to refer to for basic understanding.  I believe, "Physical, cognitive, and social factors interact in ways that we are only beginning to comprehend" (Fiore p. 42). As the world turns there will be future generations with similarities and differences from those of yesterday and today. It will be very exciting to see if the future psychoanalysts will revert to build upon Freud's theory again. I wonder if they will discover whether he was appropriate or inappropriate when describing human development in the manner he did. I really think that in Freud's days, the public was very sexually conservative and completely misinterpreted his ideas; he wanted to be clear and specific when he described the stages to prevent any misconception of his findings.