Psychodynamic Theories, Essay Example

Behavioral theories – This is work mainly associated with the theories put forward by B.F. Skinner and Albert Bandura.  They considered the interaction of personality in the individual and that of the environment.  Behaviorists mainly use empirical research and the powers of observation. They mostly reject theories that support internal thoughts and feelings.

Psychodynamic theories – Work most heavily associated with that of Sigmund Freud and the influence of both the unconscious mind and child experiences that influence personality development. Freud focused upon three main components of the personality – Ego, id and the super ego.  Piaget considered how children’s minds work and as such became extremely influential in childhood education.  As children are growing up, they are limited in learning capacity until they are sufficiently psychologically mature enough to accept different tasks. This maturity model was illustrated in stages and provided a vital input to educational approaches in teaching children. (Kamii, C. 1984)

Humanist theories – Primarily based upon the works of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, which focused upon the concept of free will in personality development. These theorists believed that self-actualization is an essential need for personal development and growth.

Trait theories –  This is considered as one of the largest areas within psychology. It relates to the examination of individual traits that make people behave in a certain way Eysenck’s three dimensional and five factors theory of personality are amongst the most prominent in this area.

Each of the ideas are important because they approach individual personality development from a number of different perspectives.

Development over the lifespan

This considers the concept of change in the human psychological condition over time and is most associated with cognitive development. The individual is designed to operate in a number of distinct ways: (1) The concept of the higher self (2) The reception of the physical brain and (3) the perception of the personality and mind. The higher self concentrates on the holistic vision or the big picture of events and considers the impact of future obstacles. The brain communicates through intuition and acts as a guide through sixth sense perceptions. It is the ability of making the mind focus upon awareness and the possibility of something that may happen. The human mind and the consciousness are still controversial subjects in psychology and the debate continues in terms of whether this is a physical description. Nervous system infections, particularly to the central nervous system can result in altered mental states i.e. infections (meningitis, encephalitis, and brain abscess – this often associated with an altered level of consciousness.  Infections to the CNS have extremely high morbidity rates and require immediate treatment.

Behavioral development

Piaget and Vyotsky were noted psychologists in the behavioral cognitive sphere.  A distinction existed in the nature and interaction of sociocultural development. Piaget was a cognitivist construction list whereas Vygotsky was considered to be a social constructionist. Vygotsky’s theory was considered to be more flexible and adaptable to the teaching of adolescents because it was not hampered by being in fixed sequential stages, as was Piaget’s theory.  (Smith, 2007).  The two psychologists were instrumental in putting forward two important theories of cognitive learning and sociocultural development.  (Kozulin, 1998).  Despite the differences in the two theoretical approaches, there are a great deal of similarities that have now resulted in what is termed cognitive development to learning.

Works Cited

Kamii, Constance. “Autonomy: The Aim of Education Envisioned by Piaget.” The Phi Delta Kappan (1984): 410-415.

Kozulin, Alec. “Psychological tools: a sociocultural approach to education.” Kozulin, Alex. Psychological tools: a sociocultural approach to education. Boston MA: Harvard University Press, 1998. 29-34.

Smith, Howard A. “Teaching adolescents: educational psychology as a science of signs.” Smith, Howard A. Teaching adolescents: educational psychology as a science of signs. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. 129-135.