Freud Bandura Childhood Development Theories Comparison Essay

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Learning Activity: Key Understandings of Two Major Theories


According to White, Hayes, & Livesey (2016), Freudian theory was one of the most influential theories of human development upon subsequent child development theorists. Freud believed that three fundamental structures influenced personality development from birth: the id, ego, and superego. The id was what infants were born with, the pleasure-seeking principle that enabled the infant to direct his or her attention to what gave the infant satisfaction (first the mouth, later the anus). The ego enabled the infant to assess socially determined influences and standards that enable or prevent the infant to satisfy his or her pleasures. This is the reality principle. Finally, the superego or conscience balances the primitive desires of the id against the moral influences the superego has internalized.
Freud viewed sexuality as the main driver of human development, beginning with infancy. However, one of the negatives of Freud’s theory is that it cannot be observed or tested. It also places an extremely strong emphasis on only one aspect of human experience. Later theorists, such as Albert Bandura, placed much greater emphasis on observable, versus internal behaviors, and also placed greater emphasis on later stages of childhood development, which were much easier…

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…being reinforced indirectly as well as directly.

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For example, when a child observes one of his peers becoming popular with other children and being praised by adults for excelling in sports, the child wants to emulate that specific behavior, to gain social approval. Freud might interpret this behavior solely as a way of appearing sexually attractive to the opposite sex.
Ultimately, social learning theory seems to be more persuasive, from what I observe how children actually behave and learn. Freud’s theories can seem very reductive, twisting explanations to attempt to view all behaviors as an expression of the aggressive, sexual id. Bandura’s theory allows for the fact that children and….....

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