The story begins with the conception of a child. Once born, the new human has a lifetime of growth and change ahead. The road can be long or short and is often strewn with twists and turns. There are always several paths to choose from; sometimes the path is selected by the person, and yet another path is predetermined by genetics. There are several theories about how a person develops over the span of a lifetime. Piaget, Skinner, and Bandura had different ideas about human development that included the cognitive, behavioral, and social aspects of development. These theories are sometimes varying while other times they seem to intertwine, but all attempt to explain how we develop over the course of a lifetime.
The Life-Span Perspective
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1925) is a psychologist who trained in the behavioral tradition of psychology but later adopted the social learning theory of development (Cox, 2005). Cox goes on to say that later in his career Bandura became interested in the role that cognition played in human development. He was particularly interested in what the mind sees as well as language. Because of Bandura’s initial training in behaviorism, his theories often included aspects of both behavioral and cognitive development. Bandura is well known for his theory of social learning. Although, his ideas on development covered more than just how a person develops through learning and included opinions on self-efficacy, which is a person’s belief in his or herself to accomplish goals (Cox, …show more content…
Cox (2005) states that, “there are four steps to modeling: (1) attention—the more attentive the observer, the greater the learning; (2) retention—being able to remember what is observed; (3) reproduction—recreating what has been observed; and (4) motivation—reason to model behavior.” (para. 4). Bandura argues that one’s mind does not only react to input, but thinks about it, creates a story around it, and explores the meaning (p. 5, 2001). In Bandura’s theory, the way one views themselves and their ability to change and their perception of the events and actions of the people around them is learned and not genetic. So, the behavior of others and the way one interprets and makes sense of the actions are pieces of the social cognitive
The Life-Span Perspective
The …show more content…
1925) is a psychologist who trained in the behavioral tradition of psychology but later adopted the social learning theory of development (Cox, 2005). Cox goes on to say that later in his career Bandura became interested in the role that cognition played in human development. He was particularly interested in what the mind sees as well as language. Because of Bandura’s initial training in behaviorism, his theories often included aspects of both behavioral and cognitive development. Bandura is well known for his theory of social learning. Although, his ideas on development covered more than just how a person develops through learning and included opinions on self-efficacy, which is a person’s belief in his or herself to accomplish goals (Cox, …show more content…
Cox (2005) states that, “there are four steps to modeling: (1) attention—the more attentive the observer, the greater the learning; (2) retention—being able to remember what is observed; (3) reproduction—recreating what has been observed; and (4) motivation—reason to model behavior.” (para. 4). Bandura argues that one’s mind does not only react to input, but thinks about it, creates a story around it, and explores the meaning (p. 5, 2001). In Bandura’s theory, the way one views themselves and their ability to change and their perception of the events and actions of the people around them is learned and not genetic. So, the behavior of others and the way one interprets and makes sense of the actions are pieces of the social cognitive