Comparative Paper on The Theories of Great Psychologists Throughout time, there have been many psychologists that have had their own views about different theories. Theories guide and direct our perception of thinking. The similarities and differences are broken down through different forms of development by Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, Albert Bandura, B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov, Jean Piaget, Uri Bronfenbrenner, and Lev Vygotsky.Developmental theories differ in whether they propose that development is made up of a series of small, continuos changes or distinct stage like steps. Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget assumed that developmental change occurs in distinct stages. All individuals follow the same sequence or order. Erickson’s theory assumes that an infant must first master the crisis of trust versus mistrust. The infant must come to trust their care giver’s ability to meet their needs. It is only then when the infant can move to tackle the crisis that defines the next stage of development. Uri Bronfenbrenner and Lev Vygotsky propose that developmental change occurs primarily through patterns of reciprocal interaction rather than through maturational influences. Bronfenbrenner states that a child’s development is influenced by four interactive and overlapping contextual levels. Vygotsky was interested in how changing historical and cultural contexts within children’s activities occur influence their cognitive development. He states that higher mental functions grow out of the social interactions and dialogues that take place between a child and parents, teachers, and other representatives of culture. Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner were two founders of the behavioral learning approach. Pavlov’s experiments with dogs and humans revealed that behavior that had been thought to be entirely instinctual could in fact be shaped or conditioned by learning situations. Skinner is best known for operant condi...
