Index

Introduction..............................................................................................................................................1
Psychology and Development
Factors of Human Development
Development and Learning
The innate conception of development
The Innateism
Educational Implications of the Innate Concept of Development.................................................5
Environmentalist conception of Development
The Environment as a Factor of Human Development
Key concepts in Environmentalist theory: Stimulus, Reinforcement, and Extinction.............................................6
Educational Implications of the Environmentalist Concept of Development......................................6
Advantages
Disadvantages.........................................................................................................................................7
Associativism
The associativism
Educational Implications of Associativism
Behaviorism
Behaviorism
Reinforcement..................................................................................................................................................8
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning...................................................................................................................9
Educational Implications of Behaviorist Learning Theory....................................................9
Interactionist Conception of Development.....................................................................................9
Development as the Result of the Interaction between the Organism and the Environment
Main Concepts in the Interactionist Theory of Development
Educational Implications of the Interactionist Development Theory...............................................9
Cognitivism.......................................................................................................................................10
Cognitivism
Bruner and Discovery Learning
Ausubel and Meaningful Learning.............................................................................................11
Learning significant by subordination.............................................................................11
2. Learning for super-ordination............................................................................................11
3. Learning by combination...................................................................................................11
Conditions for Significant Learning.......................................................................................11
Gestaltism
Gestalt learning.......................................................................................................................12
Gestalt Learning Laws.............................................................................................................12
Kurt Lewin's Field Theory..............................................................................................................12
Educational Implications of Field Theory....................................................................................13
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
How the emergence of psychology as a science of investigation into behavior
of human beings, came to give impetus to pedagogy, providing support in what is the understanding of

be as human as possible, in all its dimensions, whether physical, emotional psychology and
in the improvement of the teaching and learning process. In this present work, we will see
a series of theories that can help us better understand the human being in what we
refers to your behavior in various situations, particularly regarding the
teaching and learning process.

In developmental psychology, we will see that one way or another, there is a consensus.
As for psychology being an important area in assisting pedagogy, not only in the definition of
academic procedures (didactic and methodological) that will thus facilitate the process of
teaching and learning of the teacher himself and especially of the student. We will also be able to

within this research, find theories related to development in education, that is,
developmental psychology and learning as a way to help us understand
better which methods are necessary or which theories should really be applied
during the learning process in educational institutions by the teachers
to your students.

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Psychology and Development
In education, it seems to be a consensus that psychology is one of the subjects.
scientific disciplines that most assist pedagogy in defining didactic procedures
methodological approaches that facilitate the teaching-learning process.

In the etymological spirit, the term psychology is the agglutination of two words from Latin, psyche,
What does psychic or even the mind mean, elogos which means treaty or science. Thus
Thus, psychology is the science of the mind, or psychic facts.

However, when it distanced itself from philosophy, at the end of the 20th century, its evolution was always

marked by behaviorism (from the English behavior which means behavior). This fact made
with psychology being defined as the science that studies human behavior.

It is under this methodological perspective that developmental psychology is situated, it is regarded as

all research aimed at understanding the growth of the individual in all cycles of
your life, from gestation to old age.

Rappaport (1981a) says that developmental psychology seeks to understand the

individual, through the description and exploration of the psychological changes that occur with
the time.

Development is the set of transformations that occur over time in the

people. (UNISUL, 2000: 17), being able to express themselves in intelligence, in the physical,

affectivity and sociability. Throughout its existence, the human organism will
acquiring waxes with peculiar characteristics that allow understanding their behavior.

Development is inherent to the human being. It is the result of the relationships that the individual

establishes with the physical and social environment. Therefore, human characteristics are not
not only biologically inherited but also historically constructed.

According to Davis and Oliveira (1994: 19), the objective of developmental psychology is,
to study how psychological functions that distinguish the
home and the woman of other species.

In this regard, the object of study of developmental psychology is the evolution of

perception of the motor, intellectual, moral, and affective capacity of the human being. From this
from this perspective, one can understand that all human manifestations are the result of a journey.

that begins during pregnancy. This discipline is of paramount importance for educators, as

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by understanding the internal processes of development, one can activate them and enhance the
teaching-learning conditions.

Factors of Human Development

According to Davidoff (2001: 417), the maturation of the individual is a set of patterns of
behaviors that fundamentally depend on the growth of the body and the system
nervousness can be influenced by three factors:

a) Universals: common events in the development of a certain species. There are

occurrence of similar situations among human beings, following the same
order. That's why all babies crawl first, regardless of the circumstances.
to stand and walk. This allows us to assess what is normal and abnormal in
every age.
b) Individuals: assuming that the same steps as those of the universals are followed,
Individuals grow at their own pace, which can be determined by
heredity, which has a greater effect in the early years of life. For example, babies
influenced by hereditary conditions may develop faster the
language that others.
c) Environmental: the experiences provided by the context in which the individual is inserted,
influence your maturation, in the development of motor skills,
psychic and emotional. In part, individuals are an invention of societies in
who live, and here, education (school or non-school) plays a fundamental role in
development of the human being.

The great debate in the field of psychology concerns the influence of each of these
factors in human development. We can find three groups of researchers.
The universalists, the hereditary and the socialists. The universalists say that all traits
the maturation is inscribed in itself (individual), it is enough to develop them; the hereditary
they argue that the genetic load is received from the parents; the socialists claim that the
the human being is the fruit of the society in which they live. This discussion has characterized the

history of psychology. In general terms, it is about the controversy between nature

(heredity) and education (the environment).

The popularization of this discussion has had extreme repercussions in school education:
some educators believe that the 'child is born ready', thus, it would not be worth
just educate certain children; on the other hand they argue that the child 'is a blank slate

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 that's why society could do whatever it wants with them. And you as
educator what would be your position in this debate?

In summary, the factors of development can be grouped into two categories.

main: a) endogenous factors (heritability, neurophysiological maturation) and b)
exogenous or external factors (environment, nutrition, education).

Development and Learning

Human development results from multiple causes, that is, from heredity in
interaction with the environment, depending on time. Therefore, learning takes on a role
primordial in human development.

Learning understood as the process by which the individual appropriates

contents of the human experience of a social group, is established in a twofold sense: (a)
it happens taking into account maturity and (b) matures the individual, 'to learn
concepts, generalizations, knowledge, the child must form mental actions
'adequate' (Leontiev, apud, Davis and Oliveira, 1994: 20), and when the child learns more
and further develops.

It is in this thought that the relationship between developmental psychology and

learning: the psychology of development focusing on the emergence and the
maturation of higher psychological functions (those that differentiate the being
human beings from other beings) aids the psychology of learning in the study of the process
complex of knowledge appropriation by the child.

Developmental psychology is an essential discipline for the training of educators,

because it exposes the skills, abilities, and limitations of each age group in various
aspects of the human being (motor, emotional, intellectual, social, etc.), what can
help in the design of school programs, teaching methodologies, and in all
pedagogical activities (Rappaport, 1981a).

The innatist conception of development

Innateism
All innatists emphasize the importance of endogenous factors. For example, at point
From a philosophical standpoint, the existence of innate ideas is also considered in linguistics.
they affirm that mastery of the language is part of the cognitive structure that is common among the

humans.

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 The innatist thought has two origins: in theology and in evolution.

a) Theology – it starts from the idea that everything comes from God as the creator of Man and
of the world and everything depends on Divine grace;

b) On evolution - by Darwin, Embryonic and Genetic.

For Darwin, the role of the environment in human development is limited, the changes
(gradual and cumulative) would result from 'hereditary variations that provide advantages
adaptive to prevailing environmental conditions, only the fittest - those
"Those capable of adapting to the environment would survive" (Davis and Oliveira, 1994: 28).

Darwin's theory would have been misunderstood by the innatists who used it as the basis for their
theoretical foundation, excluding individual experiences, which are the result of contexts
sociocultural.

The innateists also made use of embryonic knowledge. Embryology holds that
the sequences of development would be practically invariant and 'regulated by factors
endogenous, that is, of internal origin.

In the psychological field of the innate conception, it is assumed that everything that happens
after birth does not influence the individual's development. Therefore, education and
the environment in general would not exert any impact on the development process
spontaneous of the individual. This is because it is considered that the human being is born ready, the

education and the environment only enhance what will come to be. Which means that the
human beings are born with all predispositions for everything they will become. It is the law of
destination.

Educational Implications of the Innate Conception of Development

The innate conception of development has a significant impact on the educational process.
These theories exclude the action of the environment, consequently, education in the process of

human development. In school, the innatist conception develops through concepts

like aptitude, readiness, and intelligence quotients. These concepts feed the
prejudices in the classroom.

When considering that differences are merely the result of heredity, as something
Given by nature, they contribute to the promotion of discrimination in school environments.

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Environmentalist conception of Development
The Environment as a Factor of Human Development
The environmentalist conception starts from the assumption that the environment is responsible for
human development, in this sense, the individual is reactive to the action of the environment. The basis

Environmentalism is the philosophy of empiricism.

According to Davis and Oliveira (1994: 30), environmentalists believe that 'man and the
women are conceived as an extremely plastic being, who develops their
characteristics based on the conditions present in the environment in which it is found.

One of the main advocates of environmentalist theory in psychology is Burrhus Frederic.

Skinner (1904 – 1990), American psychologist. Skinner proposes a science of behavior.
It argues that the environment 'is more important than biological maturation. In fact, they are
stimuli present in a given situation that lead to the emergence of a certain
behavior (idem, p. 31).

Key concepts in Environmentalist theory: Stimulus, Reinforcement, and Extinction

The concepts of stimulus, reinforcement, and extinction are important in understanding the theory.

environmentalist.

The stimulus is an element present in the environment, which can be manipulated to control the

behavior of an individual, causing the behavior to be refined and

enhanced.

It is considered that, in general, individuals seek to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. It is the
the process can be stimulated by something that is in the environment. The consequences
The positive results of behavior change are called reinforcement. This
increases the frequency of the manifestation of a certain behavior.

Davis and Oliveira (1994: 32) state that, 'extinction is the procedure through which

inappropriate behaviors are completely eliminated in individuals, the goal is

breaking the link that has been established between the behavior seen as undesirable and
certain consequences of it.

Educational Implications of the Environmentalist Conception of Development

According to environmentalists, learning is a process by which behavior is
altered as a result of the experience (Davis and Oliveira, 1994: 33). In generic terms
this conception can bring advantages and disadvantages.

14
Advantages
a) Valuation of teaching planning;
b) The enhancement of the teacher's role, which reinforces the behavior of the students through
of praises, notes, diplomas, etc.

Disadvantages
a) The conception of education as technology, in which the teacher masters the
teaching programming based on a standard formula;
b) The view of the human being as a passive creature to the environment, which can be manipulated and

controlled by the change of the situations in which it finds itself;

c) The devaluation of spontaneous learning and cooperation among children.

The cooperativism
The associativism
These theorists consider that learning is the result of the formation of connections between
stimuli and observable responses. Thorndike formulated three fundamental laws of
learning

a) The law of readiness: neurological readiness and not maturation;

b) The law of exercise (use and disuse): the more an E-R connection is used, the more
the stronger it becomes, and the smaller it is, the weaker it will become;

c) The law of effect: an R-E connection is strong when there is satisfaction. Weak when there is

disgust

Based on these laws, the importance of motivation in education was highlighted. The Russian Pavlov
created the expression 'conditional reflex' which is the result of an unconditional stimulus, such as
for example, when a bright light strikes the eyes and the person closes them. It also
noted that if a neutral stimulus that does not elicit a response by itself is associated with the stimulus

Unconditional or neutral ultimately acquires the power of response. And he called this phenomenon
of classical conditioning.

Educational Implications of Associativism

Many theorists argue that, 'but one of the reasons why educators need to
Knowing conditioning is that a large number of autonomous reflexes can be
conditioned throughout the entire education

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Behaviorism
Behaviorism
This theory emphasizes the psychology of an empty organism, a psychology in which the conditions
The environment (stimuli) associates and affects the organism's repertoire of responses.

For Skinner, the mind is not relevant to understanding the reason why people behave.
behave this way or that way, as it is considered that 'learning is a
association between stimulus (S) and response (R), although not always in this order, emphasizing
also the R-E associations as E-R associations, that is, it was verified that the
conditioning occurs when the response is followed by a reinforcing stimulus' (p.226).

Reinforcement
Skinner revisits Thorndike's law (the association between stimuli and responses). In the conception of
Skinner's reinforcement does not provide the individual who learns with a reward, nor satisfaction, such

as proposed by Thorndike, but it is measured and observed.

Positive reinforcement - is any stimulus added to the situation that increases the
probability of answers.
Negative reinforcement - is any stimulus that, when removed from the situation, increases the

probability of responses.

In both cases, there is no mention of subjectivity. Its main objective is to increase

the probability of answers.

Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is the learning process that is based on the association of a
conditioned stimulus is natural, so that the individual reacts to the conditioned stimulus
in the same way that it reacts to the normal stimulus.

During conditioning, the following processes can occur: a) extinction, and it is the
elimination of the intended response; b) spontaneous recovery, which is the appearance
temporary of an extinguished response; c) reconditioning, is the presentation of a new
reinforcement; d) re-extinction, reduction of the response by the presentation of the conditioned stimulus; e)

stimulus generalization, a process that extends the response; f) discrimination, consists of

establish differences between similar stimuli.

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Operant Conditioning
It is the learning process energized by the acquisition of reinforcement and is based on it.
association to the operant response. If in classical conditioning it is the subject that responds to
Stimuli, in operant behavior, is the subject who takes the initiative in order to obtain a reward.

reinforcement is a pleasant stimulus that arises as a consequence of a behavior,

increases its occurrence.

Educational Implications of Behaviorist Learning Theory

For behaviorists, learning is changing behavior. In this sense, the main task of
a professor is to teach, that is, to stimulate the change in the student's behavior. In the act of
evaluation the student must bring the content as they learned. Learning in this way
is not significant.

Interactionist Conception of Development

Development as the Result of the Interaction between the Organism and the Environment

For interactionists, human development is not only innate, nor only the result of
action of the environment, they emphasize that, 'the organism and the environment exert reciprocal action. A

influence the other and this interaction brings changes to the individual' (Davis and Oliveira, 1994:
36).

This conception is supported by Piaget, who argues that development involves a

continuous process of exchanges between the living organism and the environment.

Key Concepts in Interactionist Development Theory

According to Davis and Oliveira (1994), the main concepts of this theory are:

a) Balance - every living organism seeks to maintain a state of balance, acting from
ways to overcome disturbances in the relationship established with the environment;

b) Equilibration - dynamic process in search of a new superstate and equilibrium;

c) Assimilation - the organism develops actions aimed at assigning meanings, to
based on previous experiences, to external elements.
d) Accommodation - the organism tries to restore a higher balance with the environment
environment.

Educational Implications of the Interactionist Theory of Development

Learning is viewed not only as an innate quality of the student, let alone
operation solely of the teacher, but as the result of the interaction between the teacher and the student,

14
between the organism and the environment. In this sense, teachers value the knowledge of
students, and the teacher does not consider himself to be a 'know-it-all'. Learning will be more meaningful.

Cognitivism
Cognitivism
For cognitive psychologists, the role of teaching is to increase the number of knowledge of students. The

learning is seen as an active process of the learner. Normally, learning is

by insight 'the process that occurs when one has a quick and unexpected understanding of the data
"of a problem and the way to organize to solve it" (Abrunhosa and Leitão, 2009: 161).

Learning is like this, understanding, resulting from the human ability to acquire, transform and
evaluate information that we obtain from our experience with the world.

Bruner and Discovery Learning

Bruner claims that 'any discipline can be effectively taught with some'
intellectual honesty to any child at any stage of development' (quoted in
Mwamwenda, 2004: 185.

And discovery does not necessarily mean uncovering knowledge that is unknown.
by everyone, but the discovery of knowledge by the subject itself. The role of
The educator's role is to facilitate the process. In discovery learning, the student is the main focus.

subject, therefore active participation is required.

According to Bruner (quoted in Mwamwenda, 2004), cognitive learning encompasses the following
principles:

a) Motivation: the predisposition to learn, which is reflected in the desire to explore and
discover
b) Structure: the child's ability to understand, what they already know;
c) Sequence: organization of content in a sequenced manner;
d) Reinforcement: encouraging the student through high grades, smiles, and compliments.

Bruner proposes that the educator is the one who gives the opportunity for the learner to build their own.

own concepts (principle of constructivism). The student must think, learn and
solve problems independently. The educator gives feedback to the students about their
performance.

14
Ausubel and Meaningful Learning
Ausubel believes that learning is the result of what the learner learns in relation to the
what you already know. Reception learning means that the educator must provide all the
information, to be meaningful, must be based on what the students already know. All
Information is significant when it relates to an experience from the past, present.
the future of the child.

Ausubel defends three types of meaningful learning:

Meaningful learning through subordination

This happens when what will be taught is more specific, more particular than that.
that the student knows. For example, the concept of snake (specific) is subordinate to the class
more comprehensive (reptiles).

2. Superordinate Learning
It happens when new ideas, concepts, or propositions that will be taught have a degree
more general, they are broader in terms of conceptualization than the
students' prior knowledge.

3. Learning by Combination
It happens in learning situations where what is being learned is no longer
specific is not broader than what the student knows about the subject. Therefore,
the two previous learnings occur.

Conditions for Meaningful Learning

Ausubel (as cited in Mwamwenda, 2004: 189) proposes the following conditions for the occurrence of

a meaningful learning

a) Assessment of aptitude: the investigation into the life of the student - age, abilities,
this can happen from the evaluation and tests;
b) Material selection: the educator should focus on what is central to the theme,
using other sources, such as newspapers, magazines, personal accounts, etc.;
c) Identification of organizing principles: determine the key concepts of the lesson;
d) Presentation of an overview: what would be the main concepts to be
emphasized throughout the class;
e) Use of advanced organizers: linking new knowledge with
the ancients, through a review of the previous class;

14
 f) Highlighting the principles of concepts: exercising the ability to question, discuss,
explain and review so that learning is not mechanical;
g) Focus on relationships: the focus of the class is what is teaching the subject matter, the relationship of this

knowledge with other subjects and with real life.

Currently, the most preferred learning is meaningful because it enables better

relationship between the school context and real life, helping to improve performance of
students.

Gestaltism
Gestalt learning
Gestalt is a German word that means organization or configuration. The psychologists of
Gestalt are more concerned with perception and behavior as a whole. They
they argue that 'a certain object is understood through its global vision, and not
by the detailed analysis of each specific aspect' (according to Mwamwenda, 2004: 196).

Gestalt theorists also opt for cognitive learning, but with a new perspective that they
they are treated separately.

Laws of Gestalt Learning

1. Law of proximity: parts that are close in time and space tend to be
perceived together;
2.Law of similarity: similar parts are seen together as if forming
a group;
3. Law of closure: people have a perceptual tendency to complete figures
incomplete;
4. Law of continuity: figures and drawings will be completed in the same way as
are presented;
5. Law of pragmatism: all psychological events have the potential to be
significant, as well as simple and complex.

Field Theory of Kurt Lewin

Kurt Lewin, based on the principles of physics applied in psychology, developed the theory of
field. In your analysis, the field 'is a dynamic and interrelated system, where any
one part influences the others' (according to Mwamwenda, 2004: 200).

14
This means that what happens to a person can affect them in more than one way.
Thus, behavior is the result of the situation as it is perceived by
individual, and by the way the individual relates it to purposes and needs.

Kurt refers to this as cognitive field, the way in which the individual perceives the environment.
that is located. And the space of life is the perception and experience of the world, together with the

objectives and the barriers to those same objectives (according to Mwamwenda, 2004).

The space of life would be the person and their environment. The behavior of the person is determined

for this space.

Educational Implications of Field Theory

The understanding of the behavior of students depends on the educator's discovery of
your living space. Many relationship problems between educators and students
they may arise from the quality of the relationships that these latter have in their family.

Educators should provide students with environments that can generate changes and still,
learning difficulties can be addressed by sufficient reading material,
qualified teachers, adequate learning time, and sufficient exercises.

14
Conclusion
Theories of learning aim, in turn, to take measures that can help in
process of teaching and learning in schools, so that there is good learning and
that students as well as teachers have the ability to share and create their own
own knowledge and concepts; in this vision of improving the primordial view of teaching and
learning which is to create knowledge that is inclusive for everyone including
those in need of special education, in this case, the disabled.

The behaviorist theory has proven to be not the most significant due to the methods created.
by behaviorists, methods that we can consider as such, methods
traditional or classical, for in this theory the teacher is the holder of all knowledge and the
the student, in turn, must bring all the knowledge that the teacher has instilled in them, just like that.
he formulated or taught, that is, when carrying out an evaluation; this theory is not good
Why? It does not allow the student to create their own ideas, knowledge, and concepts.
that may align with the objectives of a certain subject or theme. For
the theories that could be used for the teaching and learning process would be
the theories of Ausubel and Bruner, as they can be effectively applied in education
very significant for both (the teacher and the student), as they allow for interaction
between the students and the educator, which also leads to the students and teachers raising what in
behaviorism cannot be done.

In both theories of Ausubel and Bruner, teachers make use of all means and methods.
possible to have an interactive class using objects, materials that can make the
more productive classes; thus the students also have the ability to create their own
own thoughts regarding the concepts and materials that are provided and in this
In this case, the teacher has the role of a mediator, because he is not the all-knowing one, but rather a

collaborator who facilitates the learning of their students.

14
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DAVIDOFF, L. (2001). Introduction to psychology. São Paulo: Artmed, 3rd ed. P. 417.

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Educational Psychology: An African Perspective

Editor Texts Ltd. pp. 185-189. 196. 200.

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SPRINTHALL, N. A. and Sprinthall, R. (1993). Educational psychology: an approach

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