Child Development & Pedagogy: Theorist & Theory Chart
This chart provides a quick reference linking major theorists to their primary theories and fields of study.
| Theorist (Inventor) | Theory / Model Name | Primary Field/Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Jean Piaget | Theory of Cognitive Development | Cognitive (Thinking Stages) |
| Lev Vygotsky | Sociocultural Theory (ZPD) | Cognitive (Social Context) |
| Jerome Bruner | Discovery Learning / Modes of Representation | Cognitive (Constructivism) |
| Erik Erikson | Psychosocial Theory of Development | Social-Emotional (Life Stages) |
| Sigmund Freud | Psychosexual Theory | Psychoanalytic (Personality) |
| John Bowlby & Mary Ainsworth | Attachment Theory | Social-Emotional (Bonding) |
| Urie Bronfenbrenner | Ecological Systems Theory | Social (Environmental Influence) |
| B.F. Skinner | Operant Conditioning | Behavioral (Rewards/Punishment) |
| Ivan Pavlov | Classical Conditioning | Behavioral (Associations) |
| Albert Bandura | Social Learning Theory | Behavioral (Observation/Modeling) |
| Lawrence Kohlberg | Stages of Moral Development | Moral (Justice/Reasoning) |
| Carol Gilligan | Ethics of Care | Moral (Gender differences) |
| Benjamin Bloom | Bloom’s Taxonomy | Pedagogy (Learning Objectives) |
| Howard Gardner | Multiple Intelligences Theory | Pedagogy (Types of Intelligence) |
| Abraham Maslow | Hierarchy of Needs | Humanistic Psychology (Motivation) |
| Maria Montessori | The Montessori Method | Pedagogy (Child-Led Learning) |
| John Dewey | Experiential Learning | Pedagogy (Learning by Doing) |
| Noam Chomsky | Nativist Theory (LAD) | Language Development |
| Friedrich Froebel | The Kindergarten Concept | Pedagogy (Play-based learning) |
| Edward Thorndike | Connectionism (Law of Effect) | Behavioral (Trial & Error Learning) |
| John B. Watson | Behaviorism (Little Albert) | Behavioral (Conditioning) |
| Arnold Gesell | Maturation Theory | Physical/Motor Development |
| Harry Harlow | Contact Comfort Theory | Social-Emotional (Attachment) |
| Konrad Lorenz | Imprinting Theory | Ethology (Biological Attachment) |
| David Kolb | Experiential Learning Cycle | Pedagogy (Learning Styles) |
| Loris Malaguzzi | Reggio Emilia Approach | Pedagogy (Environment as 3rd Teacher) |
| Rudolf Steiner | Waldorf Education | Pedagogy (Holistic/Artistic) |
| Robert Gagné | Conditions of Learning | Instructional Design |
| David Ausubel | Meaningful Learning (Advance Organizers) | Cognitive (Prior Knowledge) |
| Robert Sternberg | Triarchic Theory of Intelligence | Cognitive (Practical/Creative/Analytical) |
| Carl Rogers | Humanistic / Client-Centered | Humanistic (Facilitation of Learning) |
| Paulo Freire | Critical Pedagogy | Social (Education for Liberation) |
| Diana Baumrind | Parenting Styles Theory | Social-Emotional (Authoritative/Authoritarian) |
| Mildred Parten | Stages of Play | Social (Parallel, Associative, Cooperative Play) |
| G. Stanley Hall | Adolescence (“Storm and Stress”) | Developmental (Recapitulation Theory) |
| Daniel Goleman | Emotional Intelligence (EQ) | Social-Emotional (Self-Regulation) |
| Seymour Papert | Constructionism | Pedagogy (Learning by Making/Coding) |
| Johann Pestalozzi | Head, Heart, and Hands | Pedagogy (Holistic Education) |
| A.S. Neill | Democratic Education (Summerhill) | Pedagogy (Freedom in Education) |
| James Marcia | Identity Status Theory | Social-Emotional (Adolescent Identity) |
| Kurt Lewin | Field Theory / Action Research | Social Psychology (Group Dynamics) |
| Eleanor Gibson | Perceptual Learning (Visual Cliff) | Cognitive/Perceptual Development |
| Wolfgang Köhler | Insight Learning (Gestalt) | Cognitive (Problem Solving) |
| Alfred Adler | Individual Psychology | Psychoanalytic (Inferiority/Birth Order) |
| Kenneth & Mamie Clark | Doll Tests | Social (Racial Identification/Self-Concept) |
| Johann Herbart | Herbartianism (5 Steps) | Pedagogy (Instructional Structure) |
| Simon Baron-Cohen | Theory of Mind (Empathizing-Systemizing) | Cognitive (Autism/Social Cognition) |
| Carol Dweck | Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset | Pedagogy (Motivation/Intelligence) |
| Donald Winnicott | Transitional Objects / “Good Enough Parent” | Psychoanalytic (Child-Parent Bond) |
| Anna Freud | Child Psychoanalysis / Defense Mechanisms | Psychoanalytic (Ego Psychology) |
| Melanie Klein | Play Therapy / Object Relations | Psychoanalytic (Early Childhood) |
| Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi | Flow Theory | Positive Psychology (Engagement/Learning) |
| Walter Mischel | Marshmallow Test (Delayed Gratification) | Behavioral/Personality (Self-Control) |
| Stephen Krashen | Input Hypothesis (i+1) | Language Acquisition (Education) |
| John Locke | Tabula Rasa (Blank Slate) | Historical Pedagogy (Empiricism) |
| Jean-Jacques Rousseau | Naturalism / Stages of Development | Historical Pedagogy (Innate goodness) |
| John Hattie | Visible Learning | Pedagogy (Evidence-Based Teaching) |
| Sugata Mitra | Self-Organized Learning Environments (SOLE) | Pedagogy (Peer Learning/Tech) |
| Charlotte Mason | Living Books / Habit Formation | Pedagogy (Home Education) |
| Reuven Feuerstein | Mediated Learning Experience | Cognitive (Structural Modifiability) |
| Judith Rich Harris | Group Socialization Theory | Social (Peer Influence) |
| Thomas Gordon | Teacher Effectiveness Training (T.E.T.) | Pedagogy (Communication/Discipline) |
| Alfred Binet & Théodore Simon | Binet-Simon Scale (First IQ Test) | Intelligence (Psychometrics/IQ) |
| David Wechsler | Wechsler Intelligence Scales (WAIS/WISC) | Intelligence (Standardized Assessment) |
| Charles Spearman | General Intelligence (g factor) | Intelligence (Factor Analysis) |
| Raymond Cattell | Fluid vs. Crystallized Intelligence | Intelligence (Cognitive Ability) |
| Louis L. Thurstone | Primary Mental Abilities | Intelligence (Multiple Factors) |
| Peter Salovey & John Mayer | Emotional Intelligence (Original Theory) | Social-Emotional (EQ Foundation) |
| Paul Ekman | Universal Emotions / Micro-expressions | Social-Emotional (Non-verbal) |
| Carl Jung | Analytical Psychology (Archetypes/Types) | Personality (Introversion/Extroversion) |
| McCrae & Costa | Big Five Personality Traits (OCEAN) | Personality (Openness, Conscientiousness, etc.) |
| Katharine Briggs & Isabel Myers | Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) | Personality (Typology/Preferences) |
| Gordon Allport | Trait Theory | Personality (Cardinal/Central/Secondary Traits) |
| Hans Eysenck | Three Dimensions of Personality (PEN) | Personality (Biological basis) |
| Hermann Rorschach | Rorschach Inkblot Test | Personality (Projective Assessment) |
| Charles Cooley | The Looking-Glass Self | Social Psychology (Self-Concept) |
| George Herbert Mead | Social Self (“I” and “Me”) | Social Psychology (Symbolic Interactionism) |
| William James | The Self (Material, Social, Spiritual) | Psychology of Self (Pragmatism) |
| Morris Rosenberg | Self-Esteem Scale | Social-Emotional (Measurement of Self-Worth) |
| Julian Rotter | Locus of Control | Personality (Internal vs. External Control) |
| Martin Seligman | Learned Helplessness / Positive Psychology | Social-Emotional (Optimism/Resilience) |