Theory of Recapitulation

Recapitulation theory
Stanley Hall Born in 1846 and died in 1924, American professor of psychology and
pedagogy. According to the theory of recapitulation, people reproduce the life tasks of their
ancestors through play. This theory is based on the idea that an organism inherits the skills
learned by its ancestor.
For Hall, recreational activities serve as a stimulus for development, that is, they have a
preparatory function for adult life. According to this author, children play to eliminate
rudimentary functions (feeding, sphincter control, etc.) that have become useless in current
life and promote subsequent development.
Darwin's theory of the evolution of species has a clear influence on Stanley Hall's theory of
recapitulation. It focuses on four stages:
 Childhood (up to 4 years): during which the child represents the animal stage of
development. Example: The pleasure that children feel when playing in water is because
they reproduce pleasant experiences of their fish ancestors.
 Childhood (from 5 to 7 years): corresponds to the time of human history of caves, in

which human beings were fishermen and hunters.
 Youth (ages 8 to 12): the preadolescent period of development, during which the child
recapitulates wild life but begins to become civilized.
 Puberty (from 13 to 24 years): the period of adolescence in which the child enters
adulthood.
Conclusion: The theory of recapitulation is based largely on Darwin's human evolutionism,

since as we develop, vestiges of our prehistoric ancestors appear. Stanley Hall focuses on
the childhood stage and according to him, play is an important tool for the development of
children, since they eliminate rudimentary functions that have become useless in current
life and thus promote subsequent development.
Theories of recapitulation:
Stanley Hall
Granville Stanley Hall was born in

Ashfield, Massachusetts in 1846. He
studied at Harvard University with William
James in the first Psychology course in the United States, and was the first American to
obtain a doctorate in this discipline.
He lived in Germany for a time, where he studied at the University of Berlin and
collaborated with Wilhelm Wundt in his Leipzig laboratory. He later returned to his native
country, where he taught Philosophy and English Language until he was hired as a
professor of Psychology and Pedagogy at Johns Hopkins University.
In 1883 he founded the first Psychology laboratory in the United States, in 1887 he
created the American Journal of Psychology and also had a key influence in the creation of
the American Psychological Association, of which he was president for 31 years. He was
also the first president of Clark University, founded in 1889.
During his long and prolific career, Hall focused on development throughout the life cycle,
especially in the early stages, and on the education of young people. He was also interested
in the theory of evolution and the psychological explanation of supernatural beliefs,
including religion and spiritualism.
Theory of recapitulation = It is his theory of recapitulation, which states that

ontogenetic development recalls phylogenetic development . This means that the
changes that people experience throughout their life cycle are equivalent to those
that took place with the evolution of our species.
“The biogenetic psychology of adolescence, according to Stanley Hall”
Stanley Hall is considered the father of "adolescent psychology" since he used

scientific methods to study it.
Hall built a bridge between the philosophical and speculative approach of the past and
the scientific and empirical approach of the present.
He took the Darwinian concept of biological evolution and developed the

“RECAPITULATION THEORY”, maintaining that the individual organism goes
through stages, which correspond to those that occurred during the history of
humanity. The individual relives the development of the human race from an animalistic
primitivism, through a period of savagery, to the most recent civilized ways of living
that characterize maturity.
Hall assumed that this development is due to physiological factors. They are
genetically determined, universal and independent of the socio-cultural environment.
STAGES IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT:

Childhood period: 1st four years of life , represents the animal stage of the human
race (crawling) , sensory development.
Childhood period: 4 and 8 years , cultural time (house and fishing) where the child
plays Indians, with toy weapons, building caves, etc.
In the first stage of life, approximately until the age of 6 or 7 , children perceive the
world primarily through their senses ; reasoning is still very immature, and the influence
of socialization is very limited.
Stanley Hall considered that in this period people are very similar to animals ,
specifically apes, which he saw as ancestors of human beings. In early childhood,
children have a lot of energy and their bodies develop very quickly.
Period of youth: from 8 to 12 years , “pre-adolescence”, favorable predisposition to

exercise, discipline. Learning time.
At 8 years old, children's brains are practically the same size as those of adults ; It is at
this age when formal education should begin , according to Stanley Hall. However, he
believed that primary and secondary education should be a preparation for life in
society rather than focusing on traditional subjects such as mathematics.
This author stated that the incomplete development of reasoning makes preadolescents
amoral and have a certain tendency toward cruelty. The role of adults in this period
should focus on taking care of the child's physical health, and not so much on ensuring that
they develop a moral conscience or acquire skills and knowledge.
Period of adolescence: from puberty to adulthood (22-25 years) Period of storm

and impetus. It corresponds to a time when the human race is in turbulence and
transition.
The emotional life of the adolescent is a fluctuation between several contradictory

tendencies (e.g. love-hate). At the same time, traits of selfishness and an idealistic
being are observed.
The adolescent desires solitude and isolation, but, at the same time, he finds himself joining
large groups and friendships. He has a longing to find idols and authority.
At the end of the evolutionary process: the individual reaches maturity.
Educational inference: Although he did not go to the extremes of Rousseau , Hall

believed that the adult should not interfere with the natural course of development,
controlled and determined by internal guiding forces.
Stanley Hall was one of the first psychologists to defend that in adolescence sexuality
becomes a central aspect of life . Because of this, he promoted education separated by sex
to promote the learning of morality and the tools for life in society, now possible due to the
maturation of reasoning.
Hall describes adolescence as a period of “storm and impetus” , terms
taken from a period of idealistic, revolutionary, sentimental, passionate and
tragic German literature. Adolescence corresponds to a time when
humanity was in a state of turbulent transition.
For Hall , adolescence is a second birth because it is when essentially human

characteristics appear.
The adolescent lives a fluctuating emotional life with contradictory tendencies . You can
express a lot of energy and excessive activity and alternatively appear indifferent and
listless. Go from euphoria to depression, from vanity to shyness, from selfishness to
idealistic altruism. It is a stage of purity and temptation in which the adolescent desires
solitude but at the same time they need to join groups and have friends, which usually
have great influence on them. He can be sweet at times and very cruel at others, apathetic
and enthusiastic. The teenager wants to find idols but rejects authority. At the end of
adolescence the beginning of modern civilization is recapitulated , and there the
evolutionary process ends, reaching maturity.
Stanley Hall is the first psychologist to formulate a theory of adolescence, he says that
the physical changes that occur during adolescence also produce psychological
changes. He said that as a consequence of these physical changes, young people would try
to adapt to the changes and their bodies; he called this period “storm and stress.” Likewise,
people who overcame these changes over time tended to be morally stronger.
Conclusion: The adolescent can adjust to his changing environment only if he knows
himself, in this way he can become an adult, if he knows what his desires, his impulses, his
motives and needs are. You have to become more prudent, more judicious and more
autonomous. The task of guiding adolescents is not easy since it is one of the most difficult
stages for them, because they seek to know their identity themselves, trying to imitate other
cultures or invent something that is different from those established by their parents.
And although parents have to play a fundamental role, it is very difficult to guide them but
it can be achieved with a lot of patience and tolerance, in addition to inspiring a lot of
confidence in them so that they trust their parents, since they will not be able to carry out
the task on their own. With the necessary help, we can hope to improve the conditions of
adolescents, and to give all our children not only the possibility of mere physical survival,
but also of achieving a reasonable degree of happiness and social efficiency.

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Recapitulation theory

 Childhood (from 5 to 7 years): corresponds to the time of human history of caves, in

Conclusion: The theory of recapitulation is based largely on Darwin's human evolutionism,

Granville Stanley Hall was born in

Theory of recapitulation = It is his theory of recapitulation, which states that

“The biogenetic psychology of adolescence, according to Stanley Hall”

Stanley Hall is considered the father of "adolescent psychology" since he used

He took the Darwinian concept of biological evolution and developed the

STAGES IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT:

Period of youth: from 8 to 12 years , “pre-adolescence”, favorable predisposition to

Period of adolescence: from puberty to adulthood (22-25 years) Period of storm

The emotional life of the adolescent is a fluctuation between several contradictory

At the end of the evolutionary process: the individual reaches maturity.

Educational inference: Although he did not go to the extremes of Rousseau , Hall

For Hall , adolescence is a second birth because it is when essentially human

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