Erickson's theory of psychosocial development

-accepted Freud's emphasis on early experiences and the role of unconscious motivations and needs as driving forces in psychosocial development
-believed that Freud put too much emphasis on the sexual basis of behavior
-emphasized that development continues to occur throughout the lifespan
-believed development involves mastery of psychosocial tasks in step-by-step stages of development that are dependent on each prior one being successfully mastered

*mastery - positive quality becomes part of the personality
*mon-mastery - conflict unresolved, ego damaged by development of negative quality

Erickson's eight stages of psychosocial development

1. Basic Trust v. Mistrust
2. Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt
3. Initiative v. Guilt
4. Industry v. Inferiority
5. Identify v. Role Confusion
6. Intimacy v. Isolation
7. Generativity v. Stagnation
8. Integrity v. Despair

Basic Trust v. Mistrust

(Erikson)

*stage: infancy (birth to 18 months)

*important event: feeding

-babies develop a sense of trust when caregivers provide reliabilty, care, and affection

-lack of this will lead to mistrust

Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt

(Erikson)

*stage: early childhood (two to three years)

*important event: toilet training

-children need to develop a sense of personal control over physical skills and a sense of independence

-success in doing so leads to feelings of autonomy, failure results in feelings of shame and doubt

 Initiative v. Guilt

(Erikson)

*stage: preschool (three to five years)

*important event: exploration

-children need to begin asserting control and power over the environment

-success in doing so leads to a sense of purpose

-children who try to exert too much power experience disapproval, resulting in a sense of guilt

Industry v. Inferiority

(Erikson)

*stage: school age (six to 11 years)

*important event: school

-children need to cope with new social and academic demands

-success leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority

Identify v. Role Confusion

(Erikson)

*stage: adolescence (12 to 18 years)

*important event: social relationships

-teens need to develop a sense of self and personal identity

-success leads to an ability to stay true to yourself, while failure leads to role confusion and a weak sense of self

Intimacy v. Isolation

(Erikson)

*stage: yound adulthood (19 to 40 years)

*important event: intimate relationships

-young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people

-success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness and isolation

Generativity v. Stagnation

(Erikson)

*stage: middle adulthood (40 to 65 years)

*important event: work and parenthood

-adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often by having children or creating a positive change that benefits other people

-success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world

central tasks of middle adulthood

(Erickson)

-express love through more than sexual contacts

-maintain health life patterns

-develop a sense of unity with mate

-help growing and grown children to be responsible adults

-relinquish central role in lives of grown children

-accept children's mates and friends

-create a comfortable home

-be proud of accomoplishments of self and mate/spouse

-reverse roles with aging parents

-achieve mature, civic and social responsibility

-adjust to physical changes of middle age

-use leisure time creatively

Integrity v. Despair

(Erikson)

*stage: maturity (65 to death)

*important event: reflection on life

-older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment

-success at this stage leads to feelings of wisdom, while failure results in regret, bitterness, and despair

 Piaget's four stages of childhood cognitive development

1. sensorimotor (birth - two years)
2. pre-operational (two - seven years)
3. concrete operational (seven - 11 years)
4. formal operational (11 years thru adolescence)

 Sensorimoter Stage

(Piaget)

*age: birth - two years

*key feature: object permanence

-learns about objects through sensory information the objects provide (how they look, feel, taste, etc.) and actions that can be performed on them (sucking, grasping, hitting, etc.)

-around eigth to twelve months develops 'object permanence'; recognizes that objects continue to exist when they are out of sight

 Pre-Operational Stage

(Piaget)

*age: two to seven years

*key feature: egocentrism

-thought processes continue to develop; cognitive abilities continue to be limited; still far from logical throught

-becomes 'ego centric'; only able to consider things from own point of view; as the development continues 'decentering' occurs and comes to realize they are not the center of the world

-engages in 'animism'; the belief that everthing that exists has some kind of consciousness

-develops 'moral realism'; believes rules are absolute and cannot be changed; black and white view of right and wrong

 Concrete Operational Stage

(Piaget)

*age: seven to eleven

*key feature: conservation

-thought process becomes more rational, logical, and adult like or 'operational'

-belief in animism and ego centric though declines; children are able to adopt alternative viewpoints and can imagine things from the prospective of others

-develop the ability to imagine different scenarios or what if something were to happen

-develop the ability to 'conserve'; learn that objects are not always the way they appear to be (ie the same amount of wather looks like more or less in short/wide and tall/thin glasses)

-develop an understanding of 'reversibility'; learn that if objects are changes, they can still be the same as they used to be (ie if a pile of blocks is spread out there are still as many blocks there as before)

 Formal Operational Stage

(Piaget)

*age: eleven to adolescence

*key feature: can manipulate ideas in head; abstract thinking

-ability to engage in both abstract and concrete thinking

-ego centrism (in the form of self-consciousness, self-criticism, self-admiration) often re-emerges

-develop the capacity for 'abstraction'; ability to reason beyond the child's concrete reality to a world of possibilities which may not refer to the real world

-develop the ability to engage in 'hypothetic-deductive reasoning'; can problem solve hypothetical situations

Kohlberg's theory of moral development

-like Piaget, claimed logic and morality develop through constructive stages; built on Piaget's theory of cognitive development; followed development far beyond the ages studied by Piaget

-holds moral reasoning is the basis for ethical behvioral and has six developmental stages, each better at responding to moral dilemmas than the previous stage

-studied morality using the Heinz dilemma; was interested in how individuals would justify their actions if placed in similar moral dilemmas; analyzed the form of moral reasoning displayed and classified moral reasoning into six stages

Kohlberg's levels and stages of moral development

level 1: pre-conventional morality

stage 1: obedience and punishment orientation

stage 2: self-interest orientation

level 2: conventional morality

stage 3: interpersonal accord and conformity orientation

stage 4: authority and social-order maintaining orientation

level 3: post-conventional morality

stage 5: social contract orientation

stage 6: universal ethical principles orientation

level 1: pre-conventional morality

(Kohlberg)

*ages: birth to 10-13 years

stage 1: obedience and punishment orientation

-see rules as fixed and absolute; obeying the rules is important because it is a means of avoiding punishment

-main concern is with what authorities permit and punish

stage 2: individualism and exchange orientation

-self-interest/hedonistic stage

-"what's in it for me" position

-right behavior is defined by whatever is in the individual's best interest

-reciprocity is possible at this point, but only if it serves one's own interest

level 2: conventional morality

(Kohlberg)

*ages: 10-13 years to mid-adolescence or later

stage 3: interpersonal relationships

-often referred to as the "goog boy- good girl" orientation

-is focused on living up to the expectations of family and community and behaving in "good" ways

-emphasis on conformity and being "nice"

-consideration of how choices influence interpersonal relationships

stage 4: maintaining social order

-becomes more broadly concerned with society as a whole

-emphasis is on obeying laws, respecting authority, and performing one's duties so that the social order is maintained

-asks "what if everyone did this"

level 3: post-conventional morality

(Kohlberg)

*ages: mid-adolescence (if ever) through remainder of adulthood

stage 5: social contract and individual rights

-begin to account for the differing values, opinions, and beliefs of others

-morality and individual rights take priority over certain laws

-tries to determine logically what a society ought to be like

-believes individual rights, such as liberty and life, to be protected; want some democratic procedures for changing laws which violates these rights and for improving society

stage 6: universal principles

-abide by internalized principles of justice, even if they conflict with laws and rules

-believes in civil disobedience

-treats the claims of all parties in an impartial manner, respecting the basic dignity of all people as individuals; full and equal respect for everyone