By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Before we discuss any one period of the lifespan, we need to first consider the different theoretical perspectives that inform our understanding of human development.
Four Categories of Developmental Theories
Psychoanalytic: Psychoanalytic theories are characterized by a focus on emotions and conflict. These theories tend to be interested primarily in what is happening in the unconscious mind.
Cognitive: Cognitive theories are characterized by a focus on thoughts and how we process information.
Learning/Behavioral: Learning/behavioral theories are quite different from both Psychoanalytic and Cognitive theories because these theories focus exclusively on observable behavior.
Contextual: Contextual theories are characterized by a focus on the settings of development. In other words, these theories attempt to understand how the environment in which we live influences development.
Before we discuss each of these theories in more detail, we must first consider what we even mean by the term "theory."
Theories are the explanations of how facts fit together.
Without theories, the science of human development would not exist, and we would only have an accumulation of facts without any logical order or purpose. In the same way we need a blueprint to be able to build a house; we need theories to help build a science.
Now that we know what constitutes a theory, we can devote much more detail to each of the different categories of developmental theories. In the next section, we will discuss the following developmental stage theories:
Characteristics of Stage Theories
As we will see, each of these stage theories offers different perspectives on development. Despite these differences, however, these theories can all be characterized as stage theories because they share the following characteristics:
Now that we know what we mean by a stage theory, we can begin to discuss in more detail the different stage theories that are important in human development.
Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory
The first stage theory we will discuss is Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory. According to Sigmund Freud, development is primarily unconscious and behavior is motivated by unconscious/inner forces, memories, and conflicts over which a person has little control or awareness.
Although much of his theory is considered out-dated, Freud made a revolutionary contribution to the field of human development by emphasizing the idea that early childhood experiences affect our experiences as adults.
In order to understand Freud's theoretical perspective, we must first consider what Freud believed about the structure of personality.
Structure of Personality
Freud believed our personality comprised three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego, which become integrated as we grow and develop.
ID: internal drives/instincts, goal to maximize pleasure & avoid pain/discomfort
The id is the primitive, raw, unorganized, inborn part of personality. The id is responsible for the urges that we experience, such as hunger, sleep, aggression, etc. that are largely unconscious and present at birth. As an infant, we are almost all id, such that we are almost exclusively interested in maximizing pleasure/comfort and avoiding pain/discomfort.
If your id were completely in control, you would act on all of your urges, and seek to maximize pleasure and always avoid discomfort. For example, I love to watch television. If my id were in control, I would watch television morning until night. I would never come to work, I would never do the laundry, I would never pay my bills, and I would completely avoid all responsibility and only live to watch television. Thankfully, the id does not have complete control.
EGO: addresses the demand of reality
The ego is the rational, reasonable part of our personality that emerges in early infancy that makes it possible for us to exercise control over our unconscious urges. In other words, the ego acts as a buffer between our id and the demands of reality. The ego allows us to behave in a socially appropriate manner. It is because of the ego that I go to work each day rather than watching television all day long.
SUPEREGO: moral branch, evaluates right from wrong
The superego acts like a conscience that helps us to evaluate what is right and wrong. One way to think of the superego is like Jiminy Cricket from the Disney cartoon Pinocchio. Unlike the id that is believed to be innate, Freud believed the superego did not emerge until the age of 5 or 6, and that morality was learned from significant others, such as one's parents, teachers, etc.
Freud's Psychosexual Theory of Development
Stage 1: Oral (birth to 1 year)
Stage 2: Anal (1-3 years)
Stage 3: Phallic (3-5 years)
Oedipus & Electra
Stage 4: Latency (6-12 years)
Stage 5: Genital (12-18 years)
Puberty reawakens sexuality!
According to Freud, children pass through a series of stages, where at each stage they derive pleasure from a specific part of the body. Each of these stages is described in your textbook. For the purposes of this class, there is no need to memorize the details associated with each stage. What is important for this course is to understand that Freud believed that at each stage we had to confront conflicts between our biological drives and the expectations of society, and that how we resolved these conflicts would have implications for our adult lives.
Freud believed that if parents permitted their child to receive too much or too little gratification of their basic needs at each of these stages, the child would experience difficulties later in life. This could occur by becoming "fixated" in a particular stage. Becoming fixated in a stage could lead to problems with adjustment as an adult. For example, an individual who receives too little gratification in the oral stage could develop an oral fixation that leads them to smoke or bite their nails as an adult.
Criticisms of Freud's Theory
As you can imagine, Freud's theory has received a great deal of criticism, such that the Psychosexual Theory of Development is now considered out-dated and outside of the mainstream of human development.
It has been criticized for overemphasizing the influence of sexual feelings on development.
It has also been criticized because it was developed based on Freud's experience with a very select, unique population of adults in Victorian society. As we will discuss in the lesson on Research Methods, the characteristics of this select sample make it problematic to attempt to generalize experiences of this unique group to the wider population.
Contributions of Freud's Theory
Despite these limitations, Freud's theory continues to have a prominent place in the study of human development.
Freud's theory contributed to our understanding of development by highlighting the value of considering unconscious wishes and feelings.
Most importantly, Freud's theory was the first to show that early experiences have a profound effect on development by setting us on a particular developmental trajectory. Specifically, Freud's theory stressed the influence of the early parent-child relationship on development paving the way for contemporary studies of child development.
Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development
Erik Erikson is another psychoanalytic theorist who was trained by Freud, but who developed a theory of development that is quite different from Freud's theory. First, unlike Freud's theory that ends in early adulthood, Erikson's theory is lifelong and includes stages from infancy into late-late life. Further, although we recognize Freud's contributions to the study of development, his theories are now considered out of date, whereas Erikson's ideas continue to be the topic of contemporary research studies.
Erikson believed that development is determined by how the organism adapts to the social environment. For Erikson, development involves successfully negotiating a series of conflicts, and it is not until these conflicts are resolved that a person moves on to the next stage. Erikson believed that how we resolved these conflicts could lead to either healthy or maladaptive outcomes at each stage of life.
Infant Stages
1) Basic Trust vs. Mistrust (Birth to 18 months)
In infancy, children begin to explore the world and may feel a sense of fear or mistrust. When caregivers are responsive and attend to a child's needs, the infant learns the world is a good and pleasant place and is willing to explore the world around him/her. In contrast, if the child's needs are left unmet by the caregiver, the child may feel unprotected and withdraw from the world.
Early Childhood Stage
2) Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (18 months to 3 years)
During the toddler years, Erikson believed children begin to assert their independence and develop autonomy or the ability to do things independently. If a child encounters too much restraint or harsh punishment during this stage, Erikson believed the child would experience shame.
Childhood Stages
3) Initiative vs. Guilt (3 to 5 years, preschool years)
According to Erikson, this is when children begin to understand morality and the idea of right and wrong. At this stage, children are expected to assume responsibility for their behavior and to take on new tasks. If children take the initiative and are supported and encouraged, then they will successfully complete the stage. If children are made to feel anxious, it will result in feelings of guilt.
4) Industry vs. Inferiority (6 years to puberty, the elementary school years)
The elementary school years are the years when a child learns to master tasks (e.g., the ABC's, math problems) and to develop social skills. More importantly, this is the time in development when adults besides one's parents, such as teachers, coaches, etc. are beginning to influence development. If a child experiences repeated failures, Erikson believed they would develop an inferiority complex and remain in this stage.
Adolescent Stage
5) Identify vs. Identity Confusion (puberty to young adulthood)
This is the stage that takes place during adolescence, a time of rapid physical and emotional growth, where changes in appearance that make you look more like an adult may change the way you are treated. This is the stage when one engages in identity exploration and determines the type of adult s/he would like to become in the future. If the conflicts of early stages have not been satisfactorily resolved, then the adolescent may find herself in state of role confusion, where she is unprepared to face the psychological challenges of adulthood.
Early Adulthood Stage
6) Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood)
During this stage, Erikson believed a person formed an intimate romantic relationship and made a commitment to a romantic partner. For Erikson, intimacy was finding and losing oneself in another person and developing a "couple identity." Researchers now consider this stage to be a time where people form intimate, meaningful relationships with friends as well as with romantic partners.
Midlife Stage
7) Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood)
For Erikson, this stage involved having children, raising a family, and giving of oneself to the next generation. Today, we recognize there are many other ways to be generative besides having children. For example, teachers, politicians, volunteers, scientists, and philanthropists can all be generative by influencing others, generating ideas, and benefiting others.
Late Life Stage
8) Integrity vs. Despair (older adulthood)
In late life, Erikson believed it was necessary to look back on your life, try to make sense of it all, and determine if you accept your life or if you feel regret or disappointment. If you gain acceptance then you have achieved integrity, whereas if you feel regret you could be trapped in despair.
Gerontologists (those who study aging) criticize this stage because research shows that those who only look back can become more depressed and feel worse about their lives than those who also look forward into the future.
Strengths of Erikson's Theory
In the course activity that corresponds to this lesson, you are asked to consider which of Erikson's stages you feel best describes the stage you are currently in, and whether the stage corresponds to your chronological age. In this activity, you will have the opportunity to describe whether or not you accept the stage theorists' beliefs that all individuals experience the stages in the same way, that one must pass through the stages in a specific order, and that one cannot go back to a previous stage once one has passed through the stage.
Piaget's Stage Theory of Cognitive Development
We now transition from talking about unconscious, inner conflicts, to focusing on cognitions or ways of processing information by highlighting the work of Jean Piaget.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss theorist who developed a cognitive theory based on his observations of children. Piaget changed the way we think about how children think and his theory emphasizes that the way we reason and the way we come to know the world changes from one stage to the next.
As a child seeks to construct understanding of the world through active processes, according to Piaget, the brain creates what Piaget referred to as schemas.
Schemas are actions or mental representations (symbols) that organize knowledge.
In other words, schemas are behaviors or strategies that we use to interact with the environment, to develop relationships, etc. Our schemas can and do change over time.
For example: Our schema for transportation changes throughout life. In infancy we consider transportation to be rolling and crawling, then we learn to walk, then run, then as a young child we learn to ride a bike, and then as a teenager we learn to drive a car. Later, in older adulthood, we may lose some of our mobility and learn to use a cane or walker.
Piaget believed we adapt to new information through assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation: Incorporate new information into our existing knowledge/schemas
Accommodation: Adjust our schemas to fit completely new information and experience
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development:
Based on his observations of children playing and processing information, Piaget developed Stages of Cognitive Development. At each stage, there are qualitative changes in the way a child thinks or processes information.
Stage 1: Sensorimotor Stage (0 to 2 years)
In the early years of life, knowledge of the world comes through the senses (e.g., grasping, sucking). This is why we often see young infants trying to put everything in their mouths. It is one way that they attempt to learn about the world around them.
Object permanence: understanding that an object is still "there" even if you cannot see it.
For example: Once child develops object permanence, s/he will look for a toy that has been hidden from view.
Stage 2: Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
At this stage children are beginning of to have representational thought (e.g., pretend play, imagination).
For example: At this stage, a broom can be used to represent a horse as a child plays pretend.
Stage 3: Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)
At this stage, children are in a school setting where they need to master various tasks. In the Concrete Operational stage, we see the emergence of logical reasoning (e.g., subjects taught in school, math, science).
For example: At this stage, children come to understand that if you put the same amount of water into 2 different shaped containers, the amount of water remains the same.
Stage 4: Formal Operations Stage (11 and older)
At this stage, children come to understand the world in more abstract and logical terms (e.g., think about self and about the future).
For example: At this stage, adolescents can begin to imagine what their future will be like, such as what type of college they will attend or what type of career they will have as an adult.
In summary, in this lesson we discussed two types of developmental stage theories (i.e., Psychoanalytic and Cognitive theories). Psychoanalytic theories, including Freud's and Erikson's theories, focus on emotions and conflicts at different developmental stages, whereas Piaget's theory emphasizes developmental changes in the way we reason and process information. Although these theories emphasize different aspects of development, all stage theories refer to qualitative changes that are believed to occur in the same way and in the same order for all individuals.