THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT

Theories of Personality Development

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Austrian neurologist & founder of psychoanalysis.

Offered the first real theory of personality development.
Describe adult behavior as being the result of instinctual drives that have primarily sexual nature (libido) from
within the person & the conflicts between these instincts.
individual (the id)
reality (the ego)
society (the superego)
Concerned more on looking at illness

Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory (Psychosexual Development)

Age
Infant
(Birth-1 yr)

Psychosexual Stage
Oral stage

Characteristics
Child explores the world by using the mouth especially the tongue.

Toddler
(1-3 yr)

Anal Stage

Child learns to control urination & defecation.

Preschooler
(3-5 yr)

Phallic Stage

Child learns sexual identity through awareness of genital area.

School-age
child
(6-12 yr)
Adolescent
(13-20 yr)

Latent Stage

Childs personality development appears to be non-active or dormant.

Genital Stage

Adolescent develops sexual maturity and learns to establish

satisfactory relationships with the opposite sex.

Erik Erikson (1902-1996)

Was trained in psychoanalytic theory but later developed his own theory of psychosocial development that
stressed the importance of culture & society in the development of the personality.
Concerned more on looking at wellness
Each task in his theory need not be resolved for the first time it arises.

Eriksons Theory of Psychosocial Development

Development
Period

Development Task

Characteristics

Infancy
(Birth-1 1/2 yrs.)

Trust vs. mistrust

Child learns to live & be loved.

If not cared, fear & suspicion arises.

Toddlerhood
(1 -3 yrs)

Autonomy vs. shame & doubt

Child learns to be independent and make decisions for self.

If restrained too much/punished harshly likely develops
lack of
confidence.

Early childhood
(Pre-school years)
(3-5 yrs)

Initiative vs. guilt

Child engages in self-initiated activities & assumes more

responsibility.
If made to feel bad/guilty later becomes dependent on
others.

Middle
&
Late
childhood
(elementary
school
yrs)
(6 yrs-puberty)
Adolescence
(10-12 yrs)

Industry vs. inferiority

Child learns mastery of doing things well.

If unrewarded, may feel incompetent & unproductive.

Identity vs. role confusion

Adolescents learn who they are & what kind of person they
will be.
If not role confusion arises & often seeks negative identity.

Early adulthood
(20s, 30s)

Intimacy vs. isolation

Individuals form intimate relationships with others.

If not, will have difficulty dealing with others & become

isolated.
Middle adulthood
(40s, 50s)

Generativity vs. stagnation

Individuals extend socially & able to juggle over various roles

well.
If not, theyll have narrow perspective & are unable to cope
with
change.

Late adulthood
(60s - )

Integrity vs. despair

Individuals look back & evaluate what theyve done positive

(integrity)
If negative (despair)

THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Swiss psychologist, introduced concepts of cognitive development that are similar yet separate to Freud & Erikson.
Piaget defined four stages of cognitive development; within each stage are finer units or schema
Each period is an advantage over the previous one; to progress from one period to next, the child reorganizes his or her
thinking processes to bring them close to reality.

Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimoto
r
Neonatal reflex
Primary circular
reaction
Secondary
circular reaction
Coordination of
secondary
reactions
Tertiary circular
reactions

1
mo.
1-4
mos.
4-8
mos.

Stimuli are assimilated into beginning mental images. Reflexive behavior.

Hand-mouth & ear-eye coordination develop. Intent of behavior present.
activity: rattle, tape of mothers voice
Infant learns to initiate, recognize (as memory is present) & repeat pleasurable exp. toy: mirror; game: peek-aboo

8-12
mos.

Have sense of separateness (separation anxiety), permanence. Recognizes familiar objects.

toy: colored boxes

1218
mos.

Child has space & time perception, permanence; trial & error learning
game: throw & retrieve
Transition phase Uses memory & imitation to act, solve basic problems. Can foresee.

Invention of new
means through
mental
combinations

Preoperation
al Thought
Concrete
Operational
Thought
Formal
Operational
Thought

1824
mos.

2-7
yr.

7-12
yr.
12
yr.

toys: (with several uses) blocks & colored plastic rings

Comprehends the world with words, images & drawings. Comprehends simple abstractions but thinking is
basically concrete & literal. No awareness of reversibility, egocentric, concept of time now; centering, role
fantasy assimilation. No concept of conservation. Intuitive.
toys: (require imaginations) modeling clay
Displays concrete inductive reasoning, memory & classification skills, aware of reversibility, sees constancy
despite transformation
activity: collecting & classifying natural objects
hypothetical - deductive reasoning, understands causality and time periods. Adult & mature thought
(idealistic/logical/abstract)
activity: talk time

It is important that infants have stimulating objects around for exploring so that experimenting and learning can proceed
this way.

THEORY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Lawrence Kohlberg

a psychologist
studied the reasoning ability of boys and based on Piagets developmental stages, developed a theory on moral
reasoning or the way children gain knowledge of right and wrong
children pass through stages of moral development as well as cognitive and psychosocial development.

Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Development

AGE (YEAR)
Preconventional (Level
I)

2-3
4-7
Conventional (Level II)
7-10
10-12

STAGE

1
2

3
4

DESCRIPTION
Punishment/obedience
orientation

Child does right because a parent tells him or her to & to avoid
punishment

Individualism, purpose
& exchange

Do good out of self-interest. Imitative, cannot apply principles,

egocentric.

Orientation
to
interpersonal relations of
mutuality

Engage in actions that are nice or fair rather than right to

be good person in own eyes and eyes of others.

Maintenance
order,
fixed
authority
Postconventional
(Level III)
Older than 12

5
6

CHARACTERISTICS

of
social
rules
&

Social
contract,
utilitarian
law-making
perspectives
Universal
ethical
principle orientation

Child finds following rules satisfying. Obey rules usually when

imposed.

Adolescent follows standards of society because they are

important & right & good for all people.
Adults follow internalized standards of conduct.