Developmental psychologist Erik H. Erikson ( 1902-1994) was best known for his

theory on social development of human beings, and for coining the

phrase identity crisis.

The theory describes eight stages through which a healthily developing human

should pass from infancy to late adulthood. In each stage the person confronts,

and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each stage builds on the successful

completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully

completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.

(Approx.

ages) Stage

&

Psychosocial

crisis

Significant

relations

Psychosocial

modalities

Psychosocial

virtues

Maladaptations

& malignancies

(0-1)

Infant

Trust vs

mistrust

Mother to get,

to give in

return

hope,

faith

sensory

distortion

withdrawal

(2-3)

Toddler

Autonomy vs

Parents

to hold on,

will,

determination

impulsivity

compulsion

shame and

doubt

to let go

(3-6)

Preschooler

Initiative vs

guilt

Family to go after,

to play

purpose,

courage

ruthlessness

inhibition

(7-12)

School-age

child

Industry vs

inferiority

Neighborhood

and school

to complete,

to make

things

together

competence narrow virtuosity

inertia

(12-18)

Adolescent

Ego-identity

vs role-

confusion

Peer groups,

role models

to be oneself,

to share

oneself

fidelity, loyalty fanaticism

repudiation

(20-45)

Young adult

Partners, to lose and

find oneself in

love promiscuity

Intimacy vs

isolation

friends a

another

exclusivity

(30-65)

Middle aged

adult

Generativity

vs self-

absorption

Household,

co-workers

to make be,

to take care of

care overextension

rejectivity

(50+)

Old adult

Integrity vs

despair

Mankind or

"my kind"

to be,

through

having been,

to face not

being

wisdom presumption

despair

Erikson's ideas on how we grow up as create identities is in contrast to Freud's,

who proposed sexual motives behind our behaviour.

http://www.psychologistworld.com/behavior/erikson.php

Developmental psychologists, by and large, study the way humans develop from an embryo into a full grown adult, focusing mainly on the factors that contribute to intelligence, personality, morality, and lifestyle. Of special interest are the effects certain stimuli have

on the development of humans. For instance, does genetics pre-program a person to be introverted, or is that personality trait the result of specific life events that caused him or her to retreat inward? Or, did intense study of music from an early age make someone a gifted musician, or is that something their genes had pre-programmed from the moment of conception?

Over the past hundred years or so, several prominent psychologists and psychiatrists have devised various theories seeking to quantify the developmental stages humans pass through, and in doing so, have sought to map out this difficult process. One of the more

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

ERIK ERIKSON

"Trust versus mistrust" from birth to 18 months

"Autonomy versus shame" from one-and-a-half to three years

"Initiative versus guilt" from three to six years

"Industry versus inferiority" from six to 12 years.

JEAN PIAGET

"Sensorimotor stage" from birth to two years

"Preoperational stage" from two to seven years

"Concrete operational stage" from seven to 12 years

"Formal operational stage" from 13 to adult.

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG

"Preconventional stage," where moral decisions are based on how they themselves are affected

"Conventional stage," where moral judgments are based on the conventions of society, family, religion, or other social order (Many people do not pass beyond this stage.)

"Post-conventional level," where moral judgments are based on personal beliefs.

famous theories of developmental psychology was put forth by the psychological theorist Erik Erikson in 1963 in his important work Childhood and Society. In this work, Erikson suggests that psychosocial development, the changing ways we perceive ourselves individually and in relation to society, occurs in eight stages— only four of which deal with childhood. The first of Erikson's stages is "trust versus mistrust" and occurs from birth to 1 years. The child formulates either a trusting or mistrusting relationship to the world around it, based on whether its immediate needs are met. These needs, at this young age, generally have to do with satisfaction of physical cravings (food, sleep, and comfort) and for feelings of attachment.

The second stage of development Erikson called "autonomy versus shame" and doubt—occurring between 1 and 3 years of age. Here, young children learn to be independent and autonomous on the condition that they are adequately encouraged to explore their world and given the freedom to do so. On the other hand, children with overly restrictive or anxious parents who wield too great an influence over their children's behavior, stifling creativity and independent exploration of their environment, become shameful and self doubting.

Between the ages of three and six, children pass through the stage Erikson refers to as "initiative versus guilt." During this period of development, children seek to further explore their world by initiating new experiences. The guilt comes about when there are unexpected consequences involved in these initiations. The final stage of childhood development is called "industry versus inferiority," and it lasts from age six to 12. Here, children seek to become industrious in all areas of life, from school to interpersonal relations. Mastery of these skills, with adequate support at home

and in school, brings about a sense of overall competence, whereas failure brings about a sense of inferiority.

Another prominent theorist in developmental psychology was Jean Piaget, who developed the four stages of cognitive development. He theorized that people pass from one stage to another not just as a matter of course, but only when they are confronted with the correct type of stimulation to initiate a change. Piaget believed that in the absence of the correct kinds of stimulation, children would never reach their full potential.

According to Piaget, from birth to two years of age, children are in the "sensorimotor" stage of cognitive development. During this stage, children first begin to develop motor skills. They also have little or no ability for what is called symbolic representation, that is, the ability to conceive of things existing outside of their immediate vicinity. Piaget called this ability object permanence. Piaget's next stage is called "preoperational" (from ages two to seven). In this stage, children begin to use language and other representational systems to conceive of, and even discuss, things or people who are not physically present. The chief marker of this stage is what Piaget called egocentric thought. That is, preoperational children can conceive of things that are not present, but they can not conceive of others perceiving what they can not. The classic example of this kind of thinking is the young child who in order to hide simply covers his eyes, thinking that since he can no longer see, no one else can either.

Piaget's next stage is called "concrete operational" and covers the years 7 to 12. Here, children begin to develop clearer methods of thinking, and they start to overcome the egocentrism of the preoperational stage. They begin to better understand spatial relationships and matters of time, but they are largely bound by the concrete world and have trouble conceiving abstract thought. During the formal operational stage, from age 12 to adulthood, people develop the ability to think logically and systematically and to understand abstractions and the concepts of causality and choice. They see that different outcomes can proceed from different actions, and that they are free to choose between various actions depending on a desired outcome. According to Piaget, and to many who believe in his framework, not everyone reaches this stage of

cognitive development. Some researchers assert that as few as 25 percent of the general population reaches the formal operational stage. Still others suggest that it is a culture-based phenomena and that in less technological societies, almost no one reaches the stage—mainly because such thinking is not valued or even necessary.

A final theory dealing with developmental psychology was devised by Lawrence Kohlberg and presented in his 1981 book The Philosophy of Moral Development: Moral Stages and the Idea of Justice. Kohlberg's stages deal with how children formulate moral reasoning at various stages of cognitive development. He called the earliest stage the "preconventional." Here, children base moral decisions on how they themselves are affected. Something is "right," in other words, if they are not likely to be punished for doing it. The next level is the "conventional" stage. During this stage, people base their moral judgments on the conventions of society (or of family or religion or some other social order). Something is "right" during this stage of development if it is something most people would agree is right. Many people do not pass beyond the conventional level of moral reasoning. If they do, they arrive at what Kohlberg calls the "post-conventional level," where moral judgments are based on personal beliefs. People in this stage of moral development will do what they consider is "right" even if it contradicts social norms.

Read more: Theories of Developmental Stages - STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT - Trait Theory, Famous Psychologists, Children, and Moral - JRank Articles http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/183/Developmental-Stages-Theories.html#ixzz3qjSyJJiphttp://psychology.jrank.org/pages/183/Developmental-Stages-Theories.html

Psychosocial StagesErikson’s (1959) theory of psychosocial development has eight distinct stages. Like Freud, Erikson assumes that a crisis occurs at each stage of development. For Erikson (1963),

these crises are of a psychosocial nature because they involve psychological needs of the individual (i.e. psycho) conflicting with the needs of society (i.e. social).

According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues. Basic virtues are characteristic strengths which the ego can use to resolve subsequent crises.

Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self.  These stages, however, can be resolved successfully at a later time.

1. Trust vs. MistrustIs the world a safe place or is it full of unpredictable events and accidents waiting to happen?

Erikson's first psychosocial crisis occurs during the first year or so of life (like Freud's oral stage of psychosexual development). The crisis is one of trust vs. mistrust.

During this stage the infant is uncertain about the world in which they live. To resolve these feelings of uncertainty the infant looks towards their primary caregiver for stability and consistency of care.

If the care the infant receives is consistent, predictable and reliable, they will develop a sense of trust which will carry with them to other relationships, and they will be able to feel secure even when threatened.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of hope. By developing a sense of trust, the infant can have hope that as new crises arise, there is a real possibility that other people will be there are a source of support. Failing to acquire the virtue of hope will lead to the development of fear.

For example, if the care has been harsh or inconsistent, unpredictable and unreliable, then the infant will develop a sense of mistrust and will not have confidence in the world around them or in their abilities to influence events.

This infant will carry the basic sense of mistrust with them to other relationships. It may result in anxiety, heightened insecurities, and an over feeling of mistrust in the world around them.

Consistent with Erikson's views on the importance of trust, research by Bowlby and Ainsworth has outlined how the quality of the early experience of attachment can affect relationships with others in later life.

2. Autonomy vs. Shame and DoubtThe child is developing physically and becoming more mobile. Between the ages of 18 months and three, children begin to assert their independence, by walking away from their mother, picking which toy to play with, and making choices about what they like to wear, to eat, etc.

The child is discovering that he or she has many skills and abilities, such as putting on clothes and shoes, playing with toys, etc. Such skills illustrate the child's growing sense of independence and autonomy. Erikson states it is critical that parents allow their children to explore the limits of their abilities within an encouraging environment which is tolerant of failure.

For example, rather than put on a child's clothes a supportive parent should have the patience to allow the child to try until they succeed or ask for assistance.

So, the parents need to encourage the child to becoming more independent whilst at the same time protecting the child so that constant failure is avoided.

A delicate balance is required from the parent. They must try not to do everything for the child but if the child fails at a particular task they must not criticize the child for failures and accidents (particularly when toilet training). The aim has to be “self control without a loss of self-esteem” (Gross, 1992). Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of will.

If children in this stage are encouraged and supported in their increased independence, they become more confident and secure in their own ability to survive in the world.

If children are criticized, overly controlled, or not given the opportunity to assert themselves, they begin to feel inadequate in their ability to survive, and may then become overly dependent upon others, lack self-esteem, and feel a sense of shame or doubt in their own abilities.

3. Initiative vs. GuiltAround age three and continuing to age five, children assert themselves more frequently. These are particularly lively, rapid-developing years in a child’s life. According to Bee (1992) it is a “time of vigor of action and of behaviors that the parents may see as aggressive".

During this period the primary feature involves the child regularly interacting with other children at school. Central to this stage is play, as it provides children with the opportunity to explore their interpersonal skills through initiating activities.

Children begin to plan activities, make up games, and initiate activities with others. If given this opportunity, children develop a sense of initiative, and feel secure in their ability to lead others and make decisions.

Conversely, if this tendency is squelched, either through criticism or control, children develop a sense of guilt. They may feel like a nuisance to others and will therefore remain followers, lacking in self-initiative.

The child takes initiatives which the parents will often try to stop in order to protect the child. The child will often overstep the mark in his forcefulness and the danger is that the parents will tend to punish the child and restrict his initiatives too much.

It is at this stage that the child will begin to ask many questions as his thirst for knowledge grows. If the parents treat the child’s questions as trivial, a nuisance or embarrassing or other aspects of their behavior as threatening then the child may have feelings of guilt for “being a nuisance”.

Too much guilt can make the child slow to interact with others and may inhibit their creativity. Some guilt is, of course, necessary, otherwise the child would not know how to exercise self control or have a conscience.

A healthy balance between initiative and guilt is important. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue ofpurpose.

4. Industry (competence) vs. InferiorityChildren are at the stage (aged 5 to 12 yrs) where they will be learning to read and write, to do sums, to do things on their own. Teachers begin to take an important role in the child’s life as they teach the child specific skills.

It is at this stage that the child’s peer group will gain greater significance and will become a major source of the child’s self esteem. The child now feels the need to win approval by demonstrating specific competencies that are valued by society, and begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments.

If children are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel industrious and feel confident in their ability to achieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or teacher, then the child begins to feel inferior, doubting his own abilities and therefore may not reach his or her potential.

If the child cannot develop the specific skill they feel society is demanding (e.g. being athletic) then they may develop a sense of inferiority. Some failure may be necessary so that the child can develop some modesty. Yet again, a balance between competence and modesty is necessary. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of competence.

5. Identity vs. Role ConfusionDuring adolescence (age 12 to 18 yrs), the transition from childhood to adulthood is most important. Children are becoming more independent, and begin to look at the future in terms of career, relationships, families, housing, etc. The individual wants to belong to a society and fit in.

This is a major stage in development where the child has to learn the roles he will occupy as an adult. It is during this stage that the adolescent will re-examine his identity and try to find out exactly who he or she is. Erikson suggests that two identities are involved: the sexual and the occupational.According to Bee (1992), what should happen at the end of this stage is “a reintegrated sense of self, of what one wants to do or be, and of one’s appropriate sex role”. During this stage the body image of the adolescent changes.

Erikson claims that the adolescent may feel uncomfortable about their body for a while until they can adapt and “grow into” the changes. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of fidelity.

Fidelity involves being able to commit one's self to others on the basis of accepting others, even when there may be ideological differences.

During this period, they explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity based upon the outcome of their explorations. Failure to establish a sense of identity within society ("I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up") can lead to role confusion. Role confusion involves the individual not being sure about themselves or their place in society.

In response to role confusion or identity crisis an adolescent may begin to experiment with different lifestyles (e.g. work, education or political activities). Also pressuring someone into an identity can result in rebellion in the form of establishing a negative identity, and in addition to this feeling of unhappiness.

6. Intimacy vs. IsolationOccurring in young adulthood (ages 18 to 40 yrs), we begin to share ourselves more intimately with others. We explore relationships leading toward longer term commitments with someone other than a family member.

Successful completion of this stage can lead to comfortable relationships and a sense of commitment, safety, and care within a relationship. Avoiding intimacy, fearing commitment and relationships can lead to isolation, loneliness, and sometimes depression. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of love.

7. Generativity vs. StagnationDuring middle adulthood (ages 40 to 65 yrs), we establish our careers, settle down within a relationship, begin our own families and develop a sense of being a part of the bigger picture.

We give back to society through raising our children, being productive at work, and becoming involved in community activities and organizations.

By failing to achieve these objectives, we become stagnant and feel unproductive. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of care.

8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair

As we grow older (65+ yrs) and become senior citizens, we tend to slow down our productivity, and explore life as a retired person. It is during this time that we contemplate our accomplishments and are able to develop integrity if we see ourselves as leading a successful life.

Erik Erikson believed if we see our lives as unproductive, feel guilt about our past, or feel that we did not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life and develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness.

Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom enables a person to look back on their life with a sense of closure and completeness, and also accept death without fear.

Critical EvaluationErikson is rather vague about the causes of development. What kinds of experiences must people have in order to successfully resolve various psychosocial conflicts and move from one stage to another? The theory does not have a universal mechanism for crisis resolution.

Indeed, Erikson (1964) acknowledges his theory is more a descriptive overview of human social and emotional development that does not adequately explain how or why this development occurs. For example, Erikson does not explicitly explain how the outcome of one psychosocial stage influences personality at a later stage.

One of the strengths of Erikson's theory is its ability to tie together important psychosocial development across the entire lifespan.

Although support for Erikson's stages of personality development exists (McAdams, 1999), critics of his theory provide evidence suggesting a lack of discrete stages of personality development (McCrae & Costa, 1997).\

http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html

Psychological development, the development of human beings’ cognitive, emotional, intellectual, and social capabilities and functioning over the course of the life span, from infancy through old age. It is the subject matter of the discipline known as developmental psychology. Child psychology was the traditional focus of research, but since the mid-20th

century much has been learned about infancy andadulthood as well. A brief treatment of psychological development follows. For full treatment, seehuman behaviour.

InfancyInfancy is the period between birth and the acquisition of language one to two years later. Besides a set of inherited reflexes that help them obtain nourishment and react to danger, newborns are equipped with a predilection for certain visual patterns, including that of the human face, and for certain sounds, including that of the human voice. Within a few months they are able to identify their mother by sight, and they show a striking sensitivity to the tones, rhythmic flow, and individual sounds that make up human speech. Even young infants are capable of complex perceptual judgments involving distance, shape, direction, and depth, and they are soon able to organize their experience by creating categories for objects and events (e.g., people, furniture, food, animals) in the same way older people do.

Infants make rapid advances in both recognition and recall memory, and this in turn increases their ability to understand and anticipate events in their environment. A fundamental advance at this time is the recognition of object permanence—i.e., the awareness that external objects exist independently of the infant’s perception of them. The infant’s physical interactions with his environment progress from simple uncoordinated reflex movements to more coordinated actions that are intentionally repeated because they are interesting or because they can be used to obtain an external goal. About 18 months of age, the child starts trying to solve physical problems by mentally imagining certain events and outcomes rather than through simple trial-and-error experimentation.Three-month-old infants already display behavioral reactions suggestive of such emotional states as surprise, distress, relaxation, and excitement. New emotional states, including anger, sadness, and fear, all appear by the first year. Infants’ emotional life is centred on the attachments they form toward the mother or other primary caregiver, and through these mutual interactions infants learn to love, trust, and depend on other human beings. Babies begin to smile at other people beginning about two months, and by six months they have developed an attachment to their mother or other caregiver. These attachments form the basis for healthy emotional and social development throughout childhood.

ChildhoodThe second major phase in human development, childhood, extends from one or two years of age until the onset of adolescence at age 12 or 13. The early years of childhood are marked by enormous strides in the understanding and use of language. Children begin to comprehend words some months before they themselves actually speak. The average infant speaks his first words by 12–14 months, and by the 18th month he has a speaking vocabulary of about 50 words. The child begins to use two- and then three-word combinations and progresses from simple noun-verb combinations to more grammatically complex sequences, using conjunctions, prepositions, articles, and tenses with growing fluency and accuracy. By the fourth year most children can speak in adultlike sentences and have begun to master the more complex rules of grammar and meaning.In their cognitive abilities, children make a transition from relying solely on concrete, tangible reality to performing logical operations on abstract and symbolic material. Even a two-year-old child behaves as though the external world is a permanent place, independent of his perceptions; and he exhibits experimental or goal-directed behaviour that may be creatively and

spontaneously adapted for new purposes. During the period from two to seven years, the child begins to manipulate the environment by means of symbolic thought and language; he becomes capable of solving new types of logical problems and begins to use mental operations that are flexible and fully reversible in thought. Between the ages of 7 and 12, the beginnings of logic appear in the form of classifications of ideas, an understanding of time and number, and a greater appreciation of seriation and other hierarchical relationships.Emotionally, children develop in the direction of greater self-awareness—i.e., awareness of their own emotional states, characteristics, and potential for action—and they become increasingly able to discern and interpret the emotions of other people as well. This contributes to empathy, or the ability to appreciate the feelings and perceptions of others and understand their point of view. These new abilities contribute to the child’s moral development, which typically begins in early childhood as concern over and avoidance of acts that attract pain and punishment and progresses to a more general regulation of conduct so as to maintain parental regard and approval. A further shift in moral reasoning to one based on the avoidance of internal guilt and self-recrimination marks the passage from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. All of these emotional advances enhance the child’s social skills and functioning.

AdolescencePhysically, adolescence begins with the onset of puberty at 12 or 13 and culminates at age 19 or 20 in adulthood. Intellectually, adolescence is the period when the individual becomes able to systematically formulate hypotheses or propositions, test them, and make rational evaluations. The formal thinking of adolescents and adults tends to be self-consciously deductive, rational, and systematic. Emotionally, adolescence is the time when the individual learns to control and direct his sex urges and begins to establish his own sexual role and relationships. The second decade of life is also a time when the individual lessens his emotional (if not physical) dependence on his parents and develops a mature set of values and responsible self-direction. Physical separation and the establishment of material independence from parents mark the adolescent’s transition to adulthood.

AdulthoodAdulthood is a period of optimum mental functioning when the individual’s intellectual, emotional, and social capabilities are at their peak to meet the demands of career, marriage, and children. Some psychologists delineate various periods and transitions in early to middle adulthood that involve crises or reassessments of one’s life and result in decisions regarding new commitments or goals. During the middle 30s people develop a sense of time limitation, and previous behaviour patterns or beliefs may be given up in favour of new ones.

Middle age is a period of adjustment between the potentialities of the past and the limitations of the future. An emotional rebellion has been observed in some persons, sometimes referred to as a mid-life crisis, engendered by the recognition that less time remains to be lived than has been lived already. In women, dramatic shifts in hormone production lead to the onset of menopause. Often women whose children have grown or have left home experience the “empty-nest syndrome”—feeling unwanted or unneeded. During late middle age individuals become more aware of ill health and thus may consciously or unconsciously alter the patterns of their lives. Individuals accept the limits of their accomplishments and either take satisfaction in them or despair and become anxious over unobtained objectives. During old age sensory and perceptual skills, muscular strength, and memory tend to diminish, though intelligence does not. These

changes, together with retirement from active employment, tend to make the elderly more dependent on their children or other younger people, both emotionally and physically.http://www.britannica.com/topic/psychological-development