ACTIVITY

A personal timeline is a graph or diagram that visualizes significant

moments in a person's life. ... To create a personal timeline of a
person, list down all important, influential events during his lifetime
and arrange them in a chronological order.
Theories of Development

Annalee B. Defante
PSYCHOSEXUAL THEORY

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

 Five stages of psychosexual development
 Each stage focuses on a part of the body for
experiencing pleasure.
 How conflicts between sources of pleasure
are resolved determines adult personality.
When conflict is not resolved:

 Individuals may develop a fixation

 A fixation occurs when the individual remains

locked in an earlier developmental stage
because needs are under- or over-gratified.
Oral Stage (0 - 1 year)
 All gratification through mouth.
 Weaned too early or late will develop personality
problems.
 Dependency or rejection of others
 Due to a parent weaning too early, as an adult
the individual seeks out oral gratification through
smoking, drinking, gum chewing, eating, talking
 Excessive use of oral stimulation.
Anal Stage (1 - 3 year old)
 Issue is control through Toilet training.
 Dirty vs. Lavish Praise
 Rigid rules or Irresponsible & Rebellious
 Due to a parent being too strict with potty
training, as an adult the individual is
excessively neat and orderly (known as “Anal
Retentive”).
If parents exhibit extremes during toilet training,
then a child may grow up to be anally expulsive or
anally retentive
•“anally expulsive” - limited levels of self-control,
stubborn, rebellion, are disorganized/
scatterbrained
•“anally retentive” – obsession to control,
obsessively organized, and overly obedient to
authority
Phallic Stage (3rd to 6th year)
 Focus is on the genital areas
 (Boys vs. Girls)
 Parents seen as threats.
 Oedipal Complex: Mother son dynamic
 Electra Complex: Father daughter dynamic
 Wide range of psychological disorders through
failure to resolve this conflict, (unreasonable anxiety,
phobias, & depression)
 Due to a parent punishing the child for
masturbating, as an adult the individual seeks out
pornography.
 Unresolved complexes can lead to a difficult in
dealing with authority figures and a tendency to
have trouble with loving relationships
 Boys and girls eventually decide to identify with the
same sex parent due to the strong competition
against the same sex parent
Latency Stage (6th to Puberty)

 Sexual Desires pushed into background.

 Not necessarily a stage in psychosexual
development; is more of transitioning period
between the Phallic and Genital Stages
 Sexual drive is dormant (sleeping) during this
time
Genital Stage (Puberty +)

 Libidinal energy returns to the sexual organs.

 Seek marriage partner, prepare for adult life.
 Due to a parent smothering a child with too
much attention, as an adult the individual has
difficulty in romantic relationships due
to being extremely “needy.”
 According to Freud, proper movements
through each of the five psychosexual stages
shouldn’t result in any consequences

 However, conflicts in specific psychosexual

stages can impact the life of an individual
drastically.
Freud's Psychosexual Stages
Psychosexual Stage Approximate Age Description

Oral Birth - 1 year The mouth is the focus of stimulation and

interaction; feeding and weaning are
central.

Anal 1 - 3 years The anus is the focus of stimulation and

interaction; elimination and toilet training
are central.

Phallic 3 - 6 years The genitals (penis, clitoris, and vagina)

are the focus of stimulation; gender role
and moral development are central.

Latency 6 - 12 years A period of suspended sexual activity;

energies shift to physical and intellectual
activities.

Genital 12 - adulthood The genitals are the focus of stimulation

with the onset of puberty; mature sexual
relationships develop.
PSYCHO-SOCIAL THEORY

Erik Erikson (1902-1994)

 Expanded on Freud's theories.
 Eight stages of development unfold throughout the entire
life span.
 Each stage consists of a unique developmental task that
confronts individuals with a crisis that must be faced.
 The more an individual resolves the crises successfully,
the healthier development will be.
 Personality development is a lifelong experience and is
influences by three interrelated forces.
 Erickson Forces
 The individual’s biological and physical
strengths and weaknesses
 the person’s unique life circumstances and
developmental history, including early family
experiences and degree of success in
resolving earlier development crises; and
 the particular social, cultural, and historical
forces at work during the individual’s lifetime.
Erikson believed that “each
stage of life is associated
with a specific
psychological struggle, a
struggle that contributes to
a major aspect of
personality.”
Life is a series of stages. Each individual must
pass through each stage. The way in which a
person handles each of these stages affects the
person’s identity and self-concept.
Stage 1 – Oral Sensory: Trust vs. Mistrust

 birth to 2 years (infancy)

 basic conflict is trust vs.
mistrust
 the important event is feeding
and the important relationship
is with the mother
 the infant must develop a
loving, trusting relationship
with the mother/caregiver
through feeding, teething and
comforting
 failure to resolve this conflict
can lead to sensory distortion,
and withdrawal
 Trust vs. Mistrust

This stage is all about fulfilling needs.

The baby needs to trust the world around them to
take care of their needs.
 If they are hungry, they need to develop trust that
they will be fed.
If they are not fed, or their diaper is left dirty, they
may develop a mistrust in the outside world.
This sense of trust of mistrust can effect us
throughout the rest of our lives.
 Stage 2 – Muscular-Anal
Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt
 Age 2 to 3 years (toddler)
 Basic conflict is autonomy vs.
shame/doubt
 The important event is toilet
training and the important
relationship is with the parents
 The child’s energy is directed
towards mastering physical skills
such as walking, grasping and
muscular control
 The child learns self control but
may develop shame, doubt,
impulsivity or compulsion if not
handled well
 Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

Autonomy means being your own boss.

Here a toddler tries to control their own bodies by
toilet training and their environment, by always
saying "NO!!!!".
Sometimes they do poop in their pants or get
yelled at by their parents, causing shame and doubt
in their own abilities.
If we learn how to control ourselves in reasonable
ways, we develop a healthy will. We are then able to
face the later challenges of life.
 Stage 3 – Locomotor :Initiative vs Guilt
 age 3 to 6 years (preschool)
 basic conflict is initiative vs. guilt
 the important event is
independence and the important
relationship is family
 the child continues to become
more assertive in exploration,
discovery, adventure and play
 the child may show too much
force in this stage causing feelings
of guilt
 failure to resolve this conflict can
lead to ruthlessness and inhibition
 Initiative vs. Guilt

Here the key word in a child's life changes from "No!" to

why?".
In this stage children want to understand the world and they
ask too many why questions!!!!
 If their initiative in questioning the world is encouraged, then
they will feel comfortable with expressing their curiosity
throughout the rest of their life.
If we discourage them and tell them to shut up, then they will
feel guilty about their questioning and avoid being
inquisitive later.
Stage 4 – Latency: Industry vs. Inferiority

 age 6 to 12 years (school age)

 the basic conflict in this stage is
industry vs. inferiority
 the important event is school and
the important relationships are
teachers, friends and
neighbourhood
 the child must learn to deal with
new skills and develop a sense of
achievement and accomplishment
 failure to do so can create a sense
of inferiority, failure and
incompetence
 Industry vs. Inferiority

This is where most children begin formal education (what

we call school).
For the first time children are being formally evaluated.
 If a child raises their hand in class and answers a
question correctly, then he/she will feel industrious
(competent).
If he/she tries to answer a question but stutters to get out the
wrong answer, and other students all start making fun of
his/her speech impediment, then the child will feel inferior.
 Stage 5 – Adolescence
Identity vs. Role Confusion
 age 12 to 19 years (adolescent)
 the basic conflict is identity vs. role
confusion
 the important event is development of peer
relationships and the important
relationships are peers, groups and social
influences
 The teenager must achieve a sense of
identity in occupation, sex roles, politics
and religion. In addition, they must resolve
their identity and direction.
 Failure to make these resolutions can lead
to the repression of aspects of the
individual for the sake of others (fanaticism)
 Identity vs. Role Confusion

In adolescence, Erikson believed that a teenager’s main

social need is to discover his or her social identity.
While searching for your identity, you may try out
different roles, like trying to fit into various social groups,
experimenting with drugs or sex, or just changing your
wardrobe.
You should be trying to find a stable sense of self now, or
Erikson believed you may have an identity crisis later.
Stage 6 – Young Adulthood
Intimacy vs. Isolation

 age 19 to 40 years
 the basic conflict in young
adulthood is intimacy vs. isolation
 the important event is the loving
relationships to lovers, friends and
work connections
 in this stage, the individual must
develop intimate relationships
through work and social life
 failure to make such connections
can lead to promiscuity, exclusivity
and isolation
 Intimacy vs. Isolation

Young adults (early 20s into early 30s) are trying to

balance their career efforts (work, school or self-
improvement) with the need to be in an intimate relationship
with another person.
How much time should I spend looking for a relationship?
What if I don't find anybody?
 What if I am all alone for the rest of my life?
 Stage 7 – Middle Adulthood
Generativity vs. Stagnation
 age 40 to 60 years
 the basic conflict is generativity vs.
stagnation
 the important event is parenting and the
important relationships are with
children and the community
 this stage is based on the idea that each
adult must find a way to satisfy, support
and contribute to the next generation; it
is often thought of as giving back
 failure to resolve this stage can lead to
stagnation or rejection
 Generativity vs. Stagnation

Erikson believed that by the time we reach our mid 40s to mid
50s we start to really examine our lives and see if it is going
the way we planned it or did it take a drastic turn.
This is where some people take drastic steps and change their
lives.
We could see a lot of late divorces or extreme changes in clothes
or cars- we call this experience a mid life crisis.
 Stage 8 – Maturity
Integrity vs. Despair
 age 60 to death
 the basic conflict is integrity vs.
despair
 the important event is
reflection on and acceptance
of the individual’s life
 the individual is creating
meaning and purpose of one’s
life and reflecting on life
achievements
 failure to resolve this conflict
can create feelings of disdain &
despair.
 Integrity vs. Despair

Towards the end of our lives we look back and

evaluate ourselves.
Did we live a good life?
Leave behind a legacy of friends or family? Or did we
waste our time playing on Play station?
 If we feel like there were many lost opportunities
along the way we may fall into despair.
 LET’S REVIEW

1. Can feel despair if conflict isn’t resolved in this stage.

2. Stage when parents are the important relationship and
independence is the event.
3. Stage when event is potty training.
4. Stage when identity is rooted in occupation and peers
are important.
5. Stage when the mother or caregiver is important.
6. Conflict is industry vs. inferiority.
7. Giving back is important during this stage.
 Answers

1. Stage 8; Maturity (integrity vs despair)

2. Stage 3; Locomotor (initiative vs guilt)
3. Stage 2; Muscular-Anal (autonomy vs shame &
doubt)
4. Stage 5; Adolescence (identity vs role confusion)
5. Stage 1; Oral Sensory (trust vs mistrust)
6. Stage 4; Latency (industry vs inferiority)
7. Stage 7; Middle Adulthood (generativity vs
stagnation)
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980)

 A child’s capacity to understand certain concepts is based on the child’s
developmental stage.

 Believed that all children develop according to four stages based on how they see
the world.
1. Sensori-motor (birth –2 years)
2. Preoperational (2-7)
3. Concrete operational (7-11)
4. Formal operations (11-adulthood)
 At each new stage, people incorporate new experiences into what they know
based on skills they have developed earlier in previous stages.
 PIAGET’S COGNITIVE STAGES

Two processes are

Sensorimotor Birth - essential
2 years
for development:
Child develops schemes
primarily through sense and
motor activities

a.Assimilation
Preoperational 2 – 7 years Child can think symbolically;

Learning to understand events or objects,

holds egocentric view of the
world

based on existing structure.

Concrete Operational 7 – 11 years Child becomes able to
manipulate logical relationships

b. Accommodation among concepts but only by

generalizing from concrete

Expanding
Formal Operational understanding,
11 years - adulthood based on
experiences

new information. Child is able to deal with

abstractions, form hypotheses,
solve problems systematically
 PIAGET’S COGNITIVE STAGES
Sensorimotor Birth - 2 years Infants construct an understanding of
the world by coordinating sensory
experiences with physical, motor
actions.

Preoperational 2 – 7 years Children begin to represent the world

with words, images, and drawings.

Concrete Operational 7 – 11 years Children can perform mental

operations. They become able to
manipulate logical relationships
among concepts but only by
generalizing from concrete
experiences

Formal Operational 11 years - Individual is able to deal with

adulthood abstractions, form hypotheses, solve
problems systematically
 KOHLBERG'S
MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987)

 Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on the earlier work of cognitive theorist Jean
Piaget to explain the moral development of children, which he believed
follows a series of stages.
 Moral reasoning is the aspect of cognitive development that has to do with
the way an individual reasons about moral decisions
 This theory is a stage theory. In other words, everyone goes through the
stages sequentially without skipping any stage.

 According to stage theory, people cannot understand moral reasoning

more than one stage ahead of their own. For example, a person in Stage 1
can understand Stage 2 reasoning but nothing beyond that.
 Kohlberg defined three levels of moral development: pre conventional,
conventional, and post conventional.
Levels of Moral Reasoning
 Pre conventional—moral reasoning is based on
external rewards and punishments

 Conventional—laws and rules are upheld

simply because they are laws and rules

 Post conventional—reasoning based on

personal moral standards
 The Heinz Dilemma:

A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors
thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had
recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten
times what the drug cost him to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000
for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew
to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $1,000 which is half of what it
cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him
pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money
from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.

Should Heinz steal the drug? Why or why not?

Preconventional
Moral Reasoning
Stages 1 & 2
Stage 1: Punishment & Obedience

 Focus on direct consequences

 Negative actions will result in punishments

EXAMPLE: Heinz shouldn’t steal the drug

because he’d go to jail if he got caught.
Stage 2: Mutual Benefit/Self Interest

 Getting what one wants often requires giving

something up in return
 “Right” is a fair exchange.
 Morals guided by what is “fair”

EXAMPLE: Heinz should steal the drug because

the druggist is being greedy by charging so
much.
 Conventional
Moral Reasoning
Stages 3 & 4
Stage 3: Interpersonal Expectations
and Conformity
 An attempt to live up to the expectations of
important others
 Follow rules or do what others would want so
that you win their approval
 Negative actions will harm those relationships

EXAMPLE: Heinz should try to steal the drug

because that’s what a devoted husband would do.
Stage 4: Authority and Social Order

 To maintain social order, people must resist

personal pressures and follow the laws of
the larger society
 Respect the laws & authority

EXAMPLE: Heinz should not steal the drug

because that would be against the law and
he has duty to uphold the law.
Postconventional
Moral Reasoning
Stages 5 & 6
Stage 5: Legal Principles/Social Contract

 Must protect the basic rights of all people by

upholding the legal principles of fairness, justice,
equality & democracy.
 Laws that fail to promote general welfare or that
violate ethical principles can be changed,
reinterpreted, or abandoned
EXAMPLE: Heinz should steal the drug because his
obligation to save his wife’s life must take precedence
over his obligation to respect the druggist’s property
rights.
Stage 6: Universal Moral Principles
 Self-chosen ethical principles
 Profound respect for sanctity of human life, nonviolence,
equality & human dignity
 Moral principles take precedence over laws that might
conflict with them,
 Conscientious objectors – refuses to be drafted because they
are morally opposed to war.

EXAMPLE: Heinz should steal the drug even if the person

was a stranger and not his wife. He must follow his
conscience and not let the druggist’s desire for money
outweigh the value of a human life.
Other Dilemmas to Consider