Psychosocial Theories

Theory and Models of Development

Theory

A theory is an explanation of a phenomenon or phenomena through a set of interrelated constructs. It explains why a phenomenon happens. Examples include Darwin's theory of natural selection, self-determination theory, and social cognitive theory.

Model

A model represents how a phenomenon happens, providing structure and organization without explaining why. It tells you what’s happening but not why.

Theories of Development

Erikson's Psychosocial Theory

Erikson's psychosocial theory posits that developmental change occurs throughout the lifespan in eight sequential stages. At each stage, individuals experience a conflict or psychosocial crisis that acts as a turning point in their development. Successfully resolving these crises promotes healthy development, while failure to do so can negatively impact it.

  1. Stage 1 (0-1 years): Conflict - Trust vs Mistrust.

    • Trust: reliable care and affection from parents.

    • Mistrust: insufficient or unreliable care and affection.

  2. Stage 2 (2-3 years): Conflict - Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt.

    • Autonomy: sense of independence and personal control.

    • Shame and Doubt: lack of independence and personal control.

  3. Stage 3 (3-5 years): Conflict - Initiative vs Guilt.

    • Initiative: feeling capable and leading others.

    • Guilt: self-doubt and lack of initiative.

  4. Stage 4 (6-12 years): Conflict - Industry vs Inferiority.

    • Industry: competence and confidence in achieving goals.

    • Inferiority: doubt in ability to achieve goals.

  5. Stage 5 (12-18 years): Conflict - Identity vs Confusion.

    • Identity: strong sense of self and independence.

    • Confusion: weak sense of self and insecurity.

  6. Stage 6 (19-40 years): Conflict - Intimacy vs Isolation.

    • Intimacy: loving and enduring relationships.

    • Isolation: loneliness.

  7. Stage 7 (40-65 years): Conflict - Generativity vs Stagnation.

    • Generativity: feeling useful and accomplished.

    • Stagnation: shallow involvement in the world.

  8. Stage 8 (65 years to death): Conflict - Integrity vs Despair.

    • Integrity: achieving wisdom and satisfaction.

    • Despair: feelings of regret and bitterness.

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget's theory posits that all individuals progress through a fixed sequence of universal stages of development from birth to adolescence. While the quantity of information increases in each stage, the quality of knowledge and understanding also evolves. Children actively construct their understanding of the world through schemes, which are organized mental patterns representing behaviors and actions.

  • Assimilation is the process by which individuals understand experiences in terms of their current way of thinking.

  • Accommodation involves changing existing ways of thinking in response to new experiences, adapting schemes to include information that does not fit into existing ones.

Stages of Cognitive Development

  1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years): Children learn about the world by acting on objects, using senses and motor abilities to build schemes in the mind. It is divided into six substages, with the first month involving simple reflexive behaviors and the last substage (beginnings of thought) enabling infants to perform mental representation by the age of 18 months to 2 years.

  2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years): Children think preoperationally, using symbolic functions to represent objects not physically present. This thinking is largely egocentric, and children focus on limited aspects of stimuli, demonstrating centration and failing to grasp conservation, which is the concept that changing an object's appearance does not alter its properties.

  3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-12 years): In this stage, children apply logical operations to concrete problems, moving past egocentrism to take multiple aspects into account (decentering). However, their thinking is still tied to concrete reality, limiting their comprehension of abstract or hypothetical concepts.

  4. Formal Operational Stage (12 years and beyond): Individuals develop the ability to think abstractly, showing increased logical reasoning and the use of deductive reasoning. However, not everyone reaches this stage, and even among adults, only 40-60% fully achieve formal operational thinking, highlighting that scientific reasoning varies in its value across different societies.