Influences on Development
Cultural, social and historical factors influencing development:
Normative age-graded influences: similar biological influences for individuals at the same age - Ex: puberty
Normative history-graded influences: why people born at the same time (cohort) tend to be similar - impact of historical circumstance on a generation
Non-normative life events: unique occurrences that impact on the individual, independent of historical period
Major Developmental Theories
Psychoanalytic: Freud and Erikson
People move through a series of stages where they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations
Psychosexual stages of development and how three parts of personality (id, ego, and superego) become integrated throughout these stages
Freud was the first person to emphasise the importance of the parent-child relationship on development
Erikson saw development as continuing throughout the lifespan, with fundamental psychosocial conflict at every stage, as opposed to Freud
Birth - 1 yr: Basic trust vs mistrust
1 - 3 yrs: Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt
3 - 6 yrs: Initiative vs Guilt
6 - 11 yrs: Industry vs Inferiority
Adolescence: Identity vs Role Confusion
Early adulthood: Intimacy vs Isolation
Middle age: Generativity vs Stagnation
Behaviourist Theories