Developmental psychology is the essential study of why and how people change throughout their life, and lately, it has received a significant deal of attention. Several scientists studied people of various ages and their development. For example, Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, and Erik Erikson, a German-American psychoanalyst, each created theories of intellectual or cognitive and psychological development. The purpose of this paper is to discuss Piaget’s four stages of intellectual and Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development.
Four Stages of Intellectual Development
Intellectual development is a rather complicated process divided into four parts that are characterized by essential characteristics of thought processes. According to Piaget, they include sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages (Spielman, 2017). As for me, this theory seems rather logical and believable, and I think that all children do progress through all these stages. Even though all four of them are crucial, in my opinion, the preoperational one may be considered the most important. This stage covers children ages two to seven, and precisely during this time, imagination and memory are developing. At this age, children are rather egocentric, and it is difficult for them to think outside of their viewpoints. The importance of this stage is that children learn how to attach meaning to objects with language and think symbolically.
Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development
From infancy to adulthood, each personality goes through eight predetermined stages of psychosocial development. According to Erikson, they are called trust or mistrust, autonomy or shame, initiative or guilt, industry or inferiority, identity or role, intimacy or isolation, generativity or stagnation, and ego integrity or despair (Spielman, 2017). Again, I believe that all people experience and complete these stages. In my opinion, the most essential is the first one, trust and mistrust, which begins at birth and continues to approximately eighteen months of age. During this time, an infant needs consistency and stability of care because he or she is uncertain about the world. If the received attention is reliable, predictable, and consistent, the child will develop a sense of trust and will be able to feel safe even when there is a threat. However, if the infant did not get enough care, anxiety, suspicion, then mistrust may develop. Since trust is a rather crucial feeling that every person needs to have, this stage may be considered the most important one.
Reference
Spielman, R. M., Dumper, K., Jenkins, W., Lacombe, A., Lovett, M., & Perlmutter, M. (2017). Psychology. Houston, TX: OpenStax.