Stage Theories of Development

Chapter 2
Stage
Theories of
Development
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Overview
• Erikson: Psychosocial development

• Piaget: Cognitive development
• Vygotsky: Cognitive development
• Using technology to promote cognitive
development
• Piaget, Kohlberg, & Gilligan: Moral
development
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Erikson: Basic principles
• Epigenetic principle
– Idea that development progresses through
a series of interrelated stages and that
each stage has a critical period of
development
• Psychosocial crisis
– Turning points; conflict between opposing
psychological qualities

Erikson: Stages of psychosocial
development
• Trust vs. mistrust (birth to 1 year)
• Autonomy vs. shame & doubt
(2 to 3 years)
• Initiative vs. guilt (4 to 5 years)
• Industry vs. inferiority (6 to 11 years)

Erikson: Stages of psychosocial
development (cont’d)
• Identity vs. role confusion
(12 to 18 years)
• Intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood)
• Generativity vs. stagnation
(middle adulthood)
• Integrity vs. despair (older adulthood)

Marcia: Identity statuses
• Diffusion
– No crisis; no commitment; little self-
direction, impulsive, and low self-esteem
• Foreclosure
– No crisis; commitment made; close-minded
and accepts and endorses parental
choices and values

Marcia: Identity statuses (cont’d)
• Moratorium
– Crisis experienced; no commitment;
anxious, changes major often, and often
dissatisfied
• Achievement
– Crisis experienced; commitment made;
introspective, planful, logical, and high self-
esteem

Marcia: Identity statuses chart
Commitment
Yes No
Yes Achievement Moratorium
Crisis
No Foreclosure Diffusion

Erikson: Criticisms
• Vague and difficult to test

• Based on personal and subjective
interpretations
• Reflect the personality development of
males more than females
• Early stages seem to stress the same
basic qualities

Piaget: Basic concepts
• Scheme
– Organized pattern of behavior or thought
• Organization
– Tendency to coherently systematize and
combine processes into general systems

Piaget: Basic concepts (cont’d)
• Adaptation
– Process of creating a good fit between
one’s conception of reality and one’s
experiences
• Equilibration
– Tendency to organize schemes to allow
better understanding of experiences

Piaget: Basic concepts
• Adaptation is accomplished by:

– Assimilation
– Interpreting an experience by fitting into an
existing scheme
– Accommodation
– Interpreting an experience by changing an
existing scheme to incorporate the
experience

Piaget: Stages of cognitive development
Stage Age Range Characteristics
Sensorimotor Birth to 2 years Develops schemes primarily
through sense and motor
activities. Recognizes
performance of objects not
seen.
Preoperational 2 to 7 years Gradually acquires ability to
conserve and decenter, but
not capable of operations.
Concrete 7 to 11 years Capable of operations, but
operational solves problems by
generalizing from concrete
experiences.
Formal 11 years and Able to deal with abstractions,
operational older form hypotheses, solve
problems systematically,
engage in mental
manipulations.

Piaget: Criticisms
• Underestimated children’s capabilities

• Overestimated adolescents’ capabilities
• Vague explanations for cognitive growth
• No consideration for cultural differences

Vygotsky: Basic assumptions
• Thinking is influenced by one’s culture

(social forces, historical forces)
• Psychological tools aid and change
one’s thought processes
• Social interaction is the primary cause
of cognitive development

Vygotsky: Instruction
• Zone of proximal development

– Difference between what a child can do on his own
and what can be accomplished with some assistance
• Scaffolding
– Supporting learning during its early phases;
as students become more capable of working
independently, supports are withdrawn
• Well-designed instruction should be aimed slightly
ahead of what a child knows and can do

Comparison of Piaget and Vygotsky
Piaget Vygotsky
Role of More strongly More strongly
Social influenced by influenced by those
Interaction peers than by more intellectually
adults advanced
Role of Formal instruction Instruction important
Instruction does not have zone of proximal
significant impact development (ZPD)

Using technology to promote
cognitive development
• Technology applied to Piaget
– Microworlds
– Microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL)
– Student debates on the Internet
• Technology applied to Vygotsky
– Cognitive apprenticeship with technology
(tele-apprenticeship)
– Interaction with peers as well as experts
on the Internet

Piaget: Moral development
• Morality of constraint (moral realism)

– Rules are sacred; consequences
determine all guilt
• Morality of cooperation
(moral relativism)
– Rules are flexible; intent is important
in determining guilt

Kohlberg: Heinz dilemma
“In Europe a woman was near death from cancer. One drug
might save her, a form of radium that a druggist in the same
town had recently discovered. The druggist was charging
$2,000, ten times what the drug cost him to make. The sick
woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow
the money, but he could only get together about 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.”
The husband got desperate and broke into the man’s store to
steal the drug for his wife. Should the husband have done that?”
(Kohlberg, 1969, p. 376).

Kohlberg: Stages of moral reasoning
• Level 1: Preconventional morality

– Stage 1 Punishment-obedience orientation
– Stage 2 Instrumental relativist orientation
• Level 2: Conventional morality
– Stage 3 Good boy-nice girl orientation
– Stage 4 Law-and-order orientation
• Level 3: Postconventional morality
– Stage 5 Social contract orientation
– Stage 6 Universal ethical principle orientation

Kohlberg: Criticisms
• Moral dilemmas are too removed from

everyday social interactions
• Relied too much on the participants’
abilities to clearly explain their solutions
(inability eliminated some participants)
• Theory does not adequately address
micromoral issues
• Research was only done with males
Gilligan: Moral development
• Believes that females are less concerned

about separation and independence and
more concerned about remaining loyal
through expressions of caring, understanding,
and sharing experiences
• More likely to resolve identity vs. role
confusion and intimacy vs. isolation at the
same time

End of
Chapter 2
Stage
Theories of
Development

Stage Theories of Development

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Chapter 2

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• Erikson: Psychosocial development

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Yes Achievement Moratorium

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• Vague and difficult to test

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• Adaptation is accomplished by:

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• Underestimated children’s capabilities

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• Thinking is influenced by one’s culture

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• Zone of proximal development

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• Morality of constraint (moral realism)

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• Level 1: Preconventional morality

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• Moral dilemmas are too removed from

• Believes that females are less concerned

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