DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
SRUTHI S.
19BPY034
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES
03-10-2019
ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY
Erikson’s Theory was influenced by Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual
Development. He split life into 8 stages, based on changes regarding social
interaction and experiences. He also focuses on developmental changes
throughout the lifespan and the challenges that arise during the stages.
He believed that personality developed in a predetermined order; during certain
stages, certain virtues are gained.
©Psychology Discussion
Erikson’s approach is optimistic as it does not just focus on the fixations of
stages but instead on the possibility that things could go both wrong and right
during a stage. The first four stages are determined by our parents, peers and
social interactions but the last four stages there is expression of free will and
independency.
As the name of the theory suggests, Erikson believes that a child’s character
depends on the psychosocial interactions rather than being biologically or
genetically determined. In the Nature versus Nurture argument, it could be said
that Erikson sides with Nurture.
Erikson’s theory does not explain how or why development occurs during the
stages. It is more of a descriptive approach rather than an explanatory one.
Moreover, it does not focus on cognitive development.
According to Carol Gilligan (1982), these stages only apply to men. Although
Erikson did recognise a different pattern of development for women and girls,
he did not make the additions in his theory.
One significant method of research he employed was play construction. Based
on this he made conclusions about the differences between girls and boys. He
concluded the differences as biological in nature, depending on the presence or
absence of a penis, neglecting the possibilities that those differences could be of
cultural origin or due to sex-roles that kids are expected to stick to.
FREUD’S PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY
Sigmund Freud proposed that development occurse due to the interactions
between the conscious and unconscious elements of the mind: Id, Ego and
Superego. In short, Id is the Pleasure principle that is responsible for our innate
desires and urges, Ego is the Reality principle that emerges from id with time
and forms a compromise between what we desire and what reality can provide
us, Super ego is the Moral principle that arises from ego and is responsible for
us realisation of the good and the bad, right and wrong, the pride we feel when
we do good and the guilt we feel when we do wrong.
Freud’s proposed that psychological development occurs through a series of
stages. The name ‘psychosexual stages’ is used as each stage represents the
focus of libido in certain parts of the body; libido is sexual urge or desire.
Freud’s theory is highly controversial. He focused too much on sexuality and
sexual desires and neglected social relationships. He did not include cognitive
developmental processes in his theory either.
Oedipus Complex:
According to Freud, children have repressed sexual urges towards their
opposite-sex parent which simultaneously results in the hatred or a feeling of
enmity to same-sex parent. This is mainly applied to male children. This
proposition by Freud is highly controversial. The fondness felt towards a parent
is considered to have a sexual background.
The analogous stage to this, The Electra Complex, was coined by Carl Jung.
Freud clarified that his proposition applied to both boys and girls, in different
aspects however. His views about female sexuality were heavily criticised. He
later admitted that he was not fully aware of the sexual life of females and
called it the dark continent of psychology, assuming it was because of not
enough light being shed on the topic during his days.
Penis Envy:
Freud considered a person to be whole, only in the presence of a penis.
Projecting this view onto girl children, he says that they feel incomplete without
a penis and hence develop penis envy, which is the feeling of envy towards
boys for possessing a penis, one that they lack.
COMPARING FREUD AND ERIKSON
Freud proposed that the personality develops fully by the age of 5, whereas
Erikson believed that personality develops continually throughout the life span
in distinct stages.
Erikson treated Ego as an independent component of the personality and not as
something that was dependant on Id.
The main focus of Erikson’s theories was that children kept learning from the
external environment rather than succumbing to their inner desires, like Freud
put-forth.
VYGOTSKY’S THEORY OF SOCIO-CULTURAL COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
In the early 20th century, Lev Vygotsky put forward this cognitive theory. The
main takeaway from this proposition is that children mainly learned (cognitive
development) from interacting with other people, usually older people who are
more skilled than they are.
The two main principles in Vygotsky’s work are- Zone of Proximal
Development [ZPD] and More Knowledgeable Other [MKO].
ZPD is the difference between the amount of knowledge one can gain by itself
and what they can learn from an MKO.
An MKO is anybody who is more knowledge than the child. Although implied
to mean teachers, parents and adults in general, an MKO can even be the child’s
peers or anyone with more knowledge and experience regarding a particular
topic.
Scaffolding is the process in which the child overcomes the Zone of Proximal
Development with assistance from the More Knowledgeable Other.
On a research conducted by Vygotsky with two groups of children, he found out
that the children who had a guide who had helped them previously found it
easier to do a task than the other children who were made to work on the same
task by themselves.
Vygotsky also focus on how language develops and put forth the Language
Development Theory. According to him, language develops through social
interactions.
Some of the criticisms he received was-
The ZPD does not explain the process of development or how development
actually occurs (Chaiklin, 2003)
Vygotsky focused too much on verbal communication and failed to include
forms of non-verbal communication which was predominantly used in many
cultures.
Vygotsky based a lot of his findings on researches that were done on his
children, which cannot be applied to a larger population.
PIAGET’S THEORY OF SOCIO-CULTURAL COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
Jean Piaget proposed that children developed through 4 stages. According to
him, children actively participated in acquiring knowledge from the
surrounding, that added to pre-existing information.
Piaget was the first to propose that children thought differently from adults and
that intelligence was not an innate quality but developed over time during
various stages of childhood.
Vygotsky believed that the thought process of older children differed from
younger children, not only in the amount of information stored (quantitative)
but also in the way they think (qualitative).
A number of educational strategies have been inspired by Vygotsky’s theory.
He made a significant impact in the field of education.
Piaget has been criticised for using a very action-oriented approach. He states
that cognitive development relies on certain physical action during the stages.
But it has been proven that children who have physical disabilities since birth,
have a proper cognitive development.
Later tests (Segall and others, 1990 cited in Gray, 1994)) have shown that
Piaget's formal operational period and even the concrete operational period are
heavily dependent on formal Western schooling.
According to Gray (1994), cognitive developments are very slow; so slow that
he believes there is no need for theories with stages.
COMPARING PIAGET AND VYGOTSKY
Both Piaget and Vygotsky developed stages of cognitive development and
believe that nature and nurture co-exist to influence the development.
Both of them believe that there is a increase in development during childhood
and a steady decline as the person ages.
While Piaget believed that cognitive development is the same across all cultures
and environment, Vygotsky did not agree with this and proposed that
development is different across different cultures.
A main difference between Piaget and Vygotsky regarding language
development is that, Piaget proposed that language is the result of cognitive
development whereas Vygotsky believed that language is the key to unlock
cognitive development.
A very significant point in Piaget’s theory is the proposal that a child learns
more through active exploration and self-learning. Conversely, Vygotsky’s
theory talks more about the learning done with the help of a more
knowledgeable person.
CONCLUSION- NEED FOR DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES
Developmental theorists work to predict, understand and explain the various
behaviours that occurs throughout the lifespan. Understanding these theories
can provide insight into society and individuals. Prior to these theories, children
were merely considered as small adults who were not given much importance.
The emotional, social and physical development of young children has a direct
effect on their overall development and on the adult they will become.
The seeds to some of the disorders, that emerge in adulthood, were sowed
during childhood. Hence it is important to learn about these theories, be aware
of the loopholes and fix them.
REFERENCES
http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/importance-early-childhood-
development/according-experts
https://www.verywellmind.com/child-development-theories-2795068
https://www.verywellmind.com/support-and-criticism-of-piagets-stage-
theory-2795460
https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html
https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html#piaget
https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-
2795457
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Discuss-and-Evaluate-Vygotskys-
Theory-of-Cognitive-P3CTEBN3VC
http://www.psychologydiscussion.net/developmental-psychology/
eriksons-stages-of-psychological-development-psychology/13403
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-an-oedipal-complex-2795403
https://www.verywellmind.com/freuds-stages-of-psychosexual-
development-2795962
https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/freud-psychosexual-development/
https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/vygotsky-theory/
