Compare Two Different Theories in Developmental Psychology

Compare Two Different Theories in Developmental Psychology
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Introduction
Development psychology refers to a scientific approach aiming at explaining how adults and children change over time. A considerable proportion of theories in this discipline focus on childhood development since it is during this period, in a person’s life, when most changes happen. It is critical that the main goals of development psychology are to optimize, describe, and explain development. Additionally, development psychology did not exist before the industrial revolution, but it emerged when the need for an educated workforce arose. Consequently, psychologists such as Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson examined the topic. This paper analyzes, compares, and contrasts Erikson and Piaget’s developmental theories.
Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory
Piaget identified four stages: sensorimotor, formal operational, preoperational, and concrete operational. The first stage, sensorimotor, starts after birth and continues until the child is between 18 months and 2-years. The stage involves usage of motor activity without using symbols (McLeod, 2015). Children in this age bracket cannot predict reaction. Therefore, they keep on experimenting and learning through trial and error. Their cognitive development increases with their increase in mobility. The preoperational stage or the second stage occurs between two and seven years (Wood, Smith & Grossniklaus, 2001). Children in this stage begin to use language, develop their memory, and imagination. They also employ make believe and gain the ability to express and understand relationships between the future and the past (Keenan and Evans, 2009).
The third stage, the concrete operational stage, occurs between the age of seven and eleven. During this stage, intellectual development is portrayed through systematic and logical manipulation of symbols that are related to concrete objects (McLeod, 2015). The child’s thinking becomes less egocentric by increasing awareness of external occurrences. Finally, the period from adolescence to adulthood is referred to as the formal operational stage. Adults and adolescents use symbols relating to abstract concepts. People in this stage can think of multiple things in systematic ways, think about abstract concepts and relationships and can formulate hypotheses. Piaget believed that developing intellectually was a lifelong process (McLeod, 2015). However, he thought that when one attained formal operational thought, there was no need for new structures.
Studies on Piaget’s Theory
Piaget’s Cognitive development theory influenced educators and researchers like Mukunthan (2014). Consequently, the author conducted a study on children from Sri Lanka between the ages of four and eight. The research problem in this study is to understand the applicability of conception among children on concepts of ‘space’ and ‘conservation’ as presented in Piaget’s theory (Mukunthan, 2014). The study used tests with children aged between four and eight while observing their performances in order to achieve the study’s objectives. It is notable that the fact that the study was an observation study implies that the study participants were not presented with any research tools. Additionally, the study uses an effective and appropriate research design (observational study design) because the researcher wanted to establish whether Piaget’s theory applies to children from different backgrounds.
The results from this study reveal that there is no significant difference between the researcher’s findings and Piaget’s findings on the conception of children of the concepts mentioned above. (Mukunthan, 2014). However, children in estates had a higher conception of both space and conservation concepts. Finally, these findings also show that conception of these two concepts increases with age. It follows that the response being measured in the study were children’s ages and their backgrounds. The researcher concludes that the conception of the two concepts presented in Piaget’s cognitive development theory is applicable to children in Sri Lanka (Mukunthan, 2014). The results from this study are important since they show that Piaget’s theory is applicable to any child, despite his/her location.
Çil and Çepni (2012) analyzed the national exam for children (between ages twelve and fifteen) using Piaget’s theory with an aim of establishing whether exams contribute to a child’s cognitive ability. As a result, the study used document analysis that was appropriate for the study because the study reviewed a variety of literature on the topic. The fact that the author used a document analysis design implies that nothing was presented to the study participants. It is notable that the study established that Turkish children have a weak hypothetical thinking ability and concluded that national exams assist students to gain cognitive abilities in the formal operational stage (Çil & Çepni, 2012). Therefore, it could be deduced that cognitive ability was the response measured by the author in addition to the fact that the study answered the research question. Although the results of this study never met the expectations of the researchers, they found that some students in Grade 6 to 7 had difficulty with correlation thinking, just as Piaget claims. This study is important because it urges the human race to appreciate that exams improve an individual’s cognitive ability.
Another study on Piaget’s theory aimed to help classroom teachers to apply Piaget theory when teaching (Farooq and Ashraf, 2011). Farooq and Ashraf (2011) use the library reference technique, which is an appropriate study design because the authors intended to survey literature on the topic. According to this study, teachers should understand that children do not think like adults and they might have different cognition level even at the same age. This leads to the conclusion that no classroom teacher can work effectively without understanding the cognitive development of children. Thus, it could be deduced that the response measured by the researchers was the level of cognitive development for different students. Additionally, the study did not involve any study participants, implying no study tool was presented to the study participants. Clearly, the results answer the research question because the authors established that Piaget’s theory is useful to teachers. This is an excellent research for teachers since it can help them cope with children and understand them (Farooq and Ashraf, 2011).
The main strength of this theory is that it is accurate. On the other hand, the main weakness of this theory is that Piaget underestimated what children can do during infancy. The other weakness is on the idea of developmental stages. This theory implies that when children rearrange their cognitive structures, they gain a higher level of logical thought. Once this is achieved, the new organizations and structures presumably apply around all contexts. However, in real life, this is not what happens. Critical to the discussion is the fact that the least criticized concept is that children are active participants in their own development and learning.
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
Erik Erikson developed the Erikson’s psychosocial theory by proposing a lifespan development model. The theory has five stages occurring from age zero to age 18 and 3 stages that extend into adulthood (Brent and Lewis, 2013). It is notable that the researcher emphasizes on development during adolescence because the stage molds an individual’s identity. As evidence, Erikson alludes to the epigenic principle by arguing that personality grows in a predetermined order. The theory has eight distinct stages and argues that successful completion of every stage results in acquisition of basic virtues. On the contrary, failure to finish any stage could result in minimized ability to finish other stages (McLeod, 2013). The first psychosocial stage has the crisis of trust versus mistrust and occurs between zero and 1.5 years. During this stage, the infant is not certain about anything in the world and resolves to trust the consistency and stability of care the caregiver. Once someone completes this stage he/she acquires the virtue of hope.
The second psychosocial stage occurs between 18 months and three years. Children become mobile by illustrating a growing sense of autonomy and independence (Keenan and Evans, 2009). Consequently, all parents should encourage their children to be more independent while protecting them from constant failure. Success in this stage results in the virtue of will. The third stage happens between the age of three and five. This stage involves regular interaction between children when playing, which gives children an opportunity to exploit their interpersonal skills. It is while in this phase that a child begins asking many questions. However, if the parent treats the questions as trivial, embarrassing or a nuisance then the child might feel guilty for being a nuisance. Critical to the discussion is the fact that success leads to the virtue of purpose (McLeod, 2013).
The next stage has the crisis of industry versus inferiority and happens between ages five and twelve. In this stage, teachers start taking a crucial role in the child’s life. It is because the child feels the urge to win approval by portraying competencies that are valued by the society. If people reinforce and encourage a c...