Human Development

Introduction

When it comes to the psychological, social, developmental, moral maturing of people, there are several main theories regarding this subject, some of which are quite parallel and some are very much contrasted.

 A few main theories are Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Theory, Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory, Kohlberg Moral Development Theory and others.

Another theory, proposed by Freud, suggests an altogether different concept regarding this, one that is controlled and determined by the three parts of our personality- id, ego and super-ego, each one responsible for either fulfilling our needs or balancing between our desires and the dictations of reality, or being our moral compass that appropriates our behavior according to society's conventions.

The reason Freud's theory was so different is that Freud had a notion that people are driven by aggression and sex primarily, and what they do is often related to it somehow. He emphasized the role these urges play in our lives, and this theory of his isn't very accepted, and has actually not stood the test of time.

Piaget, on the other hand, suggested that our cognitive development can be divided into 4 main stages starting from our birth.

Piaget's Theory

The first of which is the Senso-Motor stage, which occurs since birth until the age of two. In this stage a child differentiates himself from objects, identifies himself as capable of actions and starting to act intentionally in a desired course of action. For example, a child will pull a string to move a mobile or press on a button on a toy in order to create a certain sound.

Babies also come to realize that an object continues to exist even if they don't see it at the moment. This is called object constancy, and it is the most important achievement for them in this stage.

The second stage is called the Pre-Operational Stage, and it happens between the ages of 2 and 7. The child learns to use language and represent objects by images and words. Thinking is egocentric- the child only knows his perspective and acts in a fashion that will benefit him, not taking into account other people perspectives and feelings as a motive that will encourage or prohibit him to act in a certain way.

The child develops the ability to categorize objects based on one characteristic, like shape, color, size, etc. For instance, a child can group together all the yellow objects in the room, all the round cubes regardless of their color, etc.

The third stage is the Concrete Operations Stage, in which the child is able to think logically about objects and events. The child gains several important abilities in this period between the ages of 7 and 11. He obtains the concepts of number preservation at the age of 6, matter preservation at the age of 7 and weight preservation at the age of 9.

He essentially learns that unless we remove a certain amount or quantity from objects, their amount isn't decreased if they are closer together of farther apart. For example, a child from a previous stage won't understand that 4 pieces of chocolate held together are the exact quantity of 4 pieces of chocolate separated from one another.

He won't be able to tell that two glasses, one tall and thin and the other wide and short, have the same amount of water. This is the stage in which these abilities are obtained.