Development Throughout the life span

• Erikson and Freud are two of the few theorists who have developed a lifespan approach to development. Freud's approach to development was psychosexual while Erikson's was psychosocial. Even though Freud's theory is better known, Erikson's theory remains a leading and very much applied model in personality and developmental psychology today.

  When considering these two stage-oriented theories, you can directly compare the majority of their stages. These are matched in the following table:

  Approximate Age	Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development	Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial development
  Infancy (Birth to 1 year)	Oral stage	Trust versus mistrust
  Early childhood (1-3 years)	Anal stage	Autonomy versus doubt
  Preschool (3-6 years)	Phallic stage	Initiative versus guilt
  School age (7-11 years)	Latent period	Industry versus inferiority
  Adolescence (12-18 years)	Genital stage	Identity versus role confusion
  Young adulthood (19-40 years)		Intimacy versus isolation
  Middle adulthood (40-65 years)		Generativity versus stagnation
  Older adulthood (65-death)		Integrity versus despair

  When considering Erikson's eight stages of development, the way a person moves through each stage directly affects their success in the next stage. Their personality is being built and shaped with each stage. At each stage, there is a turning point, called a crisis by Erikson, which a person must confront.

  In this assignment, you will observe or interview two different people, each at a different stage of development. For a third observation, take a look at yourself and the stage that you are in (this stage must be different from your other two observations).

  • Record your three observations in a template. Include the following information:
    • Name
    • Age
    • Gender
    • Current developmental stage
    • Status within the stage (i.e., identity achievement or role confusion)
    • Events that have lead to this status
• Summarize what you have learned about psychosocial development through these observations/interviews.
• Summarize the trends you see in your observations/interviews regarding psychosocial development.
• How does movement through Erikson's stages influence personality development? Again, be specific.
• How do Erikson's stages of development compare to Freud's stages? How are they similar? How are they different?
• Between these two theories, which one do you feel best explains your own personality development? Justify your answers with specific examples.