Developmental Theories of Piaget and Erikson

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the developmental theories of Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget. The paper discusses the similarities and dissimilarities of both theories.

According to Clark-Stewart, Friedman and Koch (1985), theories of human development consist of models of how people change (and stay the same) over time. Both Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson have formulated theories of human development (see: Piaget, 1951, 1952; Erikson, 1950, 1964, 1973). However, the nature of each man's developmental theory differs.

According to Pervin (1981), Erikson's psychosocial developmental model is a variant of the psychoanalytic perspective. In general, the psychoanalytic perspective is a view of human development in which unconscious forces are said to motivate human behavior. Moreover, the psychoanalytic perspective views the human as a passive agent upon which these unconscious forces act.

The variance from the standard psychoanalytic perspective that is present in Erikson's perspective is the addition of a sociocultural influence. The sociocultural impact on personality was developed in Eriksonian theory based on the fact that Erikson felt the standard psychoanalytic view (as originally characterized by Freud) undervalued the influence of society on the developing personality.

For example, a girl growing up on an Indian reservation where females are trained to serve their hun

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fusion (puberty to through adulthood). Person can young adulthood). Adolescent think in abstract terms, deal must determine own sense of with hypothetical situations, self. and think about possibilities. Intimacy versus isolation (young adulthood). Person seeks to make commitments to others; if unsuccessful, may be self- absorbed and isolated. Generativity versus stagnation. (middle adulthood). Mature adult is concerned with establishing and guiding the next generation or feels personal impoverishment. Integrity versus despair (old age). Elderly person achieves a sense of acceptance or falls into despair. _________________________________________________________________  Another interesting difference in the two theories concerns whether people must go through all of the postulated developmental stages. In Erikson's model, if a person lives long enough, he or she will face each developmental crisis. This person may or may not resolve this crisis but he/she will pass through it at the given time. According to Tomlinson-Keasey (1991), it is not the case with Piagetian theory that every person will pass through each stage. She stages that the theory holds that some people will never attain the final maturatio
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Approximate Word count = 2924
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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