ground, as only the current set of circumstances (Muuss, 1988, p. 188). In the area of varying rates of development between males and females, Piaget acknowledged that there might be differences, but this was not the focus of his research.
Along with cognition, Piaget was concerned with the levels of moral development. He believed that children move through stages of moral understanding and reasoning until they reach the stage of moral autonomy, generally in adolescence. At this point of development, adolescents are not only interested in rules, for example in a game, but in other applications of the same rules in more abstract situations (Muuss, 1988, p. 208). As abstract thought is possible in adolescence, the young person can develop a sense of ethical and moral responsibility based on what is right and wrong. Concepts of social justice, aesthetic and social ideals, and the acquisition of values become a part of the conscience of the teenager at this time (Muuss, 1988, p. 208).
Erikson's work was based somewhat on that of Sigmund Freud, except he viewed his stages of psychosocial development as complementary to Freud's psychosexual stages (Lerner & Spanier, 1984, p. 334). Erikson's stages briefly evolve as follows:
1. The oral-sensory stage (trust-mistrust).
2. The anal-musculature stage (achieving bodily autonomy).
3. The genital-locomotor state (the sense of initiative).
5. Puberty and adolescence (career and identity formation).
6. Young adulthood (socialization/family and society).
8. Maturity (Lerner & Spanier, 1984, p. 342).
In thinking about adolescent development, Erikson's fifth stage of development is of prime importance. The tasks as this stage can be very stressful, and the adolescent often does not know who he is or what he wants at the very time that society expects him to make decisions in those areas. He has become accustomed to the body of a child and finds that he now ha
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