Stages of Development and its Impact

Stages of Development and its Impact

Long childhood makes a technical and mental virtuoso out of man, but it also leaves a life-long residue of emotional immaturity in him.

Erik Homburger Erikson

Introduction

The study of human development is a vast, important, and rich subject. Development in human beings is very regular and organized. Development refers to the psychological and physical changes, both qualitative and quantitative, that occur over the life of the human being. Development process in human beings is not same for example twins may look similar but they do differ in their development. The development of the human life unfolds through successive stages that have very special characteristics. Each stage gradually merges into the next stage. It is said that every human being has its own pace of development. In this paper I have explored the effect of one of my stage of development on my life along with the learning task of my development stage from theoretical perspective. I have applied the theory to my own experience of that stage.

In this paper I gave chosen to apply the theory of Erickson, he was a German psychologist who was greatly influenced by Freud, three aspects of identity was developed by him: personal identity, the ego identity (Self), and Cultural/social identity. His theories were more oriented towards society and culture unlike other psychoanalysts. He knew how to move in their theories to the instincts and the unconscious. The author argues that human development occurs in a manner similar to the development of an embryo, in which each state is a result of earlier maturation. The psychological development theory of Erickson considers the effect of external factors such as society and parents on the development of personality from childhood to adulthood. Erikson's developmental stage theory is comprised of eight stages representing the psychosocial development of an individual throughout his/her life and is established on social experiences from each stage of the life span.

The first life stage “trust versus mistrust” (Hope) is significant in how an infant develops through Attachment Theory whilst young and later in life. The main objective of the first stage is to establish the credibility of the child to the outside world, a feeling of trust is the basis for the formation of a positive sense of self. The child has been learned, can he rely on adults, whether they are able to care for him, love him, support positive emotions. If not, the child cannot learn new activities. If the child has a positive experience, the world appears to him a consistent and predictable. Erikson sees a declining trust in the experience of the first year adjustment to himself and to the world and further he states that: "trust" I mean what is commonly referred to as a sense of reliance, being allowed to know, in relation to the credibility of other like reliability of self(Erikson, 1963, 7). This period lasts from birth to 1 year. Given my personal experiences, I believe ...