THEORIES OF GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT SUMMARIZED

Age Group Erikson;

Psychosocial Theory
Piaget:
Cognitive Theory
Freud:
Psychosexual Theory
Kohlberg:
Moral Reasoning
Infant Ages 0 to 18 mos
Trust vs. mistrust
(consistency of needs
being met allows infant
to predict responses)
Ages 0 to 2
Sensorimotor
(can't learn without doing;
reflexive behavior)
Ages 0 to 6 mos
Oral passive
(id develops; biological
pleasure principle)
Ages 7 to 18 mos
Oral aggressive
(teething begins;
everything is put into
mouth; oral satisfaction
decreases anxiety)
N/A
Toddler Ages 18 mos to 3 yrs
Autonomy vs. shame
and doubt
(desire to do things
independently)
N/A Ages 18 mos to 3 yrs
Anal
(bowel & bladder
training occur; child
projects feelings onto
others; elimination &
retention are used to
control & inhibit)
N/A
Preschool Age Ages 3 to 6
Initiative vs. sense of
guilt (mimics; more
purposeful & active in
goal setting)
Ages 2 to 4
Preoperational-
preconceptual(egocentric,
magical thinking; no
cause-effect reasoning;
uses symbols)
Ages 4 to 5
Phallic
(ego develops objective
conscious reality;
Opedipal complex - love
of opposite-sex parent)
Ages 4 to 10
Preconventional
Morality
(based on external
control; observe
standards of others to
avoid punishment or
receive rewards)
School Age Ages 6 to 13
Industry vs. inferiority
(using hands to make
things; being helpful;
mastering tasks)
Ages 4 to 7
Intuitive-preoperational
(begin cause-effect)
Ages 7 to 11
Concrete
operations(collecting;
mastering facts)
Ages 6 to 12
Latent
(superego develops
morality; repressed
sexual drive)
Ages 10 to 13
Conventional Morality
(observe and internalize
the standards of other;
want to please others)
Adolescence Ages 13 to 18
Identity vs. confusion
(defining self in relation
to others)
Ages 11 to 15
Formal operations
(abstract ideas; reality
based)
N/A Age 13, later or never.
Postconventional
Morality
(attainment of true
morality - conduct
control is internal)