Comparing Theorists on Child Development

Theories of child development are sets of systematically organized assumptions about why children act the way they do, why and how they change over time. In developing a theory, theorists’ focus is affected by their orientation. These theoretical orientations are shaped by several factors, including prevailing social and cultural ideas, the influence of respected teachers and authority figures, religious and philosophical beliefs, and personal inclinations and experience. This paper looks at the child development theories of Cognitive Development theorist Jean Piaget (1896-1980), Psychosocial theorist Erik Erikson (1902-1994) and Psychosexual theorist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Let’s have a quick look at each of their biography which will affect their theoretical orientation. Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist lived from 1896 to 1980. He was from a privileged background and had a brilliant and varied academic career since he was a young boy.1 He used his three children as his research subjects.2 Erik Erikson (1902-1994) was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He had an unhappy childhood. His Danish father left his Jewish mother before Erikson was born. He took up his Jewish stepfather’s name Homberger and was teased at school as he didn’t look Jewish but more like his Nordic father. In his youth, he travelled a lot around Europe and studied under Anna Freud - Sigmund Freud’s daughter who followed in her father’s footsteps. In 1933, he went to the US where he had a distinguished career as a psychoanalyst.3 Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was from a middle class Jewish family. They moved from Moravia (now part of Czechoslovakia) to Austria when he was 4. He lived there till 1938 when he fled to London to escape the Nazis. He died the next year.4

Here is a table identifying the stages of child development according to the 3 theorists for different age groups:
0 - 18 mths 18mths - 4 yrs 4 - 6 yrs 6yrs-12 yrs Concrete operational
Industry vs Inferiority

12yrs - 16 yrs Formal

Bibliography: Note: All other references are from handout of the course and the writer’s opinion 1 2 http://www.piaget.org/biography/biog.html http://www.piaget.org/biography/biog.html 3 http://psychology.about.com/library/bl/blbio_erikson.htm 4 http://psychology.about.com/library/bl/blbio_freud.htm 5 http://childstudy.net/anal.html 6 http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/erikson.html 7 http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/erikson.html 8 http://childstudy.net/latency.html 9 http://tip.psychology.org/piaget.html 10 http://childstudy.net/genital.html 11 http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/erikson.html 12