Developmental Stages: Interview Project Paper
Developmental Stages: Interview Project
Kara Fox
Liberty University
Developmental Stages: Interview Project
Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines development as “An unfolding; the discovering of something secret or withheld from the knowledge of others; disclosure; full exhibition.” I love this definition of development because I believe that it perfectly describes the aspiration that Piaget, Vygotsky, Kohlberg, and all of the other early psychologists had when studying humans. They wanted to unravel and expose the ways that people learn and mature. For my own psychological study, I chose five questions which I believed would reveal the exact developmental stage of my four subjects. The cognitive questions that I chose …show more content…
Like Shana, Analisse also comes from a middle-class, divorced family. To the first cognitive question, “what do you like most about yourself”, Analisse responded, “my creativity”. From her answer, I could not accurately place her into any of the cognitive developmental stages or theories. However, I could comprehend what social development stage she was in. It took her a very long time to come up with something that she liked about herself and when she did answer it, she only said one attribute. For this reason, I believe that Analisse has not resolved the identity crisis found in Erikson’s Psychosocial Development, Stage 5: Identity vs. Role Confusion. She had a hard time describing what she likes about herself so is therefore still struggling with answering the question, “who am I?” According to Erikson, Analisse is right on target for her age since Stage 5 occurs between the ages of twelve and eighteen. The second cognitive question was “what do you believe other’s think about you?” to which Analisse responded, “I’m funny”. Again, it took her a while to deliver an answer to this question. Knowing Analisse for a very long time, I know that she struggles with her self-image but it was also evident in the way that she answered these two questions. Again, I could not figure out what cognitive developmental stage Analisse was in based on her response to the question. Like with Shana, I could eliminate …show more content…
“to always have someone’s back and to be nice and kind”
d. Is it ever ok to break a rule?
i. “never ok”
e. If you found $20 on the street, what would you do with it?
i. “give it to the poor”
3. Middle School – 13 year old Shana
a. What do you like most about yourself?
i. “I like my eyes and my personality”
b. What do you believe others think about you?
i. “that I am a crazy and fun person”
c. What makes a good friend?
i. “someone that I know is truthful”
d. Is it ever ok to break a rule?
i. “yes, it depends on what kind of a rule though. It is good to take risks and learn from them”
e. If you found $20 on the street, what would you do with it?
i. “I would see if it was anyone’s around me and then if there was literally no one around me, I would just take it or maybe leave it there but then someone else would take it so I would probably just keep it”
4. High School – 17 year old Analisse
a. What do you like most about yourself?
i. “my creativity”
b. What do you believe others think about you?
i. “I’m funny”
c. What makes a good friend?
i. “someone you can trust”
d. Is it ever ok to break a rule?
i. “yes, if someone’s life depended on it”
e. If you found $20 on the street, what would you do with it?
i. “keep
Kara Fox
Liberty University
Developmental Stages: Interview Project
Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines development as “An unfolding; the discovering of something secret or withheld from the knowledge of others; disclosure; full exhibition.” I love this definition of development because I believe that it perfectly describes the aspiration that Piaget, Vygotsky, Kohlberg, and all of the other early psychologists had when studying humans. They wanted to unravel and expose the ways that people learn and mature. For my own psychological study, I chose five questions which I believed would reveal the exact developmental stage of my four subjects. The cognitive questions that I chose …show more content…
Like Shana, Analisse also comes from a middle-class, divorced family. To the first cognitive question, “what do you like most about yourself”, Analisse responded, “my creativity”. From her answer, I could not accurately place her into any of the cognitive developmental stages or theories. However, I could comprehend what social development stage she was in. It took her a very long time to come up with something that she liked about herself and when she did answer it, she only said one attribute. For this reason, I believe that Analisse has not resolved the identity crisis found in Erikson’s Psychosocial Development, Stage 5: Identity vs. Role Confusion. She had a hard time describing what she likes about herself so is therefore still struggling with answering the question, “who am I?” According to Erikson, Analisse is right on target for her age since Stage 5 occurs between the ages of twelve and eighteen. The second cognitive question was “what do you believe other’s think about you?” to which Analisse responded, “I’m funny”. Again, it took her a while to deliver an answer to this question. Knowing Analisse for a very long time, I know that she struggles with her self-image but it was also evident in the way that she answered these two questions. Again, I could not figure out what cognitive developmental stage Analisse was in based on her response to the question. Like with Shana, I could eliminate …show more content…
“to always have someone’s back and to be nice and kind”
d. Is it ever ok to break a rule?
i. “never ok”
e. If you found $20 on the street, what would you do with it?
i. “give it to the poor”
3. Middle School – 13 year old Shana
a. What do you like most about yourself?
i. “I like my eyes and my personality”
b. What do you believe others think about you?
i. “that I am a crazy and fun person”
c. What makes a good friend?
i. “someone that I know is truthful”
d. Is it ever ok to break a rule?
i. “yes, it depends on what kind of a rule though. It is good to take risks and learn from them”
e. If you found $20 on the street, what would you do with it?
i. “I would see if it was anyone’s around me and then if there was literally no one around me, I would just take it or maybe leave it there but then someone else would take it so I would probably just keep it”
4. High School – 17 year old Analisse
a. What do you like most about yourself?
i. “my creativity”
b. What do you believe others think about you?
i. “I’m funny”
c. What makes a good friend?
i. “someone you can trust”
d. Is it ever ok to break a rule?
i. “yes, if someone’s life depended on it”
e. If you found $20 on the street, what would you do with it?
i. “keep