Peer Tutoring assignment.

1. Theories of Life Stages and
Human Development
Lily Clark and Baylee Talan

2. Consider the following scenario:
A seven year old girl named Susie was always told to wait for her
parents to wake up in the morning before helping herself to breakfast.
One morning, Susie decides to help herself to some orange juice.
Susie’s hand slips as she begins to poor the juice and she drops the
jug, spilling the contents all over the floor. Susie’s mother wakes up
and comes downstairs to find Susie at the counter eating a bowl of
cereal and a giant mess of orange
juice all over the floor. When
Susie’s mom asks Susie what
happened, Susie refuses to answer.
After her mother asks her to help
clean up Susie screams, “I didn’t do
it!” and then bursts into tears.

3. Now consider the following questions:
• Why is Susie behaving this way? Did something provoke this
reaction?
• Is Susie afraid that her mother will punish her? Or does she think
that crying will get her off the loose? Did she learn this behaviour?
• Are her actions related to her age, family, or personality?
These are the sort of questions that developmental psychologists
would ponder when considering a situation like this. They try to find
out what influences a person’s behaviour by creating different
theories that could answer questions like the ones from above.

4. What is the Purpose of Development Theories?
• To provide insight into what motivates human thought and behaviour. If
we have a better understanding of how our behaviours are developed and
why, we will have a better understanding of those around us as well as
ourselves.
• Theories are constantly changing and we need to keep track of these
somehow. When we discover new things about behaviour, these theories are
then changed to fit the new discovery. This will also help for future
research.

5. Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
• He wasn’t just interested in the nature of thought, but also how it
develops and how genetics impact this process.
• Piaget believed that children think differently than adults and stated that
they go through four stages of cognitive development.
• Therefore, he said that development changes as the child matures.

6. Stage 1: Sensorimotor Stage
• Takes place between birth and age two of a child.
• In this stage, the main development for the child is they know that
objects exist and events occur in the world. Piaget called this “object
permanence”.
• Experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue8y-JVhjS0

7. Stage 2: Preoperational Stage
• The child is between the ages
of two and six.
• This is when a child has not
yet learned how to understand
concrete logic.
• Experiment:
https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=GLj0IZFLKvg#t=42

8. Stage 3: Concrete Operational Stage
• This stage begins at age seven and goes till around age eleven.
• Children begin thinking logically about concrete events, but have
difficulty understanding abstract concepts
• Experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA04ew6Oi9M

9. Stage 4: Formal Operational
• This stage begins at around age eleven and will continue on in adulthood.
• During this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract
concepts
• Experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJyuy4B2aKU

10. Piaget’s Impact on Education
• He changed the way people studied and viewed children since he proved
that children think differently from adults.
• With the knowledge that he gathered from the numerous experiments he
started, he has helped us to communicate and connect with children
easier.
• This has been very helpful for those in the field of education. He was able
to explain to people how children learn intellectually and how this
changes as they move through the four stages. This is particularly helpful
for teachers since they would be able to use this theory to help them
create lessons and different approaches of learning.

11. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development
• Kohlberg’s stages of development are loosely based on Piaget’s stages, but
he wanted to develop his ideas even further.
• He used a storytelling technique where he would tell someone a story that
involved moral dilemmas and then would questions. By doing this,
Kohlberg hoped to discover how moral reasoning changes as people grow
older.
• He used the information he gathered from his experiments and came to a
conclusion, which resulted in the stages of moral development.

12. Level 1 – Pre-conventional Morality
At this level, most are either nine years old or under. We don’t have a
personal code of morality, instead our moral code is shaped by what adults
want us to do. We are also influenced by our want to gain rewards and avoid
punishments.
Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment
Orientation
Stage 2. Individualism and
Exchange
The child/ individual is good in
order to avoid punishment.
Children recognize that there is not
just one view handed down by
authorities. Different individuals
have different viewpoints.

13. Level 2 – Conventional Morality
At this level, most are adolescents and adults. We begin to internalize the
moral standards of valued adult role models. Reasoning is based on the
norms of the group to which the person belongs.
Stage 3. Good Interpersonal
Relationships
Stage 4. Maintaining Social Order
The individual is good to gain
others approval.
The individual becomes aware of
society’s rules so he/ she obeys
rules in order to uphold the law
and avoid guilt.

14. Level 3 – Post-conventional Morality
At this level, individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles and
moral reasoning is based on individual rights and justice. Only 10-15% of
people will reach this level.
Stage 5. Social Contract and
Individual Rights
Stage 6. Universal Principles
The individual becomes aware that
although rules and laws exist for
the good of society, there will be
times when they need to work
against the interest of particular
individuals.
The individual has developed his/
her own set of moral guidelines
which may or may not fit the law.

15. Kohlberg’s Impact on Education
• Kohlberg brought a new perspective to moral development inquiry which
is that a child’s moral decisions develops with experience.
• He encouraged students and colleagues to challenge his work and bring
forth their own opinions which influenced numerous other individuals
like Carol Gilligan and Erik Erikson.
• He created moral education programs for schools, prisons, and
community organizations. The program with the most impact was his
“just community approach” where every person involved, whether it be
staff or students, had an equal voice and equal decision.

16. Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial
Development
• Psychosocial: “of or involving the influence of social factors or human
interactive behavior”
• His theory was that there are specific crises that every person will go
through and the way the person will develop will all depend on how
successful they are at resolving these crises.
• He also focused on the role that culture and society play in people’s lives.
• I have briefly described each stage in the next four slides, but here’s a
video I found on YouTube in case you need a better understanding:
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html

17. 1. Trust vs. Mistrust 2. Autonomy vs. Shame
and Doubt
During this stage the infant is
uncertain about the world in which
they live. To resolve these feelings of
uncertainty the infant looks towards
their primary caregiver for stability
and consistency of care. If the care
the infant receives is consistent, they
will develop a sense of trust. Success
in this stage will lead to the virtue of
hope.
During this stage the infant is
uncertain about the world in which
they live. To resolve these feelings
of uncertainty the infant looks
towards their primary caregiver for
stability and consistency of care. If
the care the infant receives is
consistent, they will develop a sense
of trust. Success in this stage will
lead to the virtue of hope.

18. 3. Initiative vs. Guilt 4. Industry vs.
Inferiority
During this stage the infant is
uncertain about the world in which
they live. To resolve these feelings of
uncertainty the infant looks towards
their primary caregiver for stability
and consistency of care. If the care
the infant receives is consistent, they
will develop a sense of trust. Success
in this stage will lead to the virtue of
hope.
During this stage the infant is
uncertain about the world in which
they live. To resolve these feelings
of uncertainty the infant looks
towards their primary caregiver for
stability and consistency of care. If
the care the infant receives is
consistent, they will develop a sense
of trust. Success in this stage will
lead to the virtue of hope.

19. 5. Identity vs. Role
Confusion
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation
During this stage the infant is
uncertain about the world in which
they live. To resolve these feelings of
uncertainty the infant looks towards
their primary caregiver for stability
and consistency of care. If the care
the infant receives is consistent, they
will develop a sense of trust. Success
in this stage will lead to the virtue of
hope.
During this stage the infant is
uncertain about the world in which
they live. To resolve these feelings
of uncertainty the infant looks
towards their primary caregiver for
stability and consistency of care. If
the care the infant receives is
consistent, they will develop a sense
of trust. Success in this stage will
lead to the virtue of hope.

20. 7. Generativity vs.
Stagnation
8. Ego Integrity vs.
Despair
During this stage the infant is
uncertain about the world in which
they live. To resolve these feelings of
uncertainty the infant looks towards
their primary caregiver for stability
and consistency of care. If the care
the infant receives is consistent, they
will develop a sense of trust. Success
in this stage will lead to the virtue of
hope.
During this stage the infant is
uncertain about the world in which
they live. To resolve these feelings
of uncertainty the infant looks
towards their primary caregiver for
stability and consistency of care. If
the care the infant receives is
consistent, they will develop a sense
of trust. Success in this stage will
lead to the virtue of hope.

21. Erik Erikson’s Impact on Society
• Despite the fact that many people critique Erikson’s theory, there is some
truth to it. The fact is that the things we experience in our lives will
ultimately shape the kind of person we become.
• Through his theory, he made it clear that children need to find some kind
of independence from their parents. This has contributed to education
and made parents more aware that while they do need to supervise, they
should not completely interfere in the child’s life.
• This has also made teachers more aware of what is appropriate for each
stage of student. It has influenced approaches to teaching and learning
because using this theory as an outline will show them what each student
needs.

22. Carol Gilligan’s Stages of the Ethic of Care
• Began to criticize Kohlberg’s work because a) he only studied privileged,
white boys and men which caused a biased opinion of girls and b) in the
stage theory of moral development, the male view was conceded higher
than a female view
• Women were taught to “care for other people and expect people to care
for them”, so she helped to form a new psychology through listening to
women, and reevaluating self and selfishness

23. Pre-conventional
In this stage, the person’s attitude is considered selfish since they only care
for themselves to ensure survival. This is how everyone is as a child.

24. Conventional
In this stage, the person displays more responsibility and care towards
others. A great example would be either a parent or spouse since there will
be instances where the individual will ignore their own needs and put the
needs of others first. There is tension between responsibility of caring for
others versus caring for self.

25. Post-conventional
Not everyone will reach it, but in this stage, the person has accepted the
importance of caring for both self and others.

26. Gilligan’s Impact on Society
• Carol challenged “social norms” and the idea that white men were the
only significant members of society. She began a movement for gender
equality in hopes for freedom from patriarchy.
• Her teaching on moral development spread past the classroom walls and
got people talking.
• If highly educated individuals are talking about women equality, and that
spreads to the world around education and into society then business
owners at cooperate levels and governmental bodies will then too begin
to talk about this change.
This issue is still a work in progress, however it had to start somewhere.
Carol did start this, and the vision is to have work forces leaded equally by
men and women.