Psychology Throughout Life

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Lecture 3: Psychology Throughout Life

🧬 Overview of Human Development

  • Human development is the study of psychological change across the life span.
  • Types of development include:
  • Cognitive
  • Moral
  • Psychosexual
  • Personality
  • Social
  • Development is lifelong: from infancy to old age.
  • Key theorists include: Freud, Erikson, Piaget, Kohlberg, Bowlby.

🧠 Major Theories of Development

Sigmund Freud – Psychosexual Development

  • Development = movement of libido (psychic energy) through body zones.
  • Stages:
  1. Oral (mouth)
  2. Anal (anus)
  3. Phallic (genitals)
  4. Latency (quiet phase)
  5. Genital (adult sexuality)
  • Fixations cause personality issues later in life.

John Bowlby – Attachment Theory

  • Children form working models of relationships from early caregivers.
  • Attachment styles:
  • Secure: consistent, nurturing care
  • Insecure-anxious: inconsistent caregiving
  • Avoidant: neglectful caregiving
  • Secure base leads to exploration and future intimacy.

Jean Piaget – Cognitive Development

  • Stages:
  • Sensorimotor (0–2): learning through physical interaction
  • Preoperational (2–7): symbolic play, egocentrism
  • Concrete Operational (7–11): logical but tangible thinking
  • Formal Operational (12+): abstract, hypothetical thinking

Lawrence Kohlberg – Moral Development

  • Moral growth parallels cognitive growth.
  • Stages:
  • Preconventional: obedience, rewards/punishment
  • Conventional: conformity, social approval
  • Postconventional: ethics, justice, social contracts

Erik Erikson – Psychosocial Development

  • 8 Stages across life, each with a psychosocial crisis:
  1. Trust vs. Mistrust
  2. Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt
  3. Initiative vs. Guilt
  4. Industry vs. Inferiority
  5. Identity vs. Role Confusion
  6. Intimacy vs. Isolation
  7. Generativity vs. Stagnation
  8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair

👶 Infancy (0–1.5 years)

  • Erikson: Trust vs. Mistrust
  • Freud: Oral Stage
  • Bowlby: Attachment begins; secure base formed
  • Piaget: Sensorimotor stage
  • Kohlberg: Preconventional morality (pleasure/pain)

🚼 Early Childhood (2–3 years)

  • Erikson: Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt
  • Freud: Anal Stage (toilet training = control)
  • Bowlby: Exploration begins with secure base
  • Piaget: Still sensorimotor transitioning to preoperational
  • Kohlberg: Still preconventional morality

🧒 Preschool (3–5 years)

  • Erikson: Initiative vs. Guilt
  • Freud: Phallic Stage (Oedipal/Electra conflict)
  • Bowlby: Wider social attachments, less reliance on one caregiver
  • Piaget: Preoperational phase
  • Kohlberg: Moral development begins – children want to be “good”

🧑 School Age (6–11 years)

  • Erikson: Industry vs. Inferiority (competence in school/social life)
  • Freud: Latency Stage (sexual energy dormant)
  • Bowlby: Chumship and friendships grow
  • Piaget: Concrete operational (logic, conservation)
  • Kohlberg: Conventional morality (rules, approval)

🧑‍🎓 Adolescence (12–18 years)

  • Erikson: Identity vs. Role Confusion
  • Freud: Genital Stage (adult sexuality)
  • Bowlby: Romantic relationships echo childhood attachments
  • Piaget: Formal operational (abstract reasoning)
  • Kohlberg: Postconventional morality begins

🌱 Emerging Adulthood (18–28 years)

  • New cultural phase of prolonged adolescence
  • Not in Erikson’s original model
  • Characterized by:
  • Identity exploration
  • Instability
  • Delayed independence
  • Influenced by social/economic changes

👨‍👩‍👧 Young Adulthood (29–40 years)

  • Erikson: Intimacy vs. Isolation
  • Focus on:
  • Deep connections
  • Romantic relationships
  • Career identity
  • Personality maturation: more conscientious, stable, agreeable

🧓 Middle Adulthood (40–60 years)

  • Erikson: Generativity vs. Stagnation
  • Focus on:
  • Mentorship
  • Creating/raising next generation
  • Contributing to society
  • Jung: transition to inner life; spiritual development begins

👴 Late Adulthood (65+ years)

  • Erikson: Ego Integrity vs. Despair
  • Focus on:
  • Life reflection
  • Making peace with choices
  • Preparing for death
  • Jung: transcendence, spiritual completion

🧩 Final Reflections

  • Development is a lifelong, nonlinear process.
  • Failures in earlier stages can be revisited and repaired.
  • Growth involves both:
  • Agency (individuation, responsibility)
  • Connection (love, society, meaning)
  • Each life phase brings unique psychological challenges and opportunities.
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