Week 1 Reflective Journal Analysis

Jean Piaget is best known for his theory that suggested children think differently than adults. His theory proposed that children’s cognitive development developed in

Jean Piaget was a biologist in the 1900s who studied the development of children's understanding. He believed that children didn't just gather information and add on it as they got older. Instead, he suggested that intelligence develops and progresses as one gets older through a series of four stages; the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational stage. The sensorimotor stage begins from birth until the age of 2, during this stage knowledge is limited, an infant tends to use motor activity without the use of symbols. They spend this time experimenting constantly, For example, putting things in the

Piaget’s image of the child was so different than the main ideas circulating at the time. He questioned some of the theories such as the idea that intelligence and development is inherited. Because of Piagets research he “convinced the field that children are active learners and his research is now widely used today” (Berk, 2006, p.19). It is evident why Piaget was, and is still, such an icon in child development. He believed that children’s minds are rich with knowledge and that children want to be active learners just as a scientist constantly want to figure things out. This image of the child makes Piaget a well respected person and looked up to in the world of child development.

Erik Erikson was a 20th century developmental psychologist. The development of identity have been one of Erikson's greatest concerns in his own life as well as in his theory, for he coined the term “identity crisis." As an older adult, he wrote about his adolescent “identity confusion", it can be found as one of the stages in his theory of psychosocial development. Erikson's theory emphasizes the search for identity during the adolescent years. Being split into 8 stages, the theory fixes approximate ages and outcomes from the time of birth to late adulthood.

Jean Piaget born on August 9, 1896 in Switzerland. When Piaget was eleven years old he wrote a short notice on an albino sparrow. Piaget obtained his Ph.D. in natural science at the University of Neuchatel. During this period Piaget published two philosophical essays. In 1921 Piaget became the director of studies at the J.-J. Rousseau Institute in Geneva. In 1936 he did a systematic study on cognitive thinking which contributed to a theory of cognitive development. This cognitive development theory explains the nature and development of a child’s intelligence. Piaget explains how children acquire new information, and according to their age they adapt their internal world (schemas) to the outside world (new information). The children’s mental development is measured by four stages.

Erik Erikson has made numerous contributions to society as a psychologist. His developmental theory had a great impact on the

The adolescence stage in Erikson’s theory occurs between age twelve to age eighteen, where the conflict to be resolved includes identity versus role confusion. During this timeframe, the individual establishes a sense of self, where successful

Even though Erikson believed that an individual’s identity was discovered by the end of adolescence, he advised that identity will continue to grow throughout adulthood. With that being said, Erikson lacked in providing information of that growth (Sokol, 2009). Erikson’s theory was also unclear of the causes of the psychosocial stages of development and how the resolution of one stage influenced an individual’s personality. He did however stress that his theory was merely an instrument that provided an outline that development growth could be measured by (McLeod, 2013).

Erik Ericson psychosocial theory attempts to explain some of the natural changes that occur in each human being in relation between the social environment and self-understanding. In his eight stages, he describes, “the emergence of the self, the search for identity, the individual's relationships with others, and the role of culture throughout life” (Woolfolk, 2013, p. 87). In one of the eight stages, Ericson established the role that adolescence plays in a person’s life, identity versus role confusion. Identity refers to the organization of the individual's drives, abilities, beliefs, and history into a consistent image of self” (p. 90). According to Erickson in the adolescence, a person must confront the “central issue of constructing an identity that will provide a firm basis for adulthood… adolescence marks the first time that a conscious effort is made to answer the now pressing question: ‘Who am I?’” (p. 90)

Erik Erikson was an ego psychologist who emphasized the role of culture and society and the conflicts that can take place within the ego. He developed a theory of psychosocial stages where he believed a crisis occurs at each of the eight stages of development. Erik Erikson was influenced by Sigmund Freud, who emphasized the conflict between the id and the superego, but unlike Freud, Erikson believed that the ego develops as a result of successfully resolving crises in eight distinct stages that expand a lifetime. Successful completion of each stage results in a healthy ego, however, failure to complete each stage results in an unhealthy view of one’s self. “Erik Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order, and

Erik Erikson 's theories of psychosocial development are described as the lifespan of human development. Erikson was classified as an ego psychologist who also worked with Anna Freud, Erikson elaborated his psychoanalytic theory by studying the development of individuals throughout life, which includes childhood, adulthood, middle adulthood and old age. He was born on the 15th of June in the year of 1902 and was deceased in the year of 1994 on the 12th of May. A man recognized for his distinguished theory of psychosocial development and the perception of the identity crisis. His theories marked an important shift in thinking on personality; instead of focusing simply on early childhood event, his psychosocial theory looked at how social influences contribute to personality throughout the entire lifespan. Erikson’s mother and father were separated before the birth of him. He at no time got to meet his biological father. Before marrying a doctor by the name of, Dr. Theodor Homberger his mother raised Erik for an ample amount of time. Homberger not being Erikson’s biological father was kept from him for countless years and when Erikson attained that Homberger was not his biological father he became disconcerted about who he really was. His experience made him gain interestedness about the development of

Jean Piaget, one of the well-established name in psychology, conceived that children actively gain knowledge through manipulation and interaction with objects around them. Piaget founded four developmental stages in children’s

Piaget’s theory was controversial at the time because he was adamant that the greatest influences on a child were the environment and how children interact with it. He claimed to be able to show that children acquire skills and knowledge as they mature and that is where cognitive development came from (Laungani, 2007). As a tester, Piaget was not concerned with whether the children could count, spell, or recite prose. He was more concerned with how the ideas came up in the first place.

Erik Homburger Erikson (15 June 1902 – 12 May 1994) was a German-born American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on psychosocial development of human beings. He may be most popular for inventing the phrase identity crisis. Erik Erikson is much like Sigmund Freud, Erikson assume that personality will progress in lots of stages. But, unlike Freud's theory of psychosexual stages because generally, Erikson’s theory describes the influences of social experiences across the whole life. Thus, there are also disagreement between Freud’s and Erikson’s theory. Freud understand that the genital stage of adolescence is that the individual will begin to consider romantic relationships, such as finding their true love, soulmate and so on. Basically, Freud understands the individuals are finding a partner and being in love. While Erikson trusts that in the stage of adolescence, the individual will more likely to find their personal identity, their real self. One of the main component of Erikson's psychosocial stage theory is the progression of ego identity. Ego identity is basically the individual’s conscious sense of self that will happens through social interaction. For instance, the way people acts. According to Erikson, an individual’s ego identity is constantly changing due to new events and

The understanding of young children is a concept that is forever developing and evolving. This is the result of the collaboration of multiple theories, giving society many insights into the life and development of a young child. Two theorists who act as pillars to the understanding of children are Jean Piaget, a cognitive theorist, and James Baldwin, an early developmental theorist. By analysing the two of them, it becomes clear how their early lives, study and upbringing led to the discovery of such intriguing theories revolved around both learning and development.