Er Ickson Vs Piaget

A number of changes occur in one's life from infancy to adolescence to adulthood. These changes are known as stages of development. Two important theorists who worked on childhood and moral development were Jean Piaget and Erikson; they both developed their own theory on lifespan development. Although, their theories were similar in a way, they were very much different. Piaget was interested in how things were processed by individuals and concluded that development occurs in distinct, measurable, and observable stages (Newman and Newman, 2006). He also suggested that development growth had nothing to do with experience, but one's own characteristics. Erik Erikson believed in psychosocial development. Believing that on an unconscious level, we form our basic beliefs about ourselves and our relationship to our social world as we go through life. These beliefs influence our development through the choices that we make (Newman and Newman, 2006). He also believed that each basic belief is developed from crisis at a critical time during development. The crisis can be resolved either successfully or unsuccessfully. The theory is based on a choice between two opposing beliefs (Johnson and Zimbardo, 2012).

Jean Piaget believed in a stage theory of development where people undergo distinctive revolutions in their thought processes, producing four stages that continue as they move through childhood and adolescence. Piaget believed the four stages were Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operations, and Formal operations stages (Newman and Newman, 2006). Piaget's theory was based mainly on social development. Whereas, Erikson's theory was that the developmental stages refer to eight major challenges that appear successively across the lifespan, which require an individual to rethink his or her goals, as well as relationships with others (Johnson and Zimbardo, 2012). Erikson's theory is that development revolves around 8 stages. 0 to 1 ½ years is called trust vs. mistrust, 1 ½ to 3 years, is Autonomy vs. shame or self-doubt, 3 to 6 years is Initiative vs. guilt, 6 years to puberty is industry vs. inferiority, adolescence stage is Identity vs. role confusion, early adulthood is intimacy vs. isolation, middle adulthood would be generatively vs. stagnation and late adulthood, ego-integrity vs. despair (Johnson and Zimbardo, 2012). Erikson's theory was based on both social and moral development. Piaget deals with cognitive development while Erikson deals with stages of development individually.

Even though different they do believe that a similar idea happens in two different stages of life. Piaget's first stage takes place during a child' first two years, while Erickson's first stage describes the first year. During the sensorimotor stage, Piaget says children learn to move and operate their bodies, and Erikson describes how a child learns to trust his environment and how this helps in