Piaget and Erikson The theories of Piaget and Erikson have influenced child development studies for years.

They have created the stepping-stones for todays psychologists and educators. Their theories have created a map for the growth and development of children both mentally and physically. Piaget and Erikson created stages of development that are quite similar, but have significant differences. Erik Erikson created the psychosocial stages of development starting from birth and ending at an individuals death. These stages include trust vs. mistrust occurring from birth to eighteen months. This stage includes the child gaining trust in a caregiver. If the caregiver does not provide reliability and love it will result in mistrust. autonomy vs. shame and doubt occurring from two to three years of age, initiative vs. guilt occurring from three to five years of age, industry vs. inferiority occurring from six to eleven years of age, identity vs. role confusion occurring from twelve to eighteen years of age, intimacy vs. isolation occurring from nineteen to forty years of age, generativity vs. stagnation occurring from forty to sixty five years of age, and integrity vs. despair occurring from sixty five years of age to death. In contrast, Jean Piaget created the cognitive stages that consist of four major stages. The first stage is sensorimotor occurring from birth to about age two, preoperational occurring from ages two to seven, concrete operational occurring from ages seven to eleven, and lastly formal operational occurring from ages eleven and up.

For this assignment I asked four children a set of six questions. The children I interviewed were aged at two, five, ten, and thirteen. The six questions included in the interview were: 1) How would you define true love? 2) What do you want to be when you grow up and why? 3) What do you value most? 4) What does God do? 5) What are you passionate about? 6) Who is youre hero? The first child I interviewed was Carley who is thirteen years old and in the seventh grade. When asked how she would define true love she responded true love is a good marriage, or a surviving marriage when they have children after they are married. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up and why she said A marine biologist. Because at first my friend wanted me to do it and we could do it together, but now I really like nature and want to help the environment. When asked what she valued most she responded, Besides family, Im fortunate for what I have. I value everything I have. The people that love me too. When asked what does God do she said, He is watching down on us, helping us out, and listening to our prayers. Sometimes I picture him up there in heaven watching TV. When asked what she is passionate about she responded, I have a lot of life ahead of me, so I really dont know yet. Lastly, when asked who her hero is she said, My older female cousins. According to Jean Piagets stages of development, Carley is in the formal operational stage. The answers to the questions made it evident that she is able to provide well thought out answered when prompted. A characteristic of the concrete operational stage is logical thinking, which her answers demonstrated. Also, her thoughts were more abstract than the others because she is in the

concrete operational stage. According to Erik Eriksons psychosocial stages of development Carley is in the stage of identity vs. role confusion. The next child I interviewed was Justin who is ten years old and in the fourth grade. When asked how he would define true love he said, when two people like each other, and they are happy. When asked what he wanted to be when he grows up he responded, I want to be a famous dirt bike rider because it is cool. When asked what do you value most he said family. When asked what does God do he responded, saves and forgives. When asked what he is passionate about he said snowboarding. Justin is in the concrete operational stage of Jean Piagets stages of development. He was able to come up with logical answers to the simple questions, although they werent very long and complex he is in the beginning. Shows signs of growing out of his egocentrism. Justin is in the industry vs. inferiority stage of Erik Eriksons stages of psychosocial development. He is now developing morals and seeing what actions receive positive feedback from peers, and authorities. He is gaining new independence that may also come with being disobedient to express this new independence. The next child I interviewed is Nathan who is five years old and in kindergarten. When asked what he thought true love was he said, giving hugs and kisses, helping you, and taking me to school. When asked what he wanted to be when he grows up he responded, I want to work with my dad welding. When asked what he valued most he said, my dad. When asked what God does he responded, He makes weather, and he made humans. When asked

what he is passionate about he said, Playing the wii and playing in the snow. When asked who is hero is he responded, my dad. Nathan is in the pre-operational stage of Jean Piagets stages of development. He is able to begin to understand more logical concepts in some areas, however there is still no firm reality. In this stage his perceptions will dominate his judgments. The child can only understand simple rules that are imposed through socialization in everyday experiences. In terms of Erik Eriksons stages of psychosocial stages of development, Nathan is in the stage of initiative vs. guilt. In this stage he is learning how to do simple, everyday tasks on his own. With encouragement he will achieve this stage properly, on the other hand if he is not encouraged for doing well he could develop guilt. At this stage he is also asking many questions because he is curious to learn about more things and become more dependent. Caregivers who see this as a nuisance could stifle their initiative resulting in them being more dependent on others. The last child I interviewed was Micah who is two years old. When asked how he would define true love he said, me. When asked what he wanted to be when he grows up he responded, a reindeer. When asked what he valued most he said a Christmas tree. When asked what God does he said, owls. When asked what he is passionate about he said my dad, and cookies. When asked who is hero is he went around the room and named every person that was in the room with him. Micah is in the preoperational stage of Jean Piagets stages of development. His responses are very egocentric and are based off of him, and

his experiences throughout the day. In this stage it is impossible for him to see things from other points of view. To him, everybody is thinking exactly what he is thinking. Micah cannot yet understand concrete information such as the questions ask but he is starting develop language in this stage which is evident in his responses. In this stage he will also begin to use symbolism and will learn schemes for recognizing familiar objects. According to Erik Erikson, Micah is in the autonomy vs. shame and doubt stage of psychosocial development. In this stage the child is beginning to explore the world around them. Although their parents are still a strong sense of security the child can venture out to contend their will. If a parent is too limiting and does not allow the child to explore new things, the child will then begin to develop a sense of doubt and become unwilling to try new things. However, if a parent encourages independence the child will become confident that they can do things on their own and in turn will be more open to new experiences. Jean Piaget, and Erik Erikson make the comparison between ages a science. You can see egocentrism in the youngest age, and concrete thinking in the oldest age. Each of the children interviewed displayed characteristics in each of the stages from Erikson and Piagets stages of development. It is evident that the stages set are seemingly accurate, and provide a better understanding of the developing child and their characteristics at different stages.