Cognitive Development
Cognitive development refers to the acquisition of the ability to reason and solve problems. The main theory of cognitive development was developed by Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist. Piaget broke childhood cognitive development into four stages spanning from birth through adolescence. A child who successfully passes through the stages progresses from simple sensorimotor responses to the ability to classify and create series of objects and eventually to engage in hypothetical and deductive reasoning.
Psychosocial Development
The primary theory of psychosocial development was created by Erik Erikson, a German developmental psychologist. Erikson divided the process of psychological and social development into eight stages that correspond to the stages of physical development. At each stage, according to Erikson, the individual faces a psychological conflict that must be resolved in order to progress developmentally. Moving from infancy to old age, these conflicts are trust versus mistrust, autonomy versus shame and doubt, initiative versus guilt, industry versus inferiority, identity versus role diffusion, intimacy versus isolation, generativity---that is, creativity and productivity---versus stagnation, and ego integrity versus despair.
Implications
The importance of physical, cognitive and psychosocial development becomes apparent when a person does not successfully master one or more of the developmental stages. For example, a child who fails to achieve basic milestones of physical development may be diagnosed with a developmental delay. Similarly, a