Piaget's Four Stages

Developmental psychology can be best summarized by the theories of the three scientists

Piaget, Erikson, and Kohlberg. I decided to conduct personal interviews and relate my findings to these

three theories. Piaget's theory explained the four stages of cognitive development. Erikson divided

psychosocial development into eight stages, describing how the people and the environment affects

how we gain our personality. Kohlberg's theory of moral development was to understand the reasoning

to why we make the decisions we do. Below are how my finding relate to these various developmental

psychological theories.

Piaget's four stages of cognitive development start with the sensorimotor stage. This stage is

from birth to around two years of
This is when a child learns to reason, create, and earn. The conflict is

between industry and inferiority. These first four stages are more dependent on others and the

individual is easily influenced by their environment.

The last four stages of Erikson's developmental theory occurs when the individual

begins to search for their mature self and a sense of direction. The fifth stage begins with adolescence,

that lasts from age twelve to age eighteen. Here, the conflict is between identity and role confusion. The

adolescent transitions into the young adulthood stage, lasting from age eighteen to twenty-five. This is

a time when developing a sense of identity and career success. This is when the individual is on the

path to maturity and independence. Adulthood lasts approximately from thirty-five, to fifty five years

old. During this phase the adult starts to pass on their knowledge to another. The conflict is between

generality or self absorption. The final stage of development is maturity. This stage lasts until death,

when the individual struggles to look back on life with a sense of satisfaction and evaluate our