The development of the human mind is complex and a debated subject, and may take place in a continuous or discontinuous fashion. Continuous development, like the height of a child, is measurable and quantitative, while discontinuous development is qualitative, like hair or skin color, where those traits fall only under a few specific phenotypes. Continuous development involves gradual and ongoing changes throughout the life span, with behavior in the earlier stages of development providing the basis of skills and abilities required for the next stages. On the other hand, discontinuous development involves distinct and separate stages, with different kinds of behavior occurring in each stage. Each of Erikson's stages include both a positive and negative influences that can go on to be seen later in an individual's life. His theory includes the influence of biological factors on development.
Jane Loevinger (b.1918) built on the work of Erikson in her description of
stages of ego development.
Individuation and attachment in ego-psychology Margaret Mahler's (b.1897) theory of
separation-individuation in child development contains three phases regarding the child's
object relations.
John Bowlby's (b.1907)
attachment theory proposes that developmental needs and
attachment in children are connected to particular people, places, and objects throughout our lives. These connections provide a behavior in the young child that is heavily affected and relied on throughout the entire lifespan. In case of
maternal deprivation, this development may be disturbed.
Robert Kegan (b.1946) provided a theory of
the evolving self, which describes the constructive development theory of subject–object relations.
Cognitive and moral development Cognitive development Piaget's cognitive development theory Jean Piaget's cognitive developmental theory describes four major stages from birth through puberty, the last of which starts at 12 years and has no terminating age: Sensorimotor: (birth to 2 years), Preoperations: (2 to 7 years), Concrete operations: (7 to 11 years), and Formal Operations: (from 12 years). Each stage has at least two substages, usually called early and fully. Piaget's theory is a structural stage theory, which implies that: • Each stage is qualitatively different; it is a change in nature, not just quantity; • Each stage lays the foundation for the next; • Everyone goes through the stages in the same order.
Neo-Piagetian theories Neo-Piagetian theories criticize and build on Piaget's work.
Juan Pascaual-Leone was the first to propose a neo-Piagetian stage theory. Since that time several
neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development have been proposed. These include the theories of Robbie Case, Grame Halford,
Andreas Demetriou and
Kurt W. Fischer. The theory of
Michael Commons'
model of hierarchical complexity is also relevant. The description of stages in these theories is more elaborate and focuses on underlying mechanisms of information processing rather than on reasoning as such. In fact, development in information processing capacity is invoked to explain the development of reasoning. More stages are described (as many as 15 stages), with 4 being added beyond the stage of Formal operations. Most stage sequences map onto one another. Post-Piagetian stages are free of content and context and are therefore very general.
Other related theories Lawrence Kohlberg (b.1927) in his
stages of moral development described how individuals developed moral reasoning. Kohlberg agreed with Piaget's theory of moral development that moral understanding is linked to cognitive development. His three levels were categorized as: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional, all of which have two sub-stages.
James W. Fowler (b.1940), and his
stages of faith development theory, builds off of both Piaget's and Kohlberg's schemes.
Learning and education Maria Montessori (b.1871) described a number of stages in her
educational philosophy.
Albert Bandura (b.1925), in his
social learning theory, emphasizes the child's experiential learning from the environment.
Spirituality and consultancy Inspired by
Theosophy,
Rudolf Steiner (b.1861) had developed a stage theory based on seven-year life phases. Three childhood phases (conception to 21 years) are followed by three stages of development of the ego (21–42 years), concluding with three stages of spiritual development (42-63). The theory is applied in
Waldorf education Clare W. Graves (b.1914) developed an
emergent cyclical levels of existence theory. It was popularized by
Don Beck (b.1937) and Chris Cowan's as
spiral dynamics, and mainly applied in consultancy.
Ken Wilber (b.1949) integrated Spiral Dynamics in his
integral theory, which also includes psychological stages of development as described by Jean Piaget and Jane Loevinger, the spiritual models of
Sri Aurobindo and
Rudolf Steiner, and
Jean Gebsers theory of mutations of consciousness in human history.
Other theories Lev Vygotsky (b.1896) developed several theories, particularly
zone of proximal development. Other theories are not exactly developmental stage theories, but do incorporate a hierarchy of psychological factors and elements.
Abraham Maslow (b.1908) described a
hierarchy of needs.
James Marcia (b.1937) developed a
theory of identity achievement and identity status. ==References==