Lesson in Developmental Psychology and General Psychology

1. Prepared by:
Orlando A. Pistan, MAEd-GC
Psychology Instructor
ROBERT J. HAVIGHURST’S
DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS

2. • Robert James Havighurst was a
professor, physicist, educator, and
expert on aging. Both his father,
Freeman Alfred Havighurst, and
mother, Winifred Weter Havighurst,
had been educators at Lawrence
University.
• Born: 5 June 1900, De Pere,
Wisconsin, United States
• Died: 31 January 1991, Richmond,
Indiana, United States
• Books: Developmental tasks and
education,
• Education: Ohio State
University, Ohio Wesleyan
University, Harvard University
ROBERT J. HAVIGHURST

3. A developmental task is an undertaking or
responsibility that arises at or about a certain
period in life, unsuccessful achievement of which
leads to inability to perform tasks associated with
the next period or stage in life.
DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS

4. • Learning to take food
• Learning to walk
• Learning to talk
• Learning to control the elimination of body wastes
• Learning sex differences and sexual modesty
• Getting ready to read
• Learning to distinguish right and wrong
BABYHOOD & EARLY
CHILDHOOD (2-6 YEARS)

5. • Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games
• Building a wholesome attitude
• Learning to get along with age-mates
• Beginning to develop appropriate masculine and feminine
social roles
• Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing and
calculating
• Developing concepts necessary for everyday living
• Developing a scale of values
• Achieving personal independence
LATE CHILDHOOD (7-10 OR 12
YEARS)

6. • Achieving new and more mature relations with
age-mates or both sexes
• Achieving a masculine or feminine social role
• Accepting one’s physique and using one’s body
effectively
• Achieving emotional independence from parents
• Preparing for economic career
PUBERTY & ADOLESCENCE
(10 OR 12 – 17 YEARS)

7. • Getting started in an occupation
• Selecting a mate
• Learning to live with a marriage partner
• Starting a family
• Raising children
• Managing a home
EARLY ADULTHOOD (18-35
YEARS)

8. • Assisting teenage children to become
responsible and happy adults
• Developing adult leisure time activities
• Accepting and adjusting to the physiological
changes of middle age
• Reaching and maintaining satisfactory
performance in one’s occupation
MIDDLE ADULTHOOD (36-65
YEARS)

9. • Adjusting to decreasing physical strength
and health
• Adjusting to retirement and reduced
income
• Adjusting to death of spouse
LATE ADULTHOOD (66-DEATH)

10. • They are guidelines to enable individuals to
know what the society expects of them;
• They motivate individuals to do what the society
expects; and
• They show individuals what lies ahead.
PURPOSES OF
DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS

12. Thank you for paying
attention.
ROBERT J. HAVIGHURST’S
DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS