Robert J. Havighurst was an American educator and expert on aging who developed the theory of developmental tasks. He proposed that there are certain tasks that must be achieved at each stage of life in order to successfully transition to the next stage. The document outlines Havighurst's biography and lists developmental tasks from babyhood through late adulthood, including learning to walk, developing social skills with peers, selecting a mate, raising children, and adjusting to retirement. The developmental tasks serve the purposes of informing individuals of societal expectations, motivating them to meet those expectations, and preparing them for what is to come at each life phase.

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