This document summarizes several developmental theories across the lifespan, including: - Freud's psychosexual stages from birth to puberty based on pleasure - Erikson's psychosocial stages that occur across the entire lifespan defined by opposing possibilities - Piaget's cognitive stages showing how children learn and adapt - Understanding of gender identity, stability, and consistency - Late adulthood issues like integrity, despair, reminiscence, and life review - Theories of intelligence by Sternberg and emotional intelligence by Goleman

1. C
DEVELOPMENT
ACROSS THE
LIFESPAN
By: Louisa Du
Psy1170

3. C
o Sigmund Freud
o Psychosexual stages is easy and well broken down
o Stages of development takes place from birth to puberty
o Based on what is pleasurable for the child at that age
o Freud’s theory says that behaviour is determined by
conscious and unconscious processes

4. Erik Erikson
• Came up with different stages of crises that a child
goes through
• His psychosocial stages occur across the entire lifespan
• Psychosocial stages are defined by a pair of opposing
possibilities
• Erikson’s theory says that developmental results from
the interaction between inner instincts and cultural
demands

5. C
JEAN
PIAGET
o Shows how the child learns and adapts to it’s
surroundings
o Cognitive stages that help determine how a child
cognitively operates at different stages in their lives
o Explains how a child will be able to understand and
recognize speeches and start to use logic, at different
stages in life

6. Coming to Understand Gender
o Never really knew how we were able to just identify
someone as female or male, here are the three stages to
understanding gender
o Gender Identity
o Ability to correctly labels ones self (female or
male)
o Gender Stability
o Understanding that gender is stable
o Gender Consistency
o The recognition that gender stays the same, even
when the gender dresses differently

7. C
LATE ADULTHOOD
o Erikson’s Theory (The Last Stage)
o Ego Integrity
o Serenity and contentment
o Despair
o Bitter and unaccepting of coming
death
o Reminiscence
o Self-focus which can deepen
despair
o Life Review
o Considering the meaning of past
experiences

8. Social Roles
oThere are many roles in society
whether that range from being a
stay at home parent, or being a
hard working individual
oLess structured life leads to
risk of isolation, and leaves
more room or personal
expression and eccentricity

9. C
INTELLIGENCE
Robert Sternberg
o Three components of intelligence
o Componential
o Experiential
o Contextual
Daniel Goleman
o Emotional Intelligence
o Awareness of own emotions
o Ability to express emotions
o Ability to channel emotions and achieve goals

11. C
o I can apply the knowledge that I have gained for
o Observing my nieces and nephews as they grow
o Have a more in depth understanding about infants, and try to determine which stages they are at in life, with the
theories that are provided
o Decipher what I have inherited genetically or environmentally
o Predict the future behaviours of my niece and nephews, based on their parenting styles

12. C
o I would have a better understanding as to how a human develops, and why someone is the way they are
o I have also always been fascinated with how a child will grow up to be who they are, and the factors that influence
them aren’t just genetic, as most people would say. (e.g., “You must have gotten that from your mother.”)
o The stages of growth will help prepare me for when I first enter parenthood myself

15. C
o The knowledge I have gained will help me professionally
because:
o I plan on being a Child and Youth Care Worker, in a school
setting. I chose a school setting because, I believe that it’s critical
to help a child when they are still young, so they have time to
adapt and grow.
o Being a Child and Youth Care worker, I will be exposed to a
bunch of kids, with different personalities and behaviours, because
I will be exposed to a bunch a diverse group of kids, I get the
chance to witness whether they adapt to certain environments or
not.

16. C
o Being a Child and Youth Care worker, it is my duty to figure out
their behaviour, and track it from start to present. This means
that I am to look at their family behaviours, and past experiences
and relationships
o I will be able to decipher the type of parenting they had growing
up, and be aware as to how I should approach/talk to them