Comparison Analysis of Piaget’s And Erikson’s Stages of Personal Development
Development psychology is an emerging field that has undergone various changes since the early 1900s. It strives to define the interaction of individuals and their environment. The psychologists concentrate on the growth of knowledge as being influenced by environmental experiences, whereas illuminating the development of persons. The majority of the early theorists influenced the field of psychology substantially. Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget influenced child psychology and early childhood education. Similarities and differences exist between Erikson’s psychosocial theory and Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory. Erikson and Piaget contributed to the examination of many development stages of psychosocial theory and cognitive development theory.
Similarities and Differences
Erikson’s psychosocial theory and Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory assess the topic of developmental psychology using stages to illuminate the process. Successive stages grounded on one another to the degree that failure in the previous phase causes failure in the subsequent stage. Also, these two theories grounded on the notion that the development of personality occurs across the lifespan of an individual. Hence, persons draw inspiration from the environment through the process of learning. In addition, both theories have a profound effect on society, particularly early childhood education. Lastly, both theories apply regulated experiments of a laboratory investigation through their emphasis on the scientific method of inquiries (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017; Ahmad et al., 2016).
Despite the similarities, differences existed between the two theories. Erikson draws inspiration from the psychoanalytic school of thought and viewed that the environment evaluated personality in persons. He believed that the child uses symbols to epitomize individuals and places (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017). On the contrary, Piaget concentrated ends in adulthood, whereas presuming the advent of old age (Ahmad et al., 2016). Furthermore, Erikson focused on personality development, whereas Piaget concentrated on cognitive development.
Conclusion
Erikson and Piaget contributed significantly to developmental psychology. The contribution of both theorists cannot be disregarded in spite of the time gap. Evidently, similarities and differences existed between the two phases. Arguably, stages were the key focal points of the theories, with every previous phase exceptional from the subsequent one.