¶ … children cannot help but notice about certain unusual behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical traits and wonder if they are "normal." The puzzle of human development has been a popular area of study and, as a result, there is a wealth of theories striving to understand the many twists and turns of maturation. Erik Erikson, a developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst; Jean Piaget, a Swiss biologist and Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, put forth three of the most well-known theories on aspects of human development. Erikson believed humans went through eight distinct physical and emotional developmental periods called "psychosocial stages." In each stage Erikson proposed that humans confront a task or dilemma and that their ability to address each challenge would further define their personality and abilities. The stages correspond to specific physical stages and are as follows: Trust vs. Mistrust (infancy), Autonomy vs. Shame (toddler), Initiative vs. Guilt (preschool), Industry vs. Inferiority (elementary), Identity vs. Role Confusion (adolescence), Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood), Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle age) and Integrity vs. Despair (retirement) (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2002). Psychologists today say Erikson's theory is not accurate, particularly...

Another criticism is that Erikson based his theory on his observations of men and that women tend to focus on intimacy earlier in their lives, often during or even a little bit before adolescence (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2002). However, Erikson's theory provides a general understanding of the stages most people go through during maturation.
Piaget, like Erikson, also believed that people went through developmental stages. Piaget focused on cognitive development and identified only four stages: Sensorimotor (birth until two-years-old), Preoperational stage (two until seven-years-old), Concrete Operations stage (seven until 12-years-old), and Formal Operations stage (12 through adulthood) (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2002). At each stage Piaget believed children thought and reasoned very differently and by noting the developments and limitations of each stage parents and teachers would be more successful in helping a child reach his or her optimal intelligence and ability. Piaget believed more in providing children with rich learning experiences and allowing them to explore these experiences independently. Piaget's theories inspired many changes in the way children are educated to allow for more…