26 Part 1 Foundations of Human Development
During the teen years, individuals must resolve the conflict of identity versus
identity confusion. Questions such as the following all become important: Who am I?
How am I different from others? How do others see me? What are my interests?
What will I do with my life?
Erikson did not stop with adolescence. He believed that development occurs
throughout a person’s life. People are always changing and developing. Even
people in older adulthood must face psychosocial conflicts that will help them
eventually face death.
Checkpoint
1. What do psychoanalytic theorists analyze? What do they often believe?
2. Which theorist was a pioneer in applying psychoanalytic theory?
3. According to Erikson, which confl ict must individuals resolve during the
elementary school years?
4. According to Erikson, which confl ict must individuals resolve during the
teen years?
How People Process Information and Learn
Ideas about how people process information, think, and learn are called
cognitive theories. Cognitive researchers seek to explain the differences in how
people think throughout the stages of life. They look for explanations of how
cognition changes throughout the lifespan. The most well-known researcher was
Jean Piaget. Many cognitive theorists have followed Piaget’s work, including the
researcher Lev Vygotsky.
Piaget’s Cognitive Theory
Piaget recognized that children do not think like adults. He also realized that
babies are alike in how they think. Children are alike in how they think. Teens
are alike in how they think. Lastly, adults are alike in how they think. Piaget
described the stages of cognitive development in four stages, 2-4.
So why do young children think differently from teens? Piaget believed
young children base their thinking on what they know. When children think the
moon is following them or that babies are delivered at the front door, their beliefs
make sense to them based on their limited experiences. As they gain more experi-
ence, their way of thinking will change and adapt.
Although many researchers have added to people’s understanding of how
thinking occurs, Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development remain impor-
tant. His theory helps people understand how children are active in their own
development and learning. They need a lot of exposure to experimentation, dis-
covery, and firsthand experiences.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Numerous researchers and scientists have challenged Piaget’s theory. Many
have challenged his view that all humans develop through experimentation with