Common
Cognitive, Moral, and Psychosocial Developmental Models
Piaget’s
Model for Cognitive Development
|
Stage
|
Age |
Abilities |
|
Sensorimotor |
birth-2 |
progress
from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic
thought; constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory
experience with physical actions |
|
Preoperational |
2-7 |
Begins
to represent the world with words and images which reflect increased symbolic
thinking and move beyond simple connection of sensory experience with
physical actions |
|
Concrete
Operational |
7-12 |
logical
thought; classification; relational thinking; thought patterns revolve around
“real” world and are mostly concrete |
|
Formal
Operational |
12-adulthood |
logical
thought related to all classes of problems; abstract thinking begins and is
sustained; hypothesis, deduction, and induction possible |
All
stages are chronological and occur gradually.
Piaget’s
“balancing act” metaphor explains the movement through these stages.
Havighurst’s
Developmental Tasks for Adolescents
|
Tasks
|
Age |
|
Achieving
new and mature relations with age-mates |
12-18 |
|
Achieving
a proper masculine or feminine social role* |
12-18 |
|
Adapting
to physical changes and using the body effectively* |
12-18 |
|
Achieving
emotional independence from parents and other adults |
12-18 |
|
Preparing
for marriage and family |
12-18 |
|
Preparing
for an economic career |
12-18 |
|
Acquiring
a personal ideology or value system |
12-18 |
|
Achieving
social responsibility |
12-18 |
Havighurst believes that “the principal
needs of adolescence are emotional and social development rather than
intellectual growth” (Bushman and Haas 8).
Havighurst’s tasks for
adolescents are not necessarily chronological; some adolescents return to a
task that was unfinished after completing others, and some simultaneously take
on more than one task.
*We
should also consider some of the problems inherent in some of Havighurst’s tasks.
Erikson’s
Psychosocial Stages of Human Development
|
Age |
Stage
(Oppositions that |
Developmental
Task |
|
Infancy |
Trust
(hope) vs. mistrust |
Attachment
and bonding |
|
Early
childhood |
Autonomy
vs. shame and doubt |
Potty
training and self maintenance |
|
Early
school age |
Initiative
vs. guilt |
Academic
success, adding, abc’s, language acquisition,
making friends |
|
School
age |
Industry
vs. inferiority |
Social
competence; friendship; networking with peers |
|
Adolescence
|
Indentity vs. role
confusion |
Loyalty
and friendship |
|
Young
adulthood |
Intimacy
vs. isolation |
Falling
in love; maintaining relationships |
|
Maturity/adulthood |
Generativity vs.
stagnation |
Having
and nurturing children |
|
Old
age |
Integrity
vs. despair |
Imparting
wisdom to others |
Erikson
“suggests that the major task of adolescence is the formulation, or
reformulation, of personal identity” (Bushman and Haas 9).
Kohlberg’s
Moral and Intellectual Developmental Model**
|
Stage
|
Age |
Abilities/Qualities |
|
Postconventional: Social Contract Driven and Universal
Ethical Principles Driven |
18-death
|
Each
individual adopts principles and moral reasoning and action; individuals also
realize that these principles occasionally conflict with social rules, posing
moral dilemmas that require ethical resolution through action/thought |
|
Conventional: Interpersonal Accord and Authority
and Social Order Obedience Driven |
12-18 |
Moral
decision making based on interpersonal activity; motivation for doing right
is based more on caring for individuals, the Golden Rule, and the desire for
others to be seen as a “good person.” |
|
Preconventional: Obedience and Self-Interest |
0-11 |
Self-centered,
unable to consider the feelings of others; doing ‘right’ is motivated by the
desire to avoid punishment, obey rules, and yield to superiors (usually
adults) |
**Humans
develop from the bottom to the top in this model, climbing a ladder, so to
speak.
We
should consider Gilligan’s germinal critique of Kohlberg’s model as “androcentric,” and we should also consider Kohlberg’s own
revisions, for he later added another stage to account for some regression he
observed.
Kohlberg’s
major influences were Piaget and John Dewey.
Piaget was concerned primarily with cognitive development, Dewey with
moral development. Kohlberg’s ideas,
then, are an amalgam of both.
We
must consider Kohlberg’s innovations and their implications for teaching
adolescents as we turn towards our tasks this semester.