The development of a human being is often explained through a life-time perspective which defines certain stages in a person’s life cycle. Psychology considers these stages through the lens of development of people’ cognitive abilities and social and intrapersonal skills. By ascribing certain psychological characteristics to definite developmental steps and determining how these steps follow one another psychologists manage to explain the evolution of a human being in terms of the physical and mental skills people acquire at a certain period of their life.
The concept of age in psychology serves to denote the temporal characteristics of human development. In contrast to the actual age, determined by the number of years lived by an individual, the concept of psychological age denotes a certain stage of ontogenetic development, conditioned by the laws of the formation of the organism, living conditions, education and upbringing. By now, many theories of periodizing psychological development have been developed. Vygotsky systematized these theories in his book “The Problem of Age” and determined three broad categories where they fell in.
The first category embraced periodizations based on analogies with the step-by-step construction of other chronological systems. The most well-known of such periodizations belongs to Hall who identified five stages of child development. Hall believed that from the moment of birth up to five years the child mainly plays in the sand (Vygotsky, 2021). Later, at the age from five to eleven, aggressiveness and cruelty appear as children seek to reassert themselves. At a pastoral stage, which lasts from 8 to 11, children make up their world in which they imitate private space (Vygotsky, 2021). From 11 to 15, children develop observation skills, they become more cautious in their actions and words (Vygotsky, 2021). Finally, after the age of 15, children begin to understand the function of money circulation and the role of science in the development of society.
In the second group L.S. Vygotsky included those theories of periodization that are based on certain signs of development. Thus, the periodization of psychosexual development, developed by Freud, can be attributed to this group (Vygotsky, 2021). In psychoanalysis, developed by Sigmund Freud, psychosexual development is explained from the perspective of changes in the biological functioning of the individual. The experience of a person at each phase leaves its imprint in human psyche in the form of certain attitudes, values, and ideals.
In his periodization, Freud singled out such stages as the oral phase (from birth to 1,5 years), the anal phase (1.5-3.5 years), the phallic phase (3.5-6 years), the latent phase (6-12 years) and the genital phase. In the oral phase, the child’s mouth acts as the primary source of satisfaction of the basic organic need, and in the anal phase the child learns to control his acts of defecation, experiencing pleasure of the process (Santrock, 2022). In the phallic phase, a child begins to study his or her body and take interest in inter-sexual relations, identifying oneself or herself with the parent of his or her gender (Santrock, 2022). The latent phase is characterized by a decrease in sexual interest. At this phase, a child’s energy is transferred to non-sexual goals such as studies and establishing of friendly relations with the environment outside the family (Santrock, 2022). Finally, at the genital phase, mature sexual relationships are being formed. Children strive to find their place in society, choose a sexual partner, and create a family.
A significant role in the second group of periodizations is given to the theory of Piaget, based on the development of cognitive processes. The evolution of intelligence is represented in the periodization as a factor to achieve balance with the environment and is described through four stages. The first is the preoperative stage of thinking based on reflexes and adaptive reactions; and the second is the stage of pre-conceptual and intuitive thinking, in which children form ideas about objects and the ways to interact with them (Santrock, 2022). The third stage presupposes the development of logical thinking while the last is the stage is characterised by the advancement to abstract thinking and reasoning ability.
In the third group Vygotsky included periodizations associated with the identification of essential features of mental development. This group includes the periodization of E. Erickson, the peculiarity of which lies with the fact that it covers the entire life of an individual, and not just the early ages (Vygotsky, 2021). In his classification, Erickson identified eight phases of human development that envelop a person’s lifespan from the birth to death, each of which is characterised by certain psychological characteristics.
Psychologists describe the development of a person across a life span as a combination of the physic and mental abilities people have at a certain period in life. Though most life-span perspectives primarily consider the evolution of a child into adult, some theories, such as Ericsson’s, embrace the life of an adult as well. Despite the differences in approaches, all studies agree that each age is characterized by particular psychological, mental, and cognitive features inherent in a person. These features, ultimately, determine a person’s potential and the best way the developmental issues can be approached at a certain period of time.
References
Santrock, J. (2022). Essentials of Life-Span Development (7th ed.). McGraw Hill.
Vygotsky, L. S. (2021). The problem of age periodization in child development. In L. S. Vygotsky (Ed.), L.S. Vygotsky’s Pedological Works. Volume 2: The Problem of Age (pp. 11-38). Springer.