Theories of Human Development

Running head: THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
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Module Code: PSY2009
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THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENTTHEORY PRESENTED: Freudian theory of psychosexual
development and Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development of
human development.
Statement of the core message of the theory in how personality develops along with key
theorists:
The aim of the paper is to analyze the issue of human development through the effective
consideration of three prominent theories. According to the Freudian theory of individual
development, there are certain stages of life that every child goes through in the process of
development (Guntrip, 2018). This is known as the theory of psychosexual development of
the individual. As mentions Sigmund Freud, the development of personality develops in the
process of childhood development, he mentions about the development of personality
completes within the period of five and this is reflective of the laterbehavior in life (Guntrip,
2018). This has been highlighted by Freud that the development of personality traits and the
outburst of certain emotions like aggression is the result of the treatment being delivered to
the child until the age of 1. In the case of the development of dependency on the child care
providers, the child grows a sense of aggression in the later period of life (Van der Hart et al.,
2016). In case of the development of the individual on the productive side, this has been
observed that the training of toilet by one of the Parents is crucial in determining the creative
and productive nature of the individual since this has been argued by Freud that the impact of
parental response is higher in case of the outcomes of the child in the later period of life (Van
der Hart et al., 2016). In the case of the phallic stage of development, the growth of the
children depends on the nurturing nature of either of the parents. This is where he mentions
about then theory of Oedipus and Electra complex and the development of certain affection
and care for the parents (Elliott, 2015). Lastly, in the case of the latent period of
development, he mentions that the development of sexual interest in the opposite sex is the
result of the development of ego and superego of the individual. Freud’s theory explains the
development of personality through the stages of childhood experiences is one of the key
aspects of this theory (Van der Hart et al., 2016).

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THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENTHowever, it is also significant to understand the development of human development from
one of the scholars chosen from the post-Freudian theorists like Erikson's. According to this
theory, there is a number of stages on the development of one’s personality and it is only after
the successful completion of one stage that the beginning of the next stage happens (Cherry,
2017). In case of any disruption in the effective fulfillment of one of the stages, this leads to
the process of reoccurrence of that issue in the future as problems. This theory is the
representation of the psychosocial development of the personality of the individual which is
divided into eight prominent stages. Erikson mentions that social interaction and social
interaction lying outside are the determinant factors of successful development of individual
personality (Syed et al., 2017). The turning point of one’s own conflicts in life is the key
determinant of change. This change according to the psychologist is the turning point because
either the development of this trait helps to develop one of the positive aspects of personality
or fails to develop the same and creates a problem in future.
Supported evaluation of the theory as a model for understanding individual differences
in modern psychology.
In the case of the psychosexual development of human being, it can be understood that
experiences of a child at the tender age have been the focus for the development of
personality. However what is interesting to note is that there is no empirical evidence for the
same where it mentions that the experience related to one of the body parts can actually shape
the behavior and personality traits of one individual (Cherry, 2017). However, in the case of
Erikson’s theory of human development, it can be attributed solely to the external factors as
the reasons for the development of personality. This is interesting to note the fact that the
development of one’s own personality is ultimately shaped by the external and internal
experiences that one encounter in their course of life. This is also crucial to note that change
and modification in one’s own personality is the amalgamation of factors.

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THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENTYour reflection on how the theory helps us to understand the development of
personality.
The above-mentioned theories of human development discuss the aspects of development
from two different perspectives. While the former theory of Freud, the development of the
individual has been seen from a psychosexual perspective which provides an alternative
understanding of the individual. This explains that the gap in one of the stages of
psychosexual development leads to the process of development of certain kind of behavior. In
case of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial behavior this has been observed that it helps us to
understand the factors like peer groups, families and parents and their interactions with the
child have an important contribution to the development of certain kind of personality
(Cherry, 2017). This can be argued form the above discussion that the fulfilments of one’s
own expectation at the initial years in terms of their sexual and social factors are one of the
key aspects of their future behavior. In case of the Freudian theory of psychosexual
development, he does not take into consideration the development of certain traits of the
homosexual individual, he has acceptedtheir development of the heterosexual individuals
(Elliott, 2015). Moreover, these theories lack the understanding of the development of the
female counterpart and centers around the understanding of male personality development. In
addition this, the Freudian theory of psychosexual development derived the notions form the
childhood experiences and it appears vague at times since it is not based on empirical
research. This theory is difficult to test in practicality which makes it appears even more
vague in case of the psychosocial development of the human being it is to be noted that the
kinds of experiences required to complete the process of one stage are not clearly mentioned
which makes it vague for us to develop an understanding of the development of the
personality of an individual.
THEORY PRESENTED: Behaviourist and social learning theory:
from Pavlov to Bandura