Piaget
Cognitive development
1. Sensorimotor (birth – 2 years)
Infants know the world through their senses and through their actions. For example, they
learn what dogs look like and what petting them feels like.
- Object permanence: the knowledge that objects continue to exist even when they are
out of view
- A-not-B error: the tendency to reach for a hidden object where it was last found rather
than in the new location where it was last hidden
- Deferred imitation: the repetition of other people’s behaviour a substantial time after it
originally occurred.
2. Preoperational (2 – 7 years)
Toddlers and young children acquire the ability to internally represent the world through
language and mental imagery. They also begin to see the world from other people’s
perspectives, not just their own.
- Symbolic representation: the use of one object to stand for another
- Egocentrism: the tendency to perceive the world solely from one’s own point of view
- Centration: the tendency to focus on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or
event
- Conservation concept: the idea that merely changing the appearance of objects does not
necessarily change the objects’ other key properties
3. Concrete operational (7 – 12 years)
Children become able to think logically, not just intuitively. They now can understand that
events are often influenced by multiple factors, not just one.
4. Formal operational (12 years – beyond)
Adolescents can think systematically and reason about what might be, as well as what it is.
This allows them to understand politics, ethics, and science fiction about alternative political
and ethical systems, as well as to engage in scientific reasoning.
Moral judgement
1. Heteronomous morality (younger than 7 years)
Regard rules and duties to others as unchangeable “givens”
- Justice is whatever authorities say is right, and authorities’ punishments for
noncompliance are always justified
2. Autonomous morality ( years - beyond)
No longer accept blind obedience to authority as the basis of moral decisions
- Believe that punishment should “fit the crime” and that adults are not always fair in how
they deliver punishment
, Freud
Psychosexual development
1. Oral stage (birth – 1 year)
The primary source of satisfaction and pleasure is oral activity, such as sucking and eating
2. Anal stage (2 – 3 years)
The primary source of pleasure comes from defecation
3. Phallic stage (3 – 6 years)
Sexual pleasure is focused on the genitalia
4. Latency period (6 – 12 years)
Sexual energy gets channelled into socially acceptable activities
5. Genital stage (adolescence)
Sexual maturation is complete
Psychoanalytic theory
1. Id
The earliest and most primitive personality structure. It is unconscious and operates with the
goal of seeking pleasure
- The goal of achieving maximal gratification as quickly as possible
2. Ego
The rational, logical, problem-solving component of personality
- Arises out of the need to resolve conflicts between the id’s demands for immediate
gratification and the restraints imposed by the external world
3. Superego
Consists of internalized moral standards
- Essentially what we think of as conscience
- Based on the child’s adoption of their caregivers’ standards for acceptable behaviour
- Guides the child to avoid actions that would results in guilt, which the child experiences
when violating these internalised standards
Cognitive development
1. Sensorimotor (birth – 2 years)
Infants know the world through their senses and through their actions. For example, they
learn what dogs look like and what petting them feels like.
- Object permanence: the knowledge that objects continue to exist even when they are
out of view
- A-not-B error: the tendency to reach for a hidden object where it was last found rather
than in the new location where it was last hidden
- Deferred imitation: the repetition of other people’s behaviour a substantial time after it
originally occurred.
2. Preoperational (2 – 7 years)
Toddlers and young children acquire the ability to internally represent the world through
language and mental imagery. They also begin to see the world from other people’s
perspectives, not just their own.
- Symbolic representation: the use of one object to stand for another
- Egocentrism: the tendency to perceive the world solely from one’s own point of view
- Centration: the tendency to focus on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or
event
- Conservation concept: the idea that merely changing the appearance of objects does not
necessarily change the objects’ other key properties
3. Concrete operational (7 – 12 years)
Children become able to think logically, not just intuitively. They now can understand that
events are often influenced by multiple factors, not just one.
4. Formal operational (12 years – beyond)
Adolescents can think systematically and reason about what might be, as well as what it is.
This allows them to understand politics, ethics, and science fiction about alternative political
and ethical systems, as well as to engage in scientific reasoning.
Moral judgement
1. Heteronomous morality (younger than 7 years)
Regard rules and duties to others as unchangeable “givens”
- Justice is whatever authorities say is right, and authorities’ punishments for
noncompliance are always justified
2. Autonomous morality ( years - beyond)
No longer accept blind obedience to authority as the basis of moral decisions
- Believe that punishment should “fit the crime” and that adults are not always fair in how
they deliver punishment
, Freud
Psychosexual development
1. Oral stage (birth – 1 year)
The primary source of satisfaction and pleasure is oral activity, such as sucking and eating
2. Anal stage (2 – 3 years)
The primary source of pleasure comes from defecation
3. Phallic stage (3 – 6 years)
Sexual pleasure is focused on the genitalia
4. Latency period (6 – 12 years)
Sexual energy gets channelled into socially acceptable activities
5. Genital stage (adolescence)
Sexual maturation is complete
Psychoanalytic theory
1. Id
The earliest and most primitive personality structure. It is unconscious and operates with the
goal of seeking pleasure
- The goal of achieving maximal gratification as quickly as possible
2. Ego
The rational, logical, problem-solving component of personality
- Arises out of the need to resolve conflicts between the id’s demands for immediate
gratification and the restraints imposed by the external world
3. Superego
Consists of internalized moral standards
- Essentially what we think of as conscience
- Based on the child’s adoption of their caregivers’ standards for acceptable behaviour
- Guides the child to avoid actions that would results in guilt, which the child experiences
when violating these internalised standards
