Lifespan development - perspective theories -Psychologists
From the moment of inception, human beings are subjected to a series of development throughout the lifetime. Throughout the life to death, life keeps on constantly changing and developing ( Bornstein & Rook, 2010). Lifespan development has been the subject of study for ages. Psychologists over the years have developed theories to explain the process and influence of lifespan development. Top of the list are Sigmund Freud and Abraham Maslow. They tried to define reasons that lead to the development in the lifespan of a human being. ( Bornstein & Rook, 2010)
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is known as the founding father of psychoanalysis. He believed that the mind of a human being changed in the relationship between conscious and unconscious entities (Freud, 2003). The idea led to the formulation of many theories used in psychology today. To define and explain lifespan development, he used a psychoanalytic approach/theory. He described the development as primarily unconscious in that people are not aware as it happens. According to Freud, the development process is usually heavily colored by the human emotions. He derived his theory from dream analysis, the defense mechanism as well as the five psychosexual stages of development. According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, ; personality encompasses three aspects that are id, the ego and the super ego.
[...] They now understand the family life and conscience grows as they learn the morals and taboos of the society.(Wollheim, 1981) Latency starts from six years all the way to puberty where the children represses interests in sexuality and instead develops social and intellectual skills (Wollheim, 1981) . Genital stage It starts from puberty to late adulthood. It is the stage where the awakening of sexual pleasure begins. The sexual urge come from people outside the family (Freud, 2003). Freud's theories have received much criticism over the ages. [...]
[...] Enough ego strength forms the basis of development in a person's lifespan development. A miss of any of the stages will result to behaviors that are not acceptable in the society. Freud formulated the five psychosexual stages theory to describe how a person's sexual development changes from childhood all the way to adulthood. He separated the transformation stages in five stages; oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency period and the genital staged. He argued that the personality of an adult is determined by how well the conflicts that arose through the five stages were handled. [...]
[...] His research was not extensive enough to explain the term self actualization. Nevertheless, Abraham Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs was successful in representing a shift in psychology in that rather than only focusing on abnormal behaviors to define development, humanistic approach should also be considered. In conclusion, the two theories provide two ways of analyzing lifespan development; the humanistic approach and the psychoanalytic approach. References Bornstein, M. H., Vandell, D. L., & Rook, K. S. (2010). Lifespan development: Infancy through adulthood : Cengage Learning. [...]
[...] Freud, S. (2003). An outline of psychoanalysis : Penguin UK. McGuire, K. J. (2012). Maslow's hierarchy of needs : Grin Verlag. Wollheim, R. (1981). Sigmund Freud. Cambridge [England] ; Cambridge University Press, : Cambridge University Press. [...]
[...] Lifespan development has been the subject of study for ages. Psychologists over the years have developed theories to explain the process and influence of lifespan development. Top of the list are Sigmund Freud and Abraham Maslow. They tried to define reasons that lead to the development in the lifespan of a human being. ( Bornstein & Rook, 2010) Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is known as the founding father of psychoanalysis. He believed that the mind of a human being changed in the relationship between conscious and unconscious entities (Freud, 2003). [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
