Module I

PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION

Introduction
Human Development is not new to you. You have already studied part and partial
of it in your Social Science 11 or Biology subjects. Life-span development is a lifelong
process of development from conception until the time when life ends. It includes the
following stages: pre-natal, infancy, babyhood, early childhood, late childhood,
adolescence, early adulthood, middle and late adulthood.
This module is a window into the journey of human development, its universal
features, its individual variations, its’ nature. Examining the shape of life span
development allows us to understand it better. Each of us develops partly like all other
individuals and partly like no other individual that makes us a unique person. However,
as humans, we all have travelled some common paths. Each of us, you, me and other
people walked at about 1 year, engaged in play as a young child, searched for identity as a
youth. If we live long enough, we will experience visual and hearing problems, death of
family members and friends during later years.
These are reminders that whenever we talk about human development, we talk
about real people in a real world who undergoes changes, physically, socially, emotionally,
intellectually and morally throughout the life span.
In this module, we will explore the goals, importance, distinctive features and
characteristics of human development. Developmental process and periods of
development will be identified and described. Prominent theories and research methods
that are the foundation of the science of life-span development will be discussed. At the
end of the module, some ethical issues in research are included to inform study
participants of their rights and the investigators of their responsibilities and limitations.

Learning Outcomes
At the end if this module, students are expected to:
1. name and explain basic factors to the growth and development of the learner;
2. discuss the significance of the basic principles of development in teaching; and
3. explain how understanding of the concept of individual differences will help
improve the teaching-learning situation.

Learning Contents

A. DEFINITION OF BASIC TERMS

 Human Development - is the orderly and sequential changes that occur with
the passage of time as an organism moves from conception to death.
 Developmental Psychology - is one area of psychology that explains that
explains the course of physical, psychosocial (social, emotional, moral),
intellectual development (cognitive development) and moral development over a
person’s life span.
 Life-span Development – concept of human development as a life long process
which can be studied scientifically.
 Quantitative change – change in number or amount, such as height, weight or
size of vocabulary.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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  Qualitative change – change in kind, structure or organization such as the
change from nonverbal to verbal communication.
B. IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT
How would you benefit from the study of life-span development? You maybe a
parent, teacher, doctor, nurse, office worker, accountant, engineer, businessman, a
preacher, politician today or in the future. Your knowledge about human development
would help you understand and deal better with different people in your everyday life.
Perhaps you would like to know more about yourself as you grow through adult years.
What are some of the affected changes that you may encounter physically, emotionally,
socially, mentally as you age? Your accumulated knowledge through study and research
would help you prepare in the future as a parent understanding your own children, your
students as a teacher, your patients as a doctor or a nurse, your business associates, co-
workers, supervisors, subordinates and others. Your experiences today will prepare and
help you and influence your development throughout the remainder of your life.
C. GOALS OF THE STUDY OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT
1. Description – developmentalists attempt to describe both normal development
and individual differences or variation in development.
2. Explanation – they seek to understand
3. Prediction – knowledge of human development make it possible to predict later
behaviour.
4. Modification – (change behaviour) ex. Understanding of how language develops
may be used to help a child to talk. (research) a child that cannot talk.
D. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LIFE-SPAN PERSPECTIVE
 Life Span Perspective – the perspective that development is lifelong, multi-
directional plastic, multidisciplinary and contextual; involves growth,
maintenance, and regulation and is constructed through biological, socio-cultural,
and individual factors working together.
 Development is Lifelong – no age period dominates development, early
adulthood is not the end point of development.
 Development is Multi-dimensional – whatever your age, your body, your
mind, your emotions, and your relationships are changing and affecting each
other. Development consists of biological, cognitive , and socio-emotional
dimension, these are many components.
 Development is Multi-directional – throughout life, some dimensions or
components of a dimension expand and others shrink.
 Development is Plastic – Plasticity means the capacity for change.
Developmentalists debate how much plasticity people have in various dimensions
at different points in their development.
 Developmental Science is Multidisciplinary - Psychologists, sociologists,
neuroscientists, anthropologists and medical researches share an interest in
discovering the mysteries of development through the life span.
 Development is Contextual – (CONTEXT) the setting in which development
occurs, which is influenced by historical, economic, social and cultural factors. All
development occurs within a context or setting. Context include families, schools,
peer groups, churches, cities, neighborhood, universities, laboratories,
communities, countries and so on. Individuals are changing beings in a changing
world. As a result of these changes, contexts exert three types of influences.
 Development involves Growth, Maintenance and Regulation of Loss –
Baltes and his colleagues assert that the mastery of life involves confidence and
competition among three goals of human development, growth, maintenance and
regulation of loss.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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E. BROAD DOMAINS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT (ASPECTS OF
DEVELOPMENT)
1. Physical Development - these are changes that take place in the person’s body
including changes in weight and height, in the brain, heart, and the other organs,
structures and processes and in the skeletal, muscular and neurological features
that affects your motor skills.
2. Psychosocial Development - changes and carry over in personal and
interpersonal aspects of development, such as motives, emotions, personality and
social relationship.
 Personality Development - is a person’s unique and relatively consistent
way of feeling, reacting and behaving.
 Social Development - refers to changes in relationship with others.
 Emotional Development - subjective feelings such as sadness, joy, and
fear which arise in the response to situations and experiences and are
expressed through some kind of altered behavior.
3. Cognitive Development - are those changes that occur in the mental activity or
thought process - changes in sensation, perception, language, learning, thinking,
memory, problem solving and other mental processes.
Cognition - the activity of knowing and the process through which knowledge is
acquired.
4. Moral Development – are those changes that occur in the individuals
perception of what is right and wrong and to act on this distinction. Development
that involves feelings and actions regarding rules and conventions about what
people should do in their interaction with other people. These include changes that
occur in the individuals’ perception of what is right and wrong and to act on this
distinction.
The goal of developmental changes is to enable people to adapt to the environment in
which they live.

F. DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES (Two Kinds)

Quantitative changes - (growth) change in number or amount measurable

changes.
Qualitative changes - (development) change in kind, structure or organization.
Example: from non-verbal infant to a child who understands and speaks
language.

Types of Changes in Development

1. Change in size - there is a change in physical and mental growth.

2. Change in proportion - physical development is not only limited to size. It also
apparent in mental development.
3. Disappearance of old features - some features that disappear are the thymus
gland, baby hair, Darwinian reflexes, Babinski reflex and the baby forms of
locomotion such as creeping and crawling.
4. Acquisition of new features - new features are acquired such as the primary
and secondary characteristics as well as new mental traits such as curiosity, sex,
urge, knowledge, morals and standards, religious beliefs, forms of language and
types of neurotic tendencies.

Factors of Development

 Maturation - is the development or unfolding of traits potentially present in the

individual considering his hereditary endowment.
 Learning - is the result of activities or day-to-day experiences of the child himself.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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Rate of Development

 Rapid Development - observed during the prenatal period and continues

throughout babyhood (except for the first two weeks which is known as the
“plateau” stage when no physical development takes place) up to the first six years.
 Slow Development - starts from six years to adolescence.

Factors Influencing Attitudes towards Developmental Changes

1. Appearance - changes that improve one’s appearance are welcome and lead to
favourable attitudes while those that detract from one’s appearance are resisted
and every possible attempt is made to camouflage them.
2. Changes in behavior - those that are the disconcerting especially during puberty
and senescence, affects attitudes toward the changes unfavourably. The reverse is
true when changes are favourable, as when the helplessness of babyhood gradually
gives away to the independence of childhood.
3. Cultural Stereotypes - people learn cultural stereotype associated with different
ages from mass media and they use them to judge people of these age
4. Cultural values - every culture has certain values associated with different ages.
Maximum productivity is associated with young adulthood through early middle
adulthood in the Filipino today; thus attitude towards this age group is more
favourable than attitudes towards any other group.
5. Role changes - attitudes toward people of different ages are greatly influences by
the roles they play. When people change their roles to less favourable ones, social
attitudes toward them become less sympathetic.
6. Personal experience - these have profound effect on an individual’s attitude
toward developmental changes. Since the authority and prestige of middle-aged
executives decreases as they approach retirement.

G. SIGNIFICANT FACTS ABOUT DEVELOPMENT

1. Early facts are critical. - Attitudes, habits, and patterns of behavior established
during the early years determine to a large extent how successful individuals will
adjust to life as they grow older.

3 conditions under which change is likely to occur:

a. Change may come about when the individual receives help and guidance in
making the change.
b. Changes are likely to occur when significant people treat individual in new and
different ways.
c. Change exists where there is strong motivation on the part of the individual
himself to make the change.

2. The role of maturation and learning in development. - Maturation and

learning play important roles in development.

3. Development follows a definite and predictable pattern. There are orderly

patterns of physical, motor, speech and intellectual development.
 Cephalocaudal Law - which maintains that development spreads over
the body from head to foot.
 Proximodistal law- which maintains that development spreads outward
from the central axis of the body to the extremities.

4. All individual is different. - All people are biologically and genetically different
from one another, even identical twins. Since all individuals are different, no two
people can be expected to react in the same manner to the same environmental
stimuli.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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 5. Each phase of development has a characteristic “pattern of behavior”.
- The patterns are marked by period of equilibrium when individuals adapt easily
to environmental demands and, as a result make good personal and social
adjustments, and by the periods of disequilibrium, when they experience
difficulties in adaptation and, as a result, make poor personal and social
adjustments.

6. Each phase of development has hazards. - Evidences show that each period
in a life span has associated with it certain developmental hazards, whether
physical, psychological or environmental in origin and these inevitably involve
adjustment problems.

7. Development is aided by stimulation. - While most development will occur

are result of maturation and environmental experiences, much can be done to aid
development so that it will reach its full potential, this can be done by stimulating
development through directly encouraging the individual to use an ability which is
in the process of developing.
8. Development is affected by cultural changes. - Development is molded to
conform to cultural standards and ideas, thus, changes in these standards affect
the development pattern.

9. There is social expectation for every stage of development. - Every

cultural group expects its members to master certain essential skills and acquire
approved patterns of behavior at various ages during the life span.

10. There are traditional beliefs about people of all ages. - These beliefs about
physical and psychosocial characteristics affect the judgments of others as well as
their self-evaluation.

H. STAGES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1. Prenatal period (conception-birth)
Is the time elapsing between conception & birth. It normally averages about 266
days,
or 280 days from the last day of the last menstrual period.

2. Newborn/Infancy (birth to the end of the 2 nd week)

The infant arrives with all sensory system functioning. To the watchful observer,
babies communicate at least some of their perceptions and abilities. Newborns tell us
what they hear, see & feel in the same manner that any other organisms do-through
systematic responses to stimulating events.

3. Babyhood ( from the end of the 2nd week to the end of 2nd year)
At this stage babies expend enormous amount of energy in exploring, learning
about and mastering their world. They continually initiate activities by which they can
interact effectively with the environment. Children at one year of age are poised for
fundamental development in language and social skills
Children’s physical growth takes place in a generally orderly fashion with
predictable changes occurring at given age levels.

4. Early Childhood (3-6 years)

The period between age 3 and 6 when children enlarge their repertoire of
behaviors. They refine their previously learned skills and evolve new ones for relating
to other people and to the large world. By doing so, they became progressively
integrated into the broader context of group life and in this way the child’s needs and
capacities are fused with the ideas and sentiment of the culture.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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 5. Late Childhood (7-12 years)
During the elementary school years, marked development occurs in children’s
ability to receive, create and use knowledge about their physical; and social worlds.
Children confront the challenges of developing healthy self-conceptions. The stage is
marked by growth in children’s cognitive sophistication.

6. Adolescence (13-19 years)

This stage is frequently depicted s a carefree age of physical attractiveness, vitality,
robust fan, love, enthusiasm, & activity. Some authors find it a n extremely difficult
period. They hold contrasting images of adolescence like they are given to juvenile
delinquency, drug addiction, prenatal pregnancies and disrespect for authority.
Adolescents experience a very rapid increase in height and weight referred to as
adolescent growth spurt. This stage is also characterized by the development of
reproductive system accompanied by extensive physical changes, and development of
formal operations.

7. Early Adulthood (20-39 years)

The age of infancy, childhood and adolescence are all preparation for entry to adult
life. Physiologically, young adults are at their peak; strength, endurance, reaction time,
perceptual abilities and sexual responsiveness are all optimal even though the aging
process is taking slight and usually not even tolls on the body. Early adulthood is also
is a period of effective cognitive functioning. Young adults are physically and
intellectually capable for they face many challenges, they are changed by marriage,
new parenthood, and other normal events of the family life cycle, just as they are
affected by their work and experiences.

8. Middle Adulthood (40-64 years)

Stage characterized by the gradual decline in the body and its physical capacities
that began in the 20’s & 30’s may now become noticeable. Gray hairs or (no hairs)
shortness of breath after exercise, a need for reading glasses proclaims that one is
aging. Women experiences menopause around age 50, both men and women become
more vulnerable to heart diseases and other chronic illnesses.
Although intellectual capacities generally remain quite stable, middle aged adults
gradually gain some intellectual capacities and lose others. After emptiness & middle-
aged adults are freed of major parenting responsibilities, they often find their
marriages more satisfying take pride in their grown children & grandchildren.

9. Late Adulthood (65-above)

Old age brings with it some losses and declines in functioning, but it is also for
most, a period of continued growth & many satisfactions. By the time adults are in
their 60’s and 70’s, most of them have a physical impairment of some kind – a chronic
disease, a disability, failing eyesight or hearing, or, at the least a slower nervous system
and slower reactions. Most adults continue to carry out daily activities effectively and
they enjoy just as much self-esteem and life satisfaction as younger adults do. They
continue to lead active social lives, use their sophisticated social cognitive skills to
understand other people and engage in complex moral reasoning and enjoy close ties
with both family and friends.

I. Issues in Human Development

 Nature versus Nurture

 Continuity versus discontinuity
 Stability versus change

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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Nature vs. Nurture
The degree to which human behavior is determined by genetics/ biology (nature) or
learned through interacting with the environment.
Nature
 Behavior is caused by innate characteristics: The physiological/ biological
characteristics we are born with.
 Behavior is therefore determined by biology
 Also a Determinist view- suggest all behavior is determined by hereditary factors:
Inherited characteristics, or genetic makeup we are born with.
 All possible behaviors are said to be present from conception.
 Genes provide the blueprint for all behaviors; some present from birth, others
pre- programmed to emerge with age.
Nurture
 An individual’s behavior is determined by the environment- the things people
teach them, the things they observe and because of the different situations they
are in.
 Also a determinist view-proposed all human behavior is the result of interactions
with environment.
 Behaviorist theories are nurture theories:
 Behavior is shape by interactions with the environment.
 Born an empty vessel – waiting to be filled up by experiences gained from
environmental interaction.

Nature Nurture interaction

 Behavior is often a result of the interaction between nature and nurture
 An individual’s characteristics may elicit particular responses in other people
e.g.
Temperament : how active, responsive or emotional an infant is influences in
part determines their caregivers responses.
Gender: people tend to react differently to boys and girls due to expectations
of masculine and feminine characteristics.
 Aggression: Displaying aggressive behavior create particular responses from
other people.
Continuity vs. Discontinuity
Continuity and discontinuity are two competing theories in developmental psychology
that attempt to explain how people change through the course of their lives, someone
change through the course of their lives, where the continuity theory says that someone
changes throughout their life along a smooth course while the discontinuity theory
instead contends that people change abruptly. These change can be described as a wide
variety of someone’s social and behavioral make up, like their emotions, traditions,
beliefs.
Stability vs. change
Deals with the issue of whether or not personality traits present during infancy endure
throughout the lifespan.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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  The stability- change debate describes the developmental psychology
discussion about whether personality traits that are present in an individual at
birth remain constant or change throughout the life span.
 For example, does a naturally extroverted and talkative baby remain that way
for their entire life?

J. THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
Theory/Phenomena is a set of logically related concepts of statements which seeks
to describe and explain development and predict what kinds of behavior might occur
under certain conditions.
Theories are particularly useful if they are concise and yet applicable to a wide
range of phenomena. Good theories are also precise, that is, capable if making explicit
prediction that can be evaluated in later research.
All theorists agree that human change all the time and that there are biological,
psychological and social causes of this development.
We will put into consideration 4 theories of human development, the Cognitive
Theory by Piaget, Psychosocial Theory by Erikson, Psychosexual Theory by Freud and
Moral Theory by Kohlberg.

Theory of Cognitive Development (Jean Piaget)

The Swiss researcher who believed that children’s thinking

is qualitatively different from adults. His theory outlined children’s
cognitive progress through a series of stages.

 Cognitive Development refers to how a person

perceives, thinks & gains an understanding of his her
world through the interaction and influence of genetic
and learned factors.
Piaget believed that children learn to understand things
such as whether to eat or stack blocks, through two active
processes: assimilation & accommodation.

Basic Concepts:

 Assimilation – is a process by which a child uses old methods or experience

to deal with new situations.

 Accommodation – is the process by which a child changes old methods to

deal with or adjust to new situations.

 Equilibration - Achieving proper balance between assimilation and

accommodation.

 Schema - Cognitive structures by which individuals intellectually adapt to

and organize their environment.

Piaget’s cognitive stages refer to four (4) different stages: sensorimotor, pre-
operational, concrete operations & formal operations – each of which is more advanced
than the preceding stage because it involves new reasoning and thinking abilities.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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I. SENSORIMOTOR STAGE (from birth to about 2 years old)

The first stage of Piaget’s cognitive stages. During this stage, infants interact with
and learn about their environments by relating their sensory experience (such as hearing
or seeing) to their motor action (mouthing & grasping).
Object permanence – refers to the understanding that objects or events
continue to exist even if they can no longer be heard, touch or seen.
The idea of object permanence develops slowly over a period of about 9 months.
By the end of the sensorimotor stage (about age 2) an infant will search long and hard for
lost of, or disappearance objects indicating a fully developed concept of object
permanence.

II. PRE-OPERATIONAL STAGE (from 2-7 years old)

During the 2nd stage, children learn to use symbols such as words or mental images
to solve simple problems and to think or talk about things that are not present.
This stage is highlighted by the following important events:

a. conservation – refers to the fact that even though the shape of some objects or
substances is changed, the total amount remains the same.

b. egocentric thinking – refers to seeing and thinking of the world only from your own
viewpoint & having difficulty appreciating someone else’s point of view.

c. centration – the tendency of the child to only focus on one aspect of a thing or event
and exclude other aspects.

d. irreversibility – pre operational children have the inability to reverse their thinking.
They can understand that 2+3=5 but can’t understand that 5-3=2.

e.animism – the tendency of children to attribute human like traits or characteristics to

inanimate objects.

f. transductive Reasoning – the pre operational child’s type of reasoning that is

neither inductive nor deductive.

III. STAGE OF CONCRETE OPERATIONS (from about 7 to 11 years)

During this 3rd stage, children can perform a number of logical mental operations
or concrete objects (those that are physically present). It is marked by the following:

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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 a. Decentering – the ability of the child to perceive the different features of objects
and situations. No longer is the child focused or limited to one aspect or
dimension.

b. Reversibility – the child can now follow that certain operations can be done in
reverse. Ex. Addition is the reverse of subtraction.

c. Conservation – that ability to know that certain properties of objects like

number, mass, volume, or area do not change even if there is a change in
appearance.

d. Seriation – the ability to order or arrange things in a series based on one

dimension such as weight, volume, or size.

e. Classification – process of sorting stimuli into categories of characteristics, such

as in length, weight, amount, etc.

IV. STAGE OF FORMAL OPERATIONS (from about 12 years old to adulthood)

During this 4th & last stage, adolescents and adults develop the ability to think &
solve abstract problems in a logical manner. It is the stage when adolescents develop
thinking & reasoning like typical adults. It is characterized by the following:

a. Hypothetical Reasoning – the ability to come up with different hypothesis

about a problem and to gather and weigh data in order to make a final decision or
judgment. The student can now deal with ‘what if” question.

b. Analogical Reasoning –the ability to perceive the relationship in one instance

and then use that relationship to narrow down possible answers in another similar
situation or problem.

c. Deductive Reasoning – the ability to think logically by applying general rule to

a particular instance or situation.

Psychosexual Development Theory (Sigmund Freud)

Freud (1940 – 1961) hypothesized that each of us the

individual seeks pleasure from different areas of the body associated
with sexual feelings. Freud emphasized that the child’s first five years
are most important to social and personality development.
In Freud’s theory there is often conflict between the child and
the parent. The conflict arise because the child wants immediate
satisfaction of its needs while parents often place restrictions.
Basic Concepts:

Basic Concepts:
Frustration, Overindulgence, Fixation, Errogenous zone

Some people do not seem to be able to leave one stage and proceed on to the next. One
reason for this may be that the needs of the developing individual at any particular stage
may not have been adequately met in which case there is frustration.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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Or possibly the person's needs may have been so well satisfied that he/she is reluctant to
leave the psychological benefits of a particular stage in which there is overindulgence.

Both frustration and overindulgence (or any combination of the two) may lead to what
psychoanalysts call fixation at a particular psychosexual stage.

Fixation refers to the theoretical notion that a portion of the individual's libido has been
permanently 'invested' in a particular stage of his development. It is assumed that some
libido is permanently invested in each psychosexual stage and thus each person will
behave in some ways that are characteristic of infancy, or early childhood.

Errogenous zones are pleasure areas that become focal points for the particular stage.

I. ORAL STAGE
Period: Early infancy to the first 18 months of life.
Errogenous Zone: mouth.
Important Event: Pleasure seeking activities include sucking, chewing and biting.
Fixation: If the child is locked into or fixated at this stage because his oral wishes
were gratified too much (overindulgence) or too little (frustration), he would continue to
seek oral gratifications as an adult manifested in smoking, overeating, being orally
receptive or orally aggressive.

II. ANAL STAGE

Period. Late infancy to 1.5 – 3 years.
Errogenous Zone. anus
Important Event: The child finds satisfaction in eliminating and retaining feces.
The child needs to work on toilet training.
Fixation: If a child was locked into or fixated at this stage, he would continue to
engage in behavioral activities related to retention of elimination. Retention may take the
form of being anal retentive – obsession with cleanliness, perfection and control, stingy
or behaviorally rigid, or anal expulsive – the person becomes messy and disorganized, or
being too generous.

III. PHALLIC STAGE

Period. Early childhood to 3 – 6 years.

Errogenous zone: genitals
Important Event: During this stage, the child will compete with the parent of the
same sex (father/mother) for the affection and pleasure of the parent of the opposite sex
(father/mother). Children become interested in what makes boys and girls different.
Fixation: Problems in resolving this competition (called Oedipus/Electra
complex) may result in feelings of inferiority for men and of having to prove something
for women and vice versa.

IV. LATENCY STAGE

Period. Middle and late childhood from six to puberty.

Errogenous Zones:
Important Event. The latency stage, which lasts from about age six to puberty, is a
time when the child represses sexual thoughts and engages in non-sexual activities, such
as developing social and intellectual skills.
Fixation: None
At puberty, sexuality reappears and marks the beginning of a new stage.

V. GENITAL STAGE
Period. Puberty through adulthood.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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 Errogenous zones: genitals
Important Event. A time when the individual has renewed sexual desires that he
or she seeks to fulfill through the relationships with members of the opposite sex.
If the child successfully resolved conflicts in the first three stages, she will have the
energy to develop a loving relationship and mature personality.

Psychosocial Stages of Development (Erik Homberger

Erikson)

Erickson’s theory draws our attention to the continual

process of personality development that takes place throughout a
person’s life span. It focuses on the individual’s interaction with
society. According to Erikson, personality develops through a
progressive resolution of conflicts between needs and social
demands.
According to Erikson, a child will encounter a psychosocial
problem at each stage. If he successfully solves the problem, he will
develop a good social trait that will help him solve the next
problem. If he is unsuccessful, he will develop a bad social trait that will hinder his or her
solving a new problem at the next stage. The more successful an individual resolves the
problem the healthier development will be.

Basic Concepts:

Epigenetic Principle – this principle says that we develop through a predetermined

unfolding of our personalities in eight stages. Our progress through each stage is in part
determined by our success, or lack of success, in all the previous stages.

Psychological crisis – two opposing emotional in every stage of development.

Virtue – is attained when a stage is managed well or when the stage is successfully passed
through.

I. TRUST vs. MISTRUST

Period. Early infancy – birth through the first year.
Important Event. Feeding
Potential problem. The child comes into the world as a helpless infant who needs
much care and attention.
Outcome. If the child’s parents are responsive and sensitive to his needs, he will
develop what Erikson calls basic trust, which makes it easier for him to trust people later
in life. If the child’s parents neglect his needs, he may view his world as uncaring, learns
to become mistrustful, and have difficulty dealing with the second stage.
Virtue. Hope

II. AUTONOMY vs. SHAME & DOUBT

Period. Late infancy to 1-3 years.
Important Event. Toilet Training
Potential problem. Children need to develop a sense of personal control over
physical skills and a sense of independence. As a child begins walking, talking and
exploring, he is bound to get into conflict with the wishes of his parents.
Outcome: If his parents encourage him to explore. He will develop a sense of
independence or autonomy. If his parents disapprove of or punish his explorations, he
may develop a feeling that independence is bad and feels the shame and doubt.
Virtue. Will

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
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III. INITIATIVE vs. GUILT
Period. Early childhood to 3 – 5 years.
Important Event. Exploration
Potential problem. As a preschooler, a child has developed a number of cognitive
and social skills he is expected to use to meet the challenges in his small world. Some of
these challenges involve assuming responsibility and making plan and initiating new
things.
Outcome: If people around the child discourage initiative, however, he may feel
uncomfortable or guilty and may develop a feeling of being unable to plan his future.
Virtue. Purpose

IV. INDUSTRY vs. INFERIORITY

Period. Middle and late childhood to 6-12 years.
Important Event. Attending school.
Potential problem. A child’s grade school years are an exciting time, filled with
participating in school, playing games with other children, and working to complete
projects.
Outcome. If he can direct his energy into working at and completing tasks, he will
develop a feeling of industry. If he has difficulty applying himself and completing
homework, he may develop a feeling of inferiority and incompetence. Feedback from
peers, parents & teachers they receive regarding their adequacy shapes their self-image &
self-esteem.
Virtue. Competence

V. IDENTITY vs. CONFUSION

Period. Adolescence. (ages 13-20)
Important Event. Social Relationships
Potential problem. Adolescents need to leave behind the carefree, irresponsible,
and impulsive behaviors of childhood and to develop the more purposeful, responsible,
planned behaviors of adults.
Outcome. If he is successful in making this change, he will develop a sense of
confidence and a positive identity. If he is successful he will experience role confusion,
which will result in low self-esteem and become socially withdrawn.
Virtue. Fidelity

VI. INTIMACY vs. ISOLATION

Period. Early adulthood. (20-30 years)
Important Event. Intimate Relationships
Potential problem. Early adulthood is a time for finding intimacy by developing
loving and meaningful relationships. On the positive side, we can find intimacy in caring
relationships. On the negative side, without intimacy, we will have a painful feeling of
isolation and our relationship will be impersonal.
Outcome. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness
and isolation
Virtue. Love

VII. GENERATIVITY vs. STAGNATION

Period. Middle adulthood (40 – 65)
Important Event. Work and Parenthood.
Potential problem: Middle adulthood is a time for helping the younger generation
develop worthwhile lives. Generativity is achieved through raising our own children. If
adults have no children of their own, they can achieve generativity through close
relationships with children of friends or relatives. Generativity can also be achieved
through mentoring at work and in helping others. On the other side, lack of involvement
leads to a feeling of stagnation, of having done nothing for the younger generation.
Outcome. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness
and isolation
Virtue. Care
KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D
Isabela State University
13
VIII. INTEGRITY vs. DESPAIR
Period. Late adulthood. (65 and older)
Important Event. Reflection on life.
Potential problem. Late adulthood is a time for reflecting on and reviewing how
we met previous challenges and lived our lives.
Outcome. If we can look back and feel contented about how we lived and what we
accomplished, we will have a feeling of satisfaction or integrity. On the negative side, if
we reflect and see a series of crises, problems and bad experiences, we will have a feeling
of regret and despair.
Virtue. Wisdom

Theory of Moral Reasoning(Lawrence Kohlberg)

Kohlberg believed that moral judgment develops with age.

His theory has two distinct features. First, he classifies moral
reasoning to three distinct levels – preconventional, conventional
and postconventional. Second, he suggests that everyone progresses
through the levels in order, from lowest to higher. Not everyone
reaches, however, the highest levels of moral development.

I. PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL (before age 9)

Kohlberg’s lowest level of moral reasoning. At this level, good and bad are
interpreted in terms of external rewards and punishments.
This level represents Kohlberg’s lowest level of moral reasoning. It has two stages:
 Stage 1 (heteronomous morality age 4-7) – moral decisions are based
primary on fear of punishment or the need to be obedient.
 Stage 2 (individualism, instrumental purpose and exchange) – at this
stage, individuals reason that pursuing their own interests is the right thing to
do but they let others do the same. Thus, they think that what is right involves
an equal exchange. They reason that if they are nice to others, others will be
nice to them in return.

II. CONVENTIONAL LEVEL (Adolescence) – the second or intermediate level, at

this level individuals apply certain standards, but they are standards set by others such as
parents of the government. This level represents an intermediate level of moral reasoning.
 Stage 3 (mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships and
interpersonal conformity) At this stage, individuals value trust, caring and
loyalty to others as a basis of moral judgments.
KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D
Isabela State University
14
  Stage 4 (social systems morality) at this stage, moral judgments are based
on understanding the social order, law, justice, and duty.

III. POSTCONVENTIONAL LEVEL the highest level in Kohlberg’s theory of moral

development. At this level, an individual recognizes alternative moral causes explores the
options, and then decides on a personal moral code.
 Stage 5 (social contract or utility and individual rights) at this stage,
individuals reason that values, rights and principles undergrid or transcend the
law.
 Stage 6 (universal ethical principles) the highest stage in Kohlberg’s
theory of moral development. At this stage, the person has developed a moral
standard based on universal human rights.
Kohlberg believe that these levels and stages occur in a sequence and are age
related. Before age 9, most children use level 1, pre-conventional reasoning based on
external rewards and punishments, when they consider moral choices. By early
adolescence, their moral reasoning is increasingly based on the application of standards
set by others. Most adolescents reason at stage 3, with some signs of stage 2 and 4. By
early adulthood a small member of individuals reason in post conventional ways

Ecological Theory of Human Development

 Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Biological theory looks at a child’s development

within the context of the system of relationships that form his or her
environment.
 The interaction between factors in the child’s maturing biology, his
immediate family/community environment, and the societal landscape
fuels and steers his development.
 Changes or conflict in any one layer will ripple throughout other layers. To
study a child’s development then, we must look not only at the child and her
immediate environment, but also at the interaction of the larger
environment as well.

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
15
 I. The Microsystem

 This is the layer closest to the child and contains the structures with
which the child has direct contact.

 The microsystem encompasses the relationships and interactions a child

has with her immediate surroundings (Berk, 2000). Structures in the
microsystem include family, school, neighborhood, or childcare
environments.

 Relationships have impact in two directions - both away from the child
and toward the child. For example, a child’s parents may affect his
beliefs and behavior; however, the child also affects the behavior and
beliefs of the parent.

 At the microsystem level, bi-directional influences are strongest and

have the greatest impact on the child. However, interactions at outer
levels can still impact the inner structures

II. The Mesosystem

This layer provides the connection between the structures of the child’s
microsystem (Berk, 2000). Examples: the connection between the child’s
teacher and his parents, between his church and his neighborhood, etc.
III. The Exosystem

This layer defines the larger social system in which the child does not function
directly. The structures in this layer impact the child’s development by
interacting with some structure in her microsystem (Berk, 2000).
Parent workplace schedules or community-based family resources are
examples.
IV. The Macrosystem

This layer may be considered the outermost layer in the child’s environment.
While not being a specific framework, this layer is comprised of cultural values,
customs, and laws (Berk, 2000).
The effects of larger principles defined by the macrosystem have a cascading
influence throughout the interactions of all other layers.

DETERMINANTS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Two groups of determinants of human development
a. biological or genetic factors &
b. environmental or contextual factors.

A model of the determinants of life span development was describe by Dr. Aldrich in his
‘WATERMELON THEORY” Aldrich divides determinants into two (2) categories that
are similar to the genetic and environmental factors, biological aspect (the top half of the
watermelon )and psychosocial aspects (the bottom half of the watermelon).

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
16
BIOLOGICAL FACTORS
These are the genetic or inherited aspects of development including physical features and
physiological organs.
 Cardiovascular system (Lungs & heart)
 Central nervous system (Brain & Spinal Cord)
 musculoskeletal system (bones & attached muscles)
 Endocrine System (ductless gland)
 Skin

PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS
These factors are the physical environment (e.g. school, and neighborhood) and the social
environment (e.g. parents, teachers, peers, and co-workers), as well as the individual’s
personal or psychological “interpretations” of these environments, including:
 Cognitive development (the development of thinking and language)
 Personality development ( the development of the self concept, including
behaviour patterns and values)
 Social Development (the lifelong process by which individuals develop
attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, the awareness of expectations, and appropriate role
behaviour).

Flexible Teaching Learning Modality (FTLM) adapted

TelEducation

KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D

Isabela State University
17
KATHREEN CUSTODIO-JOSON, Ph.D
Isabela State University
18