Lifespan Perspective of Human Development
The lifespan of any living thing are the various stages a person undergoes from birth until death. Famous psychologists, Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson have divided these phases into separate stages that every individual undergoes. The lifespan perspective has its roots in three main concepts; biological, socio-cultural, and individual influences. Even though development is a lifelong process but the rate of development declines over the years as a result of ageing. There are several theories on lifespan development which include; cognitive, behaviorism, social, psychoanalytic, and psychosocial. Psychologists who have developed theories based on these schools of thought have taken differing approaches towards explaining the lifespan perspective. However, the two theories which are going to be discussed in this paper are of Sigmund Freud and John Watson.
Sigmund Freud adopted a cognitive approach in explaining the behavior of individuals. According to Freud, the human lifespan was divided into five stages. The oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stage comprised the human lifespan experience. (Ku, 2011) However, he placed stress upon the early years of development and suggested that if a child is appropriately trained in his/her early years then he would portray well-groomed behavior later in life. Furthermore, Freud stresses that human behavior comes about as part of the unconscious mind and people respond almost naturally to situations. This is not the result of genetics rather it results from behavior a person has learnt or observed. The oral stage is when the child learning through the sense of taste. The child gains pleasure and gratification by putting things in his/her mouth. The anal stage focuses on the child being potty trained the method by which they are trained would determine a child’s future behavior as being organized or messy. In the phallic stage, the child’s main pleasure focus is on his genitals. Moving on to the latency stage the individual is now more inclined towards building friendships and having social relationships. The genital stage is the final stage which continues through adulthood and individuals in this stage develop more serious relationships and explore their sexuality.
John Watson belonged to the behaviorist school of thought. Therefore, Watson’s approach in explaining lifespan development differs from Sigmund Freud. John Watson suggested that a person learns everything in life and the role of genetics is minimal. (Berger 2007) According to Watson an individual learns as a result of his/her behavior. The behaviorist approach further stresses the importance of observable factors as contributing toward an individual’s behavioral traits. Furthermore, John Watson was also a keen proponent of the scientific methods of research as they are closely linked to his perspective of behaviorism. As scientific methods allow for judgments being made on observable facts, therefore, Watson suggests this is an authentic way of reaching conclusions. Adding on, Watson also proposes that behavior needs to be observed and measured in order to conclude that why the reaction to a particular stimulus would be practiced.
Heredity refers to the inborn traits or the effect of genetics on an individual’s behavior or personality. According to heredity people do not have control over these factors as they are born with it and have been biologically transferred onto them. But the environmental effects refer to the influence of the external environment of an individual. A person has control over his external environment and usually this can be altered if a person desires. Heredity determines biological positive or negative traits, whereas, the environment determines social and cultural traits. A person’s genetic traits can either be directed or deflected as a result of his/her external environment. Therefore, it can be suggested that the environment brings about the persons genetic traits either in a normal or abnormal behavior as people behave differently in different scenarios.
References
Berger, K. S. (2007). The Developing Person Through the Life Span (7th ed.). New York : Worth Publishers; Seventh Edition edition.
Ku, C., & Doktor, S. (n.d.). Sigmund Freud’s Theory of Child Development and Mental Disorders | Catatan ku, seorang doktor. Catatan ku seorang doktor. Retrieved January 9, 2014, from http://catatanseorangdoktor.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/sigmund-freuds-theory-of-child-development-and-mental-disorders/
