Assignment 2: LASA 1: Development Throughout the LifespanErikson and Freud are two of the few theorists who have developed a lifespan approach to development. Freuds approach to development was psychosexual while Eriksons was psychosocial. Even though Freuds theory is better known, Eriksons theory remains a leading and very much applied model in personality and developmental psychology today.When considering these two stage-oriented theories, you can directly compare the majority of their stages. These are matched in the following table:
Approximate Age
Freuds Stages of Psychosexual DevelopmentEriksons Stages of Psychosocial development
Infancy (Birth to 1 year)
Oral stageTrust versus mistrust
Early childhood (13 years)
Anal stageAutonomy versus doubt
Preschool (36 years)
Phallic stageInitiative versus guilt
School age (711 years)
Latent periodIndustry versus inferiority
Adolescence (1218 years)
Genital stageIdentity versus role confusion
Young adulthood (1940 years)Intimacy versus isolation
Middle adulthood (4065 years)Generativity versus stagnation
Older adulthood (65death)Integrity versus despairWhen considering Eriksons eight stages of development, the way a person moves through each stage directly affects their success in the next stage. Their personality is being built and shaped with each stage. At each stage, there is a turning point, called a crisis by Erikson, which a person must confront.In this assignment, you will observe or interview two different people, each at a different stage of development. For a third observation, take a look at yourself and the stage that you are in (this stage must be different from your other two observations).