Developmental Psychology and Stage free essay sample

Jean Piaget’s Stage Theory of Cognitive Development: At what age do you feel you entered the stage of Formal Operational Thought? Explain the stage briefly and then focus on providing examples of ways your thinking has shifted to indicate you have developed into this stage of reasoning. (For instance, provide an example of how your views of justice or morality have shifted as you’ve matured. ) I believe that I entered the Formal Operational Thought Stage when I was seventeen years old. I was a senior in high school preparing for life after graduation. It was during this time period that I began to formulate plans for my life after high school as well as learning how to think and act come to conclusions for myself. My mind state at this time was how I was going to pay for a college education and still be able to survive on my own. After careful consideration and weighing the pros against the cons it was then that I decided to join the United States Army. 2. Developmental Stage Theory of Erik Erikson: Choose one stage from Erikson’s Developmental Stage Theory and apply it to your own life. Explain the stage, age that it occurs, and how the central challenge of that stage played out in your life. What was the outcome of this stage for you? Did anything happen in your life prior to that stage that affected the outcome? How does the outcome from that stage affect how you are today? Provide specific details that demonstrate your understanding of the stage you choose. I choose the fifth stage Adolescence. Erickson defines this stage as the time in our life when we start to question who we are. He believes that between the ages of 12 and 18 we struggle with identity and role confusion. I believe that this stage in life has a tendency to set the tone of an individual’s life. For me this stage has proved to be the most important part of my life. During this phase in my life I found out that both my parents had very serious addictions and that my siblings and I were going to live with my grandparents. By my grandparents being so old I found myself struggling with role identity the most. While other children my age was outside playing and enjoying their youth I was taking on the role of my younger sibling’s mother. By the time I entered high school I had come to the realization that it was my responsibility and my responsibility only to take care of my little brother and sister. My mother showed no interest in getting help or accepting the fact that she had an addiction and my father had disappeared completely we only heard from him on an irregular basis. So instead of hanging out with my friends or doing tra curricular activities after school I would go straight home cook dinner and help my siblings with their homework all before doing my own homework. When I entered into my junior year in high school I joined the JROTC program which gave me a better understanding of the army. At seventeen I joined the IL Army National Guard. I honestly believe that if it weren’t for the things that happened prior to this stage in my life I wouldn’t have made the decision to join the Army. The events in this stage of my life taught me the true meaning of responsibility as well as what it means to be selfless. It helped me understand what my purpose in life was. I am who I am today because of the life lessons I learned during the phase in my life. I am an awesome mother wife and soldier because of the things I learned during that time period. 3. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development: Considering the moral or ethical decisions that you have made in your life, describe one decision you made based on one of the three levels of moral development. Be sure to clearly explain the level of moral development and clearly identify the underlying ethical reasoning behind your decision. (For instance, you may explain a decision you made based on Preconventional morality when you were a child, or you may focus on a decision you made from a higher level of development as an adult. ) One decision I have made that aligns with the beliefs of Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development occurs during lever one stage one. Kohlberg’s defines this level as a preconceived understanding that those in charges gives us a set of rules that we must obey this stage normally occurs during the early years of development. As a child we were always taught to keep our hands to ourselves to no touch what does not belong to us. Although I was very aware of what the rules were and the consequences of breaking one of those said rules my older brother and I would always sneak into the kitchen in the middle of the night and eat my dad’s peanut butter bars. One night my brother had went to spend the night at his friend’s house and I woke up in the middle of the night and snuck down stairs like I had done numerous nights before. I went into the kitchen and got two peanut butter bars and as I was getting ready to sneak back upstairs to my room I heard my dad coming down the stairs so I hurried up and crawled under the kitchen counter. I was terrified of getting caught because I knew what the consequences were. Both my parents were avid believers in sparing the rod child spoils the child so in a case like this I knew that my punishment would be a whipping. My dad walked around the entire kitchen before going upstairs moments later I heard my mom scream. My dad had woke her up because when he went upstairs and I wasn’t in mom room. They searched the entire house while I hid under the kitchen sink. At this point and time my choices were to come from under the sink and tell them what I had done or continue hiding. Right as I heard my mom say they needed to call the police I panicked and ran from under the sink crying and begging them not to call the police on me. I knew that by sneaking and taking my dad’s peanut butter bars I was breaking the rules but the thought of going to jail because of it was a lot more than what I was prepared to handle. 4. Developmental Milestones: Motor Development. The unfolding of biological potential is known as â€Å"maturation. † Motor skill development in babies is mostly controlled by the process of maturation. Think about a child that you have known (yourself, your own child, a friend or family member). Describe how the child progressed from rolling over, to sitting, standing, and walking. At what age did each milestone occur? Did the development occur in a â€Å"typical† sequence based on what you’ve learned in your text? Is there anything that occurred in the child’s environment that either delayed motor development or facilitated it? What is the difference between â€Å"maturation† and â€Å"learning,† based on your readings and observation? Having three children of my own I have had the great privilege of seeing their motor development. With that being said they all developed completely differently. My oldest had a lot of delays is his motor development. He was born six weeks prematurely and it was said that that was the reason behind his delays. He began rolling over at around six months and didn’t take his first steps until well after his first birthday. My second child developed a lot sooner than the texts suggests is normal. At her ix week check-up she was rolling over from her stomach to her back by her three month check-up she was rolling from her back to her stomach sitting up unsupported and was beginning to pull herself up on things by six months she was taking steps on her own unsupported she never crawled she went straight from pulling herself up to walking. My youngest child is currently seven months and although she is not developing as fast as my second child she does not exhibit and motor developmental delays. She was born six weeks prematurely as well. I do think that since she has older siblings around her that that may have contributed to the speed in her development. It has been my personal experience that when babies are around other children that are more developed then they are on a daily basis they have tendency to develop at a faster speed then children who are in an environment where there aren’t other children around.