Human Development

Erikson's Psychosocial Stages

Erikson framed development as eight crises: trust vs. mistrust (infancy), autonomy vs. shame (1-3), initiative vs. guilt (3-6), industry vs. inferiority (6-12), identity vs. role confusion (adolescence), intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood), generativity vs. stagnation (middle age), and integrity vs. despair (late life). The adolescent identity crisis and young-adult intimacy stage are the most tested.

Kohlberg's Moral Development

Moral reasoning progresses from pre-conventional (self-interest: avoiding punishment, gaining reward) to conventional (social norms, law and order) to post-conventional (universal ethical principles that can override law).

Attachment: Ainsworth and Harlow

Ainsworth's Strange Situation classifies infants by REUNION behavior, not separation distress alone: secure infants (about 60-65 percent) use the caregiver as a secure base and are readily comforted; avoidant infants ignore the reunion; anxious-ambivalent infants are clingy yet angry; disorganized attachment shows no consistent pattern and is linked to abuse. Harlow's monkeys preferred the cloth "mother," showing contact comfort -- not feeding -- drives attachment.

Key Takeaways

• Erikson: eight psychosocial crises across the lifespan
• Kohlberg: pre-conventional, conventional, post-conventional moral reasoning
• Ainsworth classifies attachment by reunion behavior in the Strange Situation
• Harlow proved contact comfort, not food, builds attachment