In short the main advantage to later mental development is the mind is more capable of coming to terms with the changes, pressures and incidents that occur as we travel through our lives. The major weakness is that if we pass too far through our life without confronting such changes we may not be able to progress to our next stage of psychological development.
Erikson's stages of psychosocial development explain eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to late adulthood. In each stage the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each stage builds on the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.
Erikson's basic philosophy might be said to rest on two major themes: (1) the world gets bigger as we go along and (2) failure is cumulative. While the first point is fairly obvious, we might take exception to the last. True, in many cases an individual who has to deal with horrendous circumstances as a child may be unable to negotiate later stages as easily as someone who didn't have as many challenges early on.
Erikson became aware of the massive influence of culture on behaviour and placed more emphasis on the external world, such as depression and wars. He felt the course of development is determined by the interaction of the body, mind and cultural influences.
However, there's always the chance that somewhere along the way the strength of the human spirit can be ignited and shortcomings overcome. Pamela Levine has a different view. She saw development as a spiralling cycle rather than as stages through which we pass, never to visit again.
Erikson's stages of psychosocial development explain eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to late adulthood. In each stage the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each stage builds on the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.
Erikson's basic philosophy might be said to rest on two major themes: (1) the world gets bigger as we go along and (2) failure is cumulative. While the first point is fairly obvious, we might take exception to the last. True, in many cases an individual who has to deal with horrendous circumstances as a child may be unable to negotiate later stages as easily as someone who didn't have as many challenges early on.
Erikson became aware of the massive influence of culture on behaviour and placed more emphasis on the external world, such as depression and wars. He felt the course of development is determined by the interaction of the body, mind and cultural influences.
However, there's always the chance that somewhere along the way the strength of the human spirit can be ignited and shortcomings overcome. Pamela Levine has a different view. She saw development as a spiralling cycle rather than as stages through which we pass, never to visit again.
