Human Development Of Behavior And Personalities Essay

Human development is observed through many different aspects and roles in society in a variety of ages (Kail, pg.21). In theoretical perspectives, the human life span is divided into six stages that have provided societies structure that is highly emphasized in the society we live in today. To understand the development of humans, we observe humans based on their behavior and personality skills that they possess. In today’s assignment, I observed a mother and daughter while serving at work to get a more descriptive understanding and grasp of the development process of humans. I observed a mother, Christine, 39 years old, and her daughter, Sophie, 5 years old. They came into Carrabba’s Italian Grill that day for lunch before Sophie’s Girls Scout meeting later on that day. To make it more interesting, both Christine and Sophie did not know I was watching their interactions with each other.   During the observation, I witnessed many perspectives that provide different aspects that have influenced human development.
A Psychodynamic theorist would focus on unconscious processes that determine the behavior and personality development with Sophie and her mother. In Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory, he proposes that personality development is determined by the interaction of an internal maturational plan and external societal demands. (Kail, pg. 12)   According to Erik, he divided a human life span into eight life stages that reflect the conflicts of individuals in different ages in a life cycle. (Kail, pg.12) In today’s observation with Sophie and Christine, I observed one stage of Erikson’s theory. With Sophie’s personality and behavior, I witnessed the Initiative vs. Guilt Stage. This is between the ages of 3-6 years old. Sophie, being a 5 year old, fit this stage perfectly. Sophie had a personality that was independent and risky. In a one-to-one conversion with Sophie, I witness that she was very quiet and shy in the beginning of dinner. She barely talked and didn’t...