Erickson’s theory is more socialized and considers the development from birth to death of a person. Freud’s view is based on the psychosexual person, including developmental stages only up to 18. According to Erikson, a healthy resolution is associated with fidelity, meaning the ability to make choices, find a way in life, accept social foundations, and adhere to them (Ryan et al., 2017). For Freud, it is inclusion in society, the beginning of social education, communication with peers, removing barriers in interpersonal contacts, and expanding the field of fixation of the object of attraction. Fixation is when the ID, Ego and superego do not receive proper development, which leads to the fact that a person is delayed at one of the early stages of development.
In adolescence, the equilibrium between the Id and the Ego, acquired during the latency period, is disturbed. The Ego is weak in front of the Id impulses; it cannot oppose anything to the Id impulses (Ryan et al., 2017). The Super-Ego observes the Ego’s behavior, controls it and punishes it with a sense of guilt (Ryan et al., 2017). The competition is seen in adolescents’ behavior, for example, the strong desire of getting autonomy from parents, aggression towards peers, emotional instability and increased interest in sports and art. Ego development does not affect whether an adolescent will be extroverted or introverted as the differences between these types of character are defined by genetic predisposition.
At stage 3, the adolescents can assess behavior in terms of moral principles. For example, individuals try to get approval or disapproval from others by sacrificing personal interests in favor of educators’ opinion. At stage 4, the adolescents see in the observance of laws an opportunity to defend their rights (Ryan et al., 2017). For instance, an adolescent can inform the teacher that the latter cannot behave in a particular manner. For moral growth to progress, stimulation from the external environment is necessary; in particular, the child needs a good example to rely on.
Different aspects of an adolescent’s life, especially parental support and relationships with classmates, affect a teenager’s self-esteem. For instance, parents’ harsh, negative attitude results in the situation when children are focused on failures, being afraid to take risks and avoid participation in class discussions (Ryan et al., 2017). Concerning friends, appearance begins to have a strong influence on the development of self-esteem; for instance, the compliance of the adolescent’s appearance with the standards adopted in the peer group becomes a determining factor in social recognition.
Adolescence is the life period characterized by biological, hormonal, physical changes during puberty ending when an individual takes a stable and independent role in society. This stage is considered the most critical in cognitive development, when cognitive processes undergo significant changes, adjusting their parameters to the adult level. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze critical aspects of adolescent cognition, including brain changes, formal operations stage, the impact of adolescent egocentrism, and the role of educators.
The region of the brain that changes most dramatically during adolescence is the prefrontal cortex. It is involved in a wide variety of high-level cognitive functions, such as decision-making and planning, suppressing inappropriate behavior (Ryan et al., 2017). A high propensity to take risks, inability to control oneself, and shyness reflect changes in the brain and provide an opportunity for education and social development (Vijayakumar et al., 2018). At this age, the ability to accept another person’s opinion and correct their behavior continues to form.
At the concrete operational stage, children begin to think logically and classify objects according to several criteria. They can operate with mathematical concepts, provided that they apply all these operations to real or at least imaginary objects. However, at this stage, children deal with only one class of concepts at a time. At the formal operations stage, individuals can analyze the solution of logical problems of both concrete and abstract content (Ryan et al., 2017). For example, the new achievements in experiments on the derivation of some of the simplest physical laws are especially noticeable, which is unique for adolescents (Oogarah-Pratap et al., 2020). Hypothetical reasoning brings an adolescent into the realm of potential; simultaneously, idealized representations are not always verifiable and often contradict facts.
In adolescence, logical memory is actively developing and quickly reaches such a level that the child switches to the predominant use of this type of memory and voluntary and mediated memory. As an individual develops, memory loses its dominant role (Oogarah-Pratap et al., 2020). At the same time, the adolescent’s attention becomes more selective, significantly depending on the direction of their interests – hence the inability to concentrate on one thing, absent-mindedness, chronic boredom (Oogarah-Pratap et al., 2020). Rapid switching of attention does not make it possible to focus on the same object for a long time.
Adolescent egocentrism contributes to overcoming the adaptation crisis and indicates the transition to an adult state. According to Vygotsky, egocentric speech is a transitional stage from external to internal speech (Huang, 2021). Egocentrism contributes to the formation of personality through reflection and self-awareness (DeRobertis, 2017). Regarding working collaboratively, the development of thinking in adolescents is not limited to internal changes in the personality itself. In connection with its emergence, a broader understanding of other people becomes possible for adolescents.
To sum up, adolescent cognition is a complex process; hence, communication between a teacher and a student in middle and high schools is of great importance for personal development. In educational psychology, knowledge of developmental psychology is necessary to make the learning process the most effective and interesting for the child. The educators will be able to correctly teach their students only by deeply knowing the general laws of the child’s development.
References
DeRobertis, E. M. (2017). Introduction: Sociality, learning, and the creative unfolding of human existence. In E. M. DeRobertis (Ed.), The Phenomenology of Learning and Becoming (pp. 1-18). Palgrave Macmillan.
Huang, Y. C. (2021). Comparison and contrast of Piaget and Vygotsky’s Theories. In 7th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research (pp. 28-32). Atlantis Press.
Oogarah-Pratap, B., Bholoa, A., & Ramma, Y. (2020). Stage theory of cognitive development—Jean Piaget. In B. Akpan & T. J. Kennedy (Eds.), Science education in theory and practice (pp. 133-148). Springer.
Ryan, A. M., Urdan, T., & Anderman, E. M. (2017). Adolescent development for educators. Pearson.
Vijayakumar, N., de Macks, Z. O., Shirtcliff, E. A., & Pfeifer, J. H. (2018). Puberty and the human brain: Insights into adolescent development.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 92, 417-436.