Online supplement – theory descriptions (translated from Dutch)
Experiment 1:
Identity development
According to many psychologists, every human being passes through eight stages of
psychosocial development. Each phase is about a psychosocial crisis, in other words
about confronting and mastering challenges that are specific to a particular life
phase. The phases are:
1. Hope
Children aged 12-18 months are dependent on their parents. In this stage
they learn to trust (vs. distrust) their caregivers.
2. Will
Children up to 3 years old discover to what extent they have autonomy (vs.
shame and doubt) in life.
3. Purpose
Children aged 3-6 years discover, primarily at school, whether they do
something right or wrong. They discover the emotional experience of guilt.
4. Competence
Children aged 6-12 years are trying to find out what it is they are good at, and
in which domains they are less competent.
5. Identity vs. role confusion
During puberty, from about 12-18 years old, children are trying to find out who
they are.
6. Intimacy vs. isolation
In young adulthood (18-40 years), people are exploring relations. The crisis
revolves around the question whether they will stay alone or find a romantic
partner.
7. Generativity
In this phase (40-65 years) adults ask themselves whether they produced
something of value.
8. Wisdom
In the last phase of identity development (65 years and onwards), people are
confronted with the question whether they have lived a valuable and
meaningful life.
Theory a: According to Erik Erikson, these stages are central to human identity
development to such an extent that every person passes through them. Moreover,
his theory argues that everybody passes through these stages in a fixed order; one
cannot enter a next stage until the previous stage has been completed.
STEPS, STAGES, AND STRUCTURE
According to many psychologists, every human being passes through eight stages of
psychosocial development. Each phase is about a psychosocial crisis, in other words
about confronting and mastering challenges that are specific to a particular life
phase. The phases are:
1. Hope
Children aged 12-18 months are dependent on their parents. In this stage
they learn to trust (vs. distrust) their caregivers.
2. Will
Children up to 3 years old discover to what extent they have autonomy (vs.
shame and doubt) in life.
3. Purpose
Children aged 3-6 years discover, primarily at school, whether they do
something right or wrong. They discover the emotional experience of guilt.
4. Competence
Children aged 6-12 years are trying to find out what it is they are good at, and
in which domains they are less competent.
5. Identity vs. role confusion
During puberty, from about 12-18 years old, children are trying to find out who
they are.
6. Intimacy vs. isolation
In young adulthood (18-40 years), people are exploring relations. The crisis
revolves around the question whether they will stay alone or find a romantic
partner.
7. Generativity
In this phase (40-65 years) adults ask themselves whether they produced
something of value.
8. Wisdom
In the last phase of identity development (65 years and onwards), people are
confronted with the question whether they have lived a valuable and
meaningful life.
Theory b: According to the theory of James Marcia, each individual will during the
course of his/her life encounter situations in which one of the above stages is most
relevant. Thus, in the final stages of life the person will have passed through all of the
stages. However, who passes through which stage at which point in life depends on
a range of environmental, demographic, and socio-developmental variables; it is
common that people skip stages or regress to a previous stage.
Musical development
The two theories on musical development were presented in the exact same manner
as the above theories on identity development. First, four stages of development
were described (mastery, imitation, imaginative play, metacognition). Then, the first
theory described how individuals pass through these stages in a fixed order. The
second theory described how people might skip stages or possibly regress to a
previous stage.
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STEPS, STAGES, AND STRUCTURE
Experiments 2-4:
We are interested in your ideas about different sets of scientific theories that aim to
explain the same aspect of human behavior. For each set of theories, we would like
you to indicate which theory you prefer and according to you best explains the
phenomenon at hand. Please keep in mind that each theory you will read about is
still used frequently by scientists and that, among each set of theories, both are
regarded as equally powerful in terms of their explanatory value.
Grief
Theory a: According to the American psychiatrist Friedman people that experience
grief all cope with the grieving process in an individual manner. Grief is experienced
differently by every individual, depending on personality, educational level,
demographic variables, et cetera. This means that it is hard for psychologists and
social workers to predict how a particular person will respond to a particular loss.
Although stages of grief such as denial and acceptance are common, not everyone
will pass all the stages in a fixed order; sometimes people fall back to a previous
stage that they were in at an earlier time, and sometimes people skip one or more
stages.
Theory b: More than forty years ago, Swiss psychiatrist Kübler-Ross introduced the
five stages of grief. According to this theory, almost everyone that is grieving will
pass through the following five stages in a fixed order:
1. Denial. In this stage the person copes by denying the reality of the loss.
2. Anger. The person protests against the experience of loss and is angry: why did
this happen to me?
3. Bargaining. When finding out that anger does not help, the person resides to
bargaining: can I have a few more years (with him/her)?
4. Depression. When the loss becomes undeniable and anger and bargaining do no
longer help, the person feels powerless and depressed.
5. Acceptance. After a period of time, the person acknowledges the truth about the
loss and accepts the grief that comes with it.
Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease and the most common form of
dementia. It is named after Alois Alzheimer, a German neuropathologist.
Theory a: Every Alzheimer’s disease patient passes through a specific pattern of five
stages. This means that, once a person is diagnosed, it is possible to predict how the
course of the disease will roughly unfold. The five stages are:
1. Very mild cognitive deterioration. The individual shows basic symptoms of memory
loss, particularly pertaining to names and locations. The social environment will not
notice anything unusual about the person’s behavior.
2. Mild cognitive deterioration. In this stage, close others will start to notice that
something is wrong. It is now possible to diagnose the individual. Main symptoms are
loss of concentration and memory.
3. Moderate cognitive deterioration. In this stage, the patient will start to realize that
(s)he is suffering from a serious illness. Execution of complex cognitive tasks
becomes more difficult and memory loss increases.
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STEPS, STAGES, AND STRUCTURE
4. Moderate to severe cognitive deterioration. In this stage, the patient needs help to
maintain a basic level of functioning. The patient has to be monitored on a daily basis
and forgets very basic information.
5. Severe cognitive deterioration. The patient now has become extremely dependent
and basic cognitive functioning, as well as muscular functioning, has declined
dramatically.
Theory b: Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by mild to severe cognitive
deterioration, and every patient will at some point become dependent on others.
According to this theory, the course of the disease is different for each individual.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, some people can become needy of daily
assistance in as little as two months, while others can easily remain independent and
in relative good health for several years. The course of the disease is therefore hard
to predict; many factors exert an influence on it.
Moral development
Theory a: Developmental psychologist Kohlberg posited that practically all
individuals pass through six stages of moral development in a fixed order. The six
stages are:
1. Obedience and punishment. In this stage, the individual tries to prevent
punishment by obeying the rules.
2. Individualism and exchange. The individual tries to judge actions based on how
they serve individual needs.
3. Interpersonal relationships. This stage is focused on living up to social
expectations and roles and being a good boy or girl.
4. Maintaining social order. In this stage, the individual focuses on maintaining law
and order and following the rules.
5. Social contract. The individual starts to realize that laws are social standards and
that different people have different values, opinions, and beliefs.
6. Universal principles. The individual bases his or her moral judgment on universal
ethical principles. Justice is always relative in nature.
Theory b: According to psychologist Tavris there is no evidence for the idea that
every individual passes through a series of discernible moral stages. Although people
generally do go through a process of moral development, this process varies across
individuals. Differences in upbringing, as well as social circumstances and societal
changes, make it difficult to predict how moral development will evolve on the
individual level.
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STEPS, STAGES, AND STRUCTURE
Experiment 5:
We are interested in your ideas about different sets of scientific theories that aim to
explain the same aspect of human behavior. For each set of theories, we would like
you to indicate which theory you prefer and according to you best explains the
phenomenon at hand. Please keep in mind that each theory you will read about is
still used frequently by scientists and that, among each set of theories, both are
regarded as equally powerful in terms of their explanatory value.
Moral development
The psychology of moral development identifies six stages of moral development.
The six stages are:
1. Obedience and punishment
In this stage, the individual tries to prevent punishment by obeying the rules.
2. Individualism and exchange
The individual tries to judge actions based on how they serve individual
needs.
3. Interpersonal relationships
This stage is focused on living up to social expectations and roles and being a
good boy or girl.
4. Maintaining social order
In this stage, the individual focuses on maintaining law and order and
following the rules.
5. Social contract
The individual starts to realize that laws are social standards and that different
people have different values, opinions, and beliefs.
6. Universal principles
The individual bases his or her moral judgment on universal ethical principles.
Justice is always relative in nature.
Theory a: According to psychologist Tavris there is no evidence for the idea that
every individual passes through a series of discernible moral stages. Although people
generally do go through a process of moral development, this process varies across
individuals. Differences in upbringing, as well as social circumstances and societal
changes, make it difficult to predict how moral development will evolve on the
individual level.
Theory b: Developmental psychologist Kohlberg posited that most individuals, when
growing up, pass through six stages of moral development in a fixed order. A
particular stage cannot be reached before the previous stages have been passed.
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STEPS, STAGES, AND STRUCTURE
Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain disease and the most common form of
dementia. It is named after Alois Alzheimer, a German neuropathologist. The five
stages that mark the course of Alzheimer’s disease are:
1. Very mild cognitive deterioration
The individual shows basic symptoms of memory loss, particularly pertaining
to names and locations. The social environment will not notice anything
unusual about the person’s behavior.
2. Mild cognitive deterioration
In this stage, close others will start to notice that something is wrong. It is now
possible to diagnose the individual. Main symptoms are loss of concentration
and memory.
3. Moderate cognitive deterioration
In this stage, the patient will start to realize that (s)he is suffering from a
serious illness. Execution of complex cognitive tasks becomes more difficult
and memory loss increases.
4. Moderate to severe cognitive deterioration
In this stage, the patient needs help to maintain a basic level of functioning.
The patient has to be monitored on a daily basis and forgets very basic
information.
5. Severe cognitive deterioration
The patient now has become extremely dependent and basic cognitive
functioning, as well as muscular functioning, has declined dramatically.
Theory a: The course of Alzheimer’s disease is marked by a steady degeneration of
brain functions. According to neurologists, virtually every patient will show this
degeneration in such a way that there is a reasonably specific time frame for each
phase. It is therefore possible to predict how the disease will unfold from the moment
the patient has been diagnosed.
Theory b: The course of Alzheimer’s disease is different for each individual and
depends on variables related to the social environment, diet, et cetera. This means
that the length of each stage of the disease varies widely across individuals; after
being diagnosed, some people can become needy of daily assistance in as little as
two months, while others can easily remain independent and in relative good health
for several years.
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