Human Development Theories in One Table: Erikson, Piaget, Kohlberg, Maslow
Human Development theories now live inside Assessment and Planning on the 2026 Bachelors exam — tested as applied assessment fuel, not trivia. One table covers 90% of questions. Memorize it, then test it with an ASWB Bachelors practice test.
The One Table to Memorize
| Theorist | Stages in order | Exam cue |
|---|---|---|
| Erikson (psychosocial) | Trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, generativity, integrity | Failure at a stage reappears later — identity confusion in teens, despair in late life |
| Piaget (cognitive) | Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational | Preoperational egocentrism explains selfish reasoning; concrete needs hands-on examples |
| Kohlberg (moral) | Preconventional (avoid punishment), conventional (please others, follow rules), postconventional (principles) | Most adults reason conventionally — do not expect principled reasoning from a child |
| Maslow | Physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization | Unmet lower needs explain disengagement — feed and house before insight |
| Freud (psychosexual) | Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital; structures id, ego, superego; defenses | Defenses tested via vignettes: denial, projection, rationalization, displacement |
| Attachment (Bowlby/Ainsworth) | Secure, avoidant, ambivalent, disorganized | Early bonds predict adult patterns — disorganized links to later dysregulation |
How Bachelors Vignettes Use Theories
- Erikson: a teen with no sense of self gets identity exploration and group belonging, not a personality label.
- Piaget: explain a concrete-operational child's surgery with dolls and drawings, not abstract reassurance.
- Kohlberg: a child who behaves only to avoid punishment is preconventional — normal, not conduct disordered.
- Maslow: a client missing sessions over bus fare needs concrete resources before deeper work.
- Defenses: blaming a coworker for your mistake is projection; saying you are fine after a layoff while missing bills is denial.
Five Defenses in Five Lines
Denial refuses reality. Projection exports your feeling onto others. Rationalization invents a good excuse. Displacement kicks the dog instead of the boss. Reaction formation performs the opposite feeling. Sublimation channels the impulse into something useful — the only consistently healthy one, and a favorite correct answer.
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