ABSTRACT
Human development involves an interaction between nature and nurture.
Stage theories propose that development occurs in a progressive sequence reecting maturation. Examples include Piaget’s cognitive stages, Freud’s psychosexual stages, and Kohlberg’s stage theory. Maturation refers to the orderly changes in behaviour that result from biological development and whose timing and form are relatively independent of external experience. Maturational tasks are inuenced by biological growth, the drive for independence, and other people’s general expectations.
