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Child's personal and social developmentUnderstanding of child's personal and social developments is critical to either parent or teacher's ability to motivate, teach and successfully interact with children at various ages. As children improve their cognitive skills, they are also developing self-concepts, ways of interacting with others, and attitudes toward the world. When children grow, they face a series of psychosocial crises that shape personality, This chart below is according to Erick Erikson(a developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst June 15, 1902 – May 12, 1994). 
Stage1: Trust versus Mistrust(Birth to 18 months)Infants not only have their needs met, but they also help in meeting the mother's needs. The mother is usually the first important person in the child's world. She is the one who must satisfy the infant's need for food and affection. If the mother is inconsistent or rejecting, she becomes a source of frustration for the infant rather than a source of pleasure. The mother's behavior creates in the infant a sense of mistrust of his or her personal and social development that may persist throughout childhood and into adulthood. Stage2: Autonomy versus doubt(18 months to 3 years)By the age of 2, most of babies can walk and have learned enough about language to communicate with other people. Children strive toward autonomy, the ability to do things for themselves. The child's desires for power and independence often clash with the desires of the parent. Parents who are flexible enough to permit their children to explore freely and do things for themselves, while at the same time providing an ever-present guiding hand, encourage the establishment of a sense of autonomy. Parents who are overly restrictive and harsh give their children a sense of powerlessness and incompetence, which can lead to shame and doubt in one's abilities.
Initiative versus Guilt (3 to 6 years)This stage is important for child's personal and social development. During this period, children's continually maturing motor and language skills permit them to be increasingly aggressive and vigorous in the exploration of both their social and their physical environment. Three-year-olds have a growing sense of initiative, which can be encouraged by parents, other family members, and other caregivers who permit children to run, jump, play, slide, and throw. "Being firmly convinced that he is a person on his own, the child must now find out person he may become." Parents who severely punish children's attempts at initiative will make the children feel guilty about their natural urges bother during this stage and later in life. Industry versus Inferiority (6 to 12 years)Entry into school bring with it a huge expansion in the child's social world. Teachers and peers take on increasing importance for the child, while the influence of parents decreases. Children now want to make things. Success brings with it a sense of industry, a good feeling about oneself and ones abilities. Failure creates a negative self-image, a sense of inadequacy that may hinder future learning. And "failure" need not be real; it may be merely an inability to measure up to one's own standards or those of parents, teacher, or brothers and sisters. Identity versus role confusion (12 to 18 years)The question "who am I?" becomes important during adolescence. To answer is, adolescents increasingly turn away from parents and toward peer groups. During adolescence the individual's rapidly changing physiology, coupled with pressures to make decisions about future education and career, creates the need to question and redefine the psychosocial identity established during the earlier stages. Adolescence is a time of change. Teenagers experiment with various sexual, occupational, and educational roles as they try to find out who they are and who they can be. This new sense of self, or "ego identity," is not simply the sum of the prior identifications.
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