Final answer:
Erik Erikson named his stages of development based on life crises or challenges, highlighting eight stages with unique developmental tasks during one's lifespan. He focused on how social relationships and interactions shape personality, diverging from Freud's emphasis.
Step-by-step explanation:
Psychologist Erik Erikson named his stages of development by using life crises or challenges that individuals encounter at various ages. This psychosocial theory of development, which is a modification of Freudian principles, consists of eight stages that span from infancy to late adulthood. Each stage is characterized by a unique developmental task that must be resolved to achieve a sense of competence and a healthy personality. For instance, in late adulthood, the challenge is integrity versus despair, where individuals reflect on their lives and may feel either a sense of satisfaction or a sense of failure, which can lead to feelings of bitterness and depression if not successfully navigated.
Theory of personality development encompasses the importance of social relationships and influences, contrasting Freud's emphasis on psychosexual stages. Erikson proposed that our interactions with others significantly shape our self-perception or ego identity throughout our entire lives, rather than being fixed in early childhood.