Throughout the centuries, various thinkers have attempted to solve the mysteries of human development, and have succeeded in doing so for the past two centuries. Several theories were developed and began to bear the names of their creators such as Freud's psychosexual theory, Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Bandura's social cognitive theory and so on. They all have different approaches and their development has been influenced by countless factors such as the era, the political system and the personal experiences of the scientist. All this diversity of views allows us to explore the similarities and differences, in this case, of two quite different theories of human development. The first is Erikson's psychosocial theory and the other is Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. This essay addresses the comparison and contradiction of these two theories. The general ideas as a whole, the eras in which the theories were developed and what factors influenced it, the nature-nurture debate and the periods of development will be compared. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Today Vygotsky's ideas are considered mainly within the framework of general psychology, defectology and pedagogy. During his short life, the scientist repeatedly witnessed epochal events in the political life of Russian society: the revolution of 1905 and 1917, the First World War and the global transformation of the political regime. The post-revolutionary events in Russia - tragic, crucial, inextricably linked to the search for the answer to the question “how to live beyond” - could only leave an imprint on the development of the ideas of Vygotsky, who had never been a passive observer of history , but, on the contrary, had an active life position. (Paveliev, 2017)There seems to be no doubt that Vygotsky's views were influenced by Marxist philosophy (in the form, of course, as he himself interpreted it). However, those readers of his works who have become acquainted with them through the English translation of his work may not agree with this statement and will do so for obvious reasons. The fact is that in the preparation of the translation most of the references to the works of the classics of Marxism-Leninism were omitted, while the references to Lenin completely disappeared. At the same time, of course, the translators were convinced that references to the works of the classics of Marxism were opportunistic in nature and therefore could be omitted without prejudice to the scientific content of Vygotsky's works (Hanfmann & Vakar, 1962). Following this operation, for the historian of psychology who does not speak Russian, it becomes practically impossible to understand the initial premises of Vygotsky's approach to the problems under consideration. Meanwhile, knowledge of the Russian original gives a clear idea that in this work Vygotsky tried to demonstrate the connection existing between Leninist epistemology and his views on the development of thinking in children. He speaks of the "unity of opposites", which are "imagination and thinking in its development ... and their bifurcation" in the process of cognition (Vygotsky, 1962, pp. 92, 101). As we will see later, Vygotsky was very critical of the epistemological dualism inherent in the theory of language advanced by Jean Piaget, and in particular of what Piaget called children's “autistic” use of language. Vygotsky emphasized that the Marxist approach to the study of language problems allows us to reveal the "social character" of its appearance. (Vygotsky, 1962, p. 174) We can observe how Vygotsky's ideasthey intersect with the ideas of socialism, where the community is presented as an unsanitary force capable of fomenting a world revolution. Likewise, in his sociocultural theory, the author presents society as an ultimatum force capable of nurturing and educating younger generations. It is cooperation with other people that is the main source of development of a child's personality, and dialogue is the most important feature of consciousness. (Paveliev, 2017)The emergence of the personality theory of the American psychoanalyst Erickson contributed to the work on psychoanalysis. Erickson adopted Freud's personality structure and created a psychoanalytic concept of the relationship between self and society. He drew special attention to the role of the ego in the development of personality, believing that the basis of the human ego lies in the social organization of society. He came to this conclusion by observing the personality changes that occurred in people in post-war America. People have become more anxious, harsh, prone to apathy, confusion. Accepting the idea of ​​unconscious motivation, Erickson paid particular attention to socialization processes in his studies. Erickson's work marks the beginning of a new method of research on the psyche - psychohistorical, which is the application of psychoanalysis to the study of personality development, taking into account the historical period in which he lives. By carrying out ethnographic field studies of parenting in two Native American tribes and comparing them to parenting in urban families in the United States, Erickson found that each culture has its own special style of mothering, which each mother perceives as the only correct one. However, as Erickson pointed out, the style of mothering is always determined by what exactly is expected from the child in the future and the social group to which he belongs (his tribe, class or caste). (Hilko, 2014)We can observe that two authors developed their theories in the conditions of the so-called social crisis and in the need to review old visions. Therefore, the similarity of the views of the two authors on the influence of society in human development is clearly traced. However, Vygotsky was obviously inspired by the ideas of Marxism and his predecessor Piaget, while Erickson was evidently by the ideas of his fellow opponent Freud. It is obvious that in their works Vygotsky and Erickson exalt the role of care on the genome since they both write about the importance of education and, above all, the circumstances in which the child grows up. In his approach, Vygotsky proposes to consider the social environment not as one of the factors, but as the main source of personality development. In the development of the child, he observes, there are, so to speak, two intertwined lines. The first follows the path of natural maturation, the second consists in mastering culture, ways of behavior and thought. According to Vygotsky's theory, the development of thinking and other mental functions occurs primarily not through personal development, but through the child's use of "psychological tools", through mastery of the sign system, such as language, writing and counting system. (Kozlov, 2014) Eric Erickson's theory is epigenetic. Epigenesis: the presence of a holistic congenital plan that defines the main stages of development (Eliseev, 2017). We can say that both authors identify a separate niche for the role of nature in human development, the main role is played only on the primitive planet. Vygotsky distinguishes in his works between lower (natural) mental functions and higher mental functions. The relationship between these classes of functions in Vygotsky's book was not rigorously defined. In some cases, lower mental functionswere considered as biological prerequisites for building the corresponding higher mental functions (for example, the involuntary memory of an infant and a child can be the basis for the development of arbitrarily mediated and controlled memory), in other cases, higher mental functions mental abilities can exist in an intersubjective form and be simply assimilated by the child in the learning process (such as the ability to write and read). In bothIn these cases Vygotsky saw the development of mental functions in the context of the Hegelian model of development, according to which each developing cognitive function exists initially "in itself, then" for others and, finally, "for itself". (Subbotinsky, 1996) Erickson, however, mentioned the influence of the genome only in predetermining developmental suffering, which is the same for everyone. “Erickson believed that the sequence of stages is the result of biological maturation, and that the content of development is determined by what society expects from a person” - says Hilko in his book “Social Psychology”. According to Eric Erickson's theory of personality development, personality development continues throughout life, where one stage in case of successful resolution of internal contradictions replaces the other. (Elkind, 1996) It is impossible to argue that the concept of stages plays a vital role in Erickson's theory. Based on his works, Erickson identified the stages of a person's life path. Each phase of the life cycle is characterized by a specific task proposed by the company. Society also determines the content of development at different stages of the life cycle. However, the solution to the problem, according to Erickson, depends on the already achieved level of psychomotor development of the individual and the general spiritual atmosphere of the society in which the individual lives. (Hilko, 2014) Between each stage of development there is a so-called development crisis. It is accompanied by the formation of all forms of identity. According to Erickson, the main identity crisis occurs in adolescence. If the developmental processes are successful, an "adult identity" is obtained, and when developmental difficulties arise a delay in identity is noted. Erickson called the gap between youth and adulthood a “psychosocial moratorium.” This is the time when a young person tries, by trial and error, to find his place in life. The turbulence of this crisis depends on how successfully previous crises (confidence, independence, activity, etc.) have been resolved and on the spiritual atmosphere in society. If the crisis is not successfully overcome in the initial stages, a delay in identity may be noted. Erickson introduced the concept of ritualization to psychology. Ritualization in behavior is an interaction built by the agreement of two or more people, which can be renewed at certain intervals in repeated circumstances (a ritual of mutual recognition, greeting, criticism, etc.). Once the ritual has arisen, it is sequentially included in the system that arises at higher levels, becoming part of the subsequent phases. (Hilko, 2014)Vygotsky also highlights the developmental stages of the child. Division also occurs in periods of stability and crisis. Vygotsky attached great importance to crises. Crises, unlike stable periods, last several months (reaching one or two). These are short but stormy phases during which a significant change in development occurs, which radically changes many of its characteristics. Development at this time can be disastrous. The crisis is the beginning and end of an inconspicuous exacerbation in the form of "difficult upbringing", affects, moods, conflicts, when performance decreases, interest decreases. However, in different children, i.