Life Span Development and Personality Paper
Candace Wiser
PSY 300
March 19, 2012
Professor: Kaisa Freeman

Life Span Development and Personality During this discovery of a famous person that was in the twentieth century, there are a lot of famous people who did well for the world. First we must know what famous is, famous is “widely known, and honored for achievement” (Merriam-Webster). In this paper we will explore the importance of Marie Curie. We will examine her background, family dynamics, and her influences of heredity and environment psychological development, how her family and support systems have helped to influence her development in growth and adjustment. We will also examine two different theories of personality that best describe Marie, and which theoretical approach best explains Marie’s behaviors and achievements. Marie Curie was born in 1867 in a town called Warsaw in Poland (Jardines, 2011). Marie came from a family that was very small. Her mother died when she was ten years old leaving her to live with her father. When Marie was a teenager she attended a school that was a secret and was called “Floating University” (Jardines, 2011). This school had a secret name that would change regularly for the simple fact of detection by the Russians. The Floating University was a school of physics and natural history. As Marie continued to grow up her father was a science teacher that could not afford to send Marie to college. Marie worked until she was twenty-four as a governess and until she was able to save money to go to college. Once Marie had saved enough money she purchased a train ticket, and off to Paris she went to the “Latin Quarter and enrolled at the Sorbonne” (Jardines, 2011). When attending college Marie continued to work in the university labs cleaning the glassware. Marie later earned her first degree in 1893 in physics and later earning another degree in mathematics the next year (Jardines, 2011). After college Marie had met Pierre Curie and later married him having two children; Irene and Eve. Marie’s influences of heredity and environment in the psychological development when she began to discover the need for X-ray equipment. Her passion to strive for the physics and mathematics came from her father as he was a science teacher. when Marie was ill in college from not eating enough, that is when she had the idea to study science, because she found science to be fascinating. So looking at the environment end, it took Marie getting ill to realize how the human body works and that we need certain substances in order to remain healthy. The development that she strived in the most was the moral end. Morally, she had a passion for science and wanted to help the next person and wanted to invent something that was going to help people. While working and inventing her X-ray machines, Marie had identified an element that would work with the X-ray machines; polonium, and the second element being radium. Marie “described the elements she studied as [“radio-active”]” (Jardines, 2011). With her social support systems helping her along the way Marie was able in 1903 to become the first female in “France to earn a PhD in physics” (Jardines, 2011). Also in 1903 Marie was the first female to win the Nobel (Jardines, 2011). Marie took over her husband’s position and became the first female teacher. “Hundreds of people—students, artists, photographers, celebrities—lined up outside the university on November 5, 1906, hoping to attend her first lecture” (Jardines, 2011). Two different theories of personality we will use to describe Marie will be trait theory and cognitive-social theory. Trait theory is the theory that “is based on traits, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral tendencies to constitute underlying dimensions of personality on which individuals vary” (Kowalski, p. 455). The trait theory underlies the traits that Marie has. She has traits about science, math, and physics that not every person has. She has become the first female to accomplish many things in her life. Her traits of science have carried on through her father and later with her husband that was in physics. The cognitive-social theory is a theory that was developed from “behaviorist and cognitive roots and consider learning, beliefs, expectations, and information processing central for personality” (Kowalski, p. 452). The cognitive-social theory holds true that Marie used her learning, beliefs, expectations, and information processing for her talent in the act of creating the x-ray machines. Her belief was that she could invent the x-ray machines and they could be used to help people. When WWI broke out Marie was able to “outfit 18 portable X-ray stations that could treat wounded soldiers on the front lines. She sometimes operated and repaired the machines herself, and established 200 more permanent X-ray posts during the war” (Jardines, 2011). With accomplishing this, she used her cognitive skills and social skills to complete what she was aiming for…success. The theoretical approach that I believe best explains Marie’s behaviors and achievements is the Adlerian Therapy. Adlerian Therapy is “also called individual psychology and focuses on creating a therapeutic relationship that is co-operative, encouraging and practical. Adlerian counsellors help clients look at their lifestyle and personal values to help them understand and question their usual patterns of behavior and hidden goals. It is a learning process that assists the client to move towards useful involvement and contribution to society” (BACP, 2012). This theory helps to explain how Marie has accomplished her goals and what she wanted to do with her life. Marie was able to invent the X-ray machines and hold stations during the WWI in order to help the wounded soldiers. Marie Curie was an outstanding woman with many achievements in her life time. In her life time she was able to complete her schooling on her own while working. When she was done with school she was able to move on and have the accomplishment of winning not one but two Noble prizes for her discovery in the polonium and radium. Later on in life she was able to invent the X-ray machine. The machine was used mainly during that time to help the wounded soldiers in the WWI. During all of the accomplishment and achievements, she also had her own family that she cared for and made time for. In conclusion we were able to learn about Marie Curie and why she was famous during the twentieth century. We also got to examine the influences of heredity and environment and how it made an impact on her psychological development, while learning about her social support system and how she was supported in everything that she accomplished. We also got a look at how two different theories of personality applied to Marie, and what theoretical approach best explained her behaviors and achievements.

Reference:
BACP. British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy. (2010) Seeking a therapist. Retrieved March 19, 2012 from http://www.bacp.co.uk/seeking_therapist/theoretical_approaches.php Des Jardins, J. (2011). THE PASSION OF MADAME CURIE. Smithsonian, 42(6), 82. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=65922936&site=eds-live Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Merriam-Webster, (2012). Retrieved March 19, 2012 from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/famous