When James celebrated his 25th anniversary at the company, he felt that the rare autographed baseball he was given, while nice, was just a meaningless trinket. He thought that his wife and children were much more important than his job. James is in the stage of development called:

Generativity versus stagnation.

Explanation:

Generativity versus stagnation is the seventh level of psychological development according to Erik Erikson's theory. The seventh out of eight stages, this level occurs among middle-aged people and brings about a feeling of the need to accomplish something on their own but also contribute to the family.

While generativity focuses on the need for achievement, stagnation is a situational phase where the person has no feeling of development and finds no ways of development or fails to find ways to help or contribute to anything.

And by James's feeling of putting more importance on his family life instead of personal achievement/ material gains, he is in the stage of generativity posited against stagnation.

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d. i assume the underlined word is "role." reformat if it isn't.

explanation:

role is closest to part because when replacing words, "playing a vital decision," "playing a vital activity," and "playing a vital dollar" don't make logical sense. the only meaningful choice is "playing a vital part."

this fits one of merriam-webster's definitions of role: "a function or part performed especially in a particular operation or process."