Cognitive Theories And Development Of A Healthy Personality Essay

A theory proposed by Erik Erikson (1950, 1963) promotes the eight development stages of adolescents through adulthood by comparing the transitory periods. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for identity and personality development. The first stage is trust vs. mistrust, this stage starts at birth and end at the age of one year. This stage also explains the safety that the infant is getting from the caregiver. For example, if the infant receives constant care, they will develop a sense of trust which will be carried out with them to other and future relationships. The second stage is autonomy vs. shame and doubt; this stage occurs at the age of two to three years old. In this stage, the child is mainly discovering their skills and abilities. The third stage is Initiative vs. Guilt; this stage occurs around age three to age

This theory considers external factors, parents, and society in the development of personality from childhood to adulthood. He developed a series of eight stages that he believed everyone went through over their lifetime. The third stage is the “preschooler: initiative vs. guilt. This is the stage where the child began to find purpose. Erikson described that by the age of 3, children began to deal with conflict and have a desire to gain independence. Josiah definitely went through this stage. At the age of 3, Josiah began to explore indoor and outdoor activities and let his interests be the guide to what he would pursue. By kindergarten, Josiah wanted to pick out his own clothes and wanted to choose what he would eat for lunch. Josiah and I were able to balance his decisions and my rules by compromising. I was able to pick out two outfits of my choice but allow Josiah to pick from those two choices so that he had some sort of independency. I also noticed that Josiah begin to interact with his peers better. He was able to help make up games and discuss new ideas to his teachers. Erikson’s initiative explained the development of purposefulness, trying new activities, trying out new skills, getting more involved with peers, and conscience development. Guilt, on the other hand, results in an overly strict superego related to excessive experiences such as criticism and punishment, from parents. I

Erikson’s theory of personality is based on his eight stages of development. In each of these eight stages of

Erik H. Erikson was a significant psychologist that greatly changed the field of child development. In the 1950’s, Erikson advanced a Freudian approach in development. He viewed that social development as a series of eight challenges that people have to overcome. Each challenge has an outcome that’s either favorable or unfavorable. The outcome drastically affects a person’s personality. For example, in a favorable outcome, the result can leave a positive feeling. With a positive outlook, it’s easier for a person to cope with challenges in life. An unfavorable outcome can leave a person at a disadvantaged for the future. During the first couple challenges, Erikson believed that the caregiver has a great impact on a child’s development

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory is also part of the psychodynamic perspective. According to Erikson (Berk, 2007) society and culture have an influence on human development. In contrast to Freud whose theory that proposed development was complete by adolescence (Berk, 2007), Erikson’s theory argues that development is continuous throughout the lifespan and occurs in eight stages. The first stage of development, trust versus mistrust, occurs during infancy (birth to 1-year-old). During this stage if an infant’s basic needs are met by a responsive and attentive caregiver, the infant will begin to trust the caregiver, thus establishing the foundation for future trust relationships. In contrast if an infant does not receive enough or irregular care, or if caregivers are unresponsive, the infant can develop mistrust. The autonomy versus shame and doubt is the next stage, which occurs between the first and third years

Erikson’s theory includes eight stages of human development: stage 1- basic trust vs. mistrust, stage 2- autonomy vs. shame/doubt, stage 3- initiative vs. guilt, stage 4- industry vs. inferiority, stage 5- identity vs. identity diffusion, stage 6- intimacy vs isolation, stage 7- generativity vs. self-absorption and stage 8- integrity vs. despair. Each stage consists of a unique developmental task that confronts individuals with a challenge that must be resolved. From this theory it is believed that developmental changes are throughout one’s lifespan. According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality, identity and retrieval of basic virtues. The basic virtues of Erikson’s theory include hope, will, purpose, competency, fidelity, love, care, and wisdom. Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self. D.B. would fall into stage 1, basic trust vs mistrust, which takes place between birth to one year. There’s much emphasis on the caregiver’s nurturing ability and care for the infant. Babies who are not securely attached to their mothers don’t cooperate much during parent-child interaction and tend to be more aggressive towards the parent. As they

The eight psychosocial stages of development are all vital in some way to our advancement as humans but the stage that is the most important to us is the first stage of Trust vs. Mistrust. This stage takes place from the moment the baby is birthed into this world all the way until they are almost two years old. It can also occur near the end of people’s lives as they have to trust they will be taken care of when they are too old to do so themselves. In this psychosocial stage, this is when infants learn to either trust or mistrust the world around them and Erikson believed that it helps to regulate and employ a prevailing impact over a person’s relations with others for the rest of their lifetime. Infants need care and attention because they fully rely on others for their numerous needs to be met. These particular needs

Erikson’s first stage of development is that of infancy which focuses on the child’s first 18 months of life. During this time a child is supposed to develop optimism, trust, confidence, and security. These key elements are developed through the love and care of a parent or primary care giver. If these elements are not nurtured then a child is more likely to develop mistrust, insecurities, and the feeling of worthlessness (Erikson 1968). During this stage of my own life, I can say that I received a great deal of love and nurturing from both of my parents. Of course I do not remember this stage in my life, but I have often heard stories about my early years. I was told that

Erikson believed that during this age children begin realizing that they have a will and they begin to understand that their actions are their own. Children will begin to accept and proclaim their own independence. However, just like Freud, Erikson believed that if parents are too strict with their children, or punished them too harshly this could result with the child having unhealthy feelings of shame and doubt.

Erikson's first psychosocial conflict is trust versus mistrust. This stage begins at birth and continues until about one year of age. The central issue that

Early Childhood is roughly from 18 months to 3 years. During early childhood, the second stage of Erikson’s theory manifests; this stage is called Autonomy v. Shame. In this stage, “the psycho social theme of autonomy-shame and doubt is manifested during toddlerhood and leads to self-will or will-power.” (Ginsburg, 1992) If all the needs of the individual are met at this stage they develop a feeling of self-control and power over themselves. If the individual’s needs are not met in this stage they tend to develop feelings of shame and doubt in themselves. “If individuals

Erikson developed eight stages of human development. Briefly I would describe all eight my I will concentrate on stages five and six which are adolescence and young adulthood. Myer describes the stages in the following manner. Stage one occurs during the first year This stage is called infancy (trust vs. mistrust) during this stage if needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust. The second stage is called the toddler stage (autonomy vs. shame and doubt). This stage occurs while the baby is two years old, in this stage toddlers learn to exercise will do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities. The third stage is called the preschooler between the ages of three and five (initiative vs. guilt). During this stage preschoolers learn to initiate

Erik Erickson developed the eight stages to the psychosocial development. The eight stages in Erikson's theory were; Trust vs. mistrust (Infant), Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt (Toddler), Initiative vs. Guilt (Pre-School), industry vs. inferiority (School Age), identity vs. role confusion (Adolescent), intimacy vs. isolation (Young Adulthood), generativity vs. stagnation (Adulthood), and integrity vs. despair (Mature Adulthood) (Wong et al., 2015, p. 27). With each stage there is progression to matures development.

Erikson’s first stage was trust verses mistrust and it occurred from zero to 18 months of age. The point of this stage is to establish trust. Erikson believed this was the most important period in a person’s life. Since

The concept of personality is extensive and complex, but psychologists have tried to describe the nature of personality using different perspectives. Some of the perspectives are founded on empirical studies while others are based on clinical case studies or theories. Some common aspects of personality include psychodynamic, trait approach, cognitive, genetic, and learning approach. The cognitive approach emphasizes how our behavior is influenced by how we process, mentally represent, and store information. Psychologists who take the cognitive approach suggests that mental processes can help us understand several kinds of social and individual behaviors, from problem solving, to decision making, to intelligence and interpersonal attraction. According to Bernstein, (2011), a cognitive perspective on a person inherently describes meanings that are created by the individual, and these meanings are usually constructed out of cognitions on the environment. Personality psychologists taking a cognitive approach to a person, typically study the processes arising from behaviors and effects.