The Developmental Theories of Jean Piaget, Sigmund Freud, and Erik Erikson

Freud believed that the stages reached in early life where a result of stimulation connected to developmental requirements. He believed that these problems related to the stages determined how an individual behaved in later life. For example, depending on development in the anal stage, individuals acted a certain way based on their ability to become self-sufficient. (p.24)

Many people believe Freud engaged in sexual abuse of children as a part of his studies. His studies on the theories of personality are based upon five stages of development in a child from birth until adulthood. All the theories are centered on specific erogenous zones or particular body parts that are sensitive to sexual stimulation (Stevenson, 1996). Needs, as noted by Freud, which need to be met during each of these stages of development are present from the moment of birth. If the needs are not met or if the needs are overly met, the child will experience frustration or overindulgence issues (Stevenson, 1996). In addition to the issues of frustration or overindulgence, should the child become fixated upon a particular stage the methods the child uses to obtain satisfaction for that stage will affect the child throughout adulthood (Stevenson, 1996).

Erikson was a psychologist who was greatly influenced by Freud. Although influenced by Freud there are some differences in there developmental stages. Erikson believed that development in an individual was molded by society, culture, and environment. While Freud’s belief was that development is in some way is influenced by the fixation of sexual interest of different areas of the body. The stages in Erikson’s development theory outline how important social experiences can shape us. While Freud’s theory is mainly based on ones sexuality. Additionally the other significant difference between Erikson’s and Freud’s theories is the outcome of a particular stage. Erikson believed that the outcome of a certain stage was not permanent and that it could be changed later on in life. While Freud presumed that if an individual became fixated on a stage problems associated with that stage would be carried on through life.

Psychoanalytic theories describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Psychoanalytic theorists emphasize that behavior is merely a surface characteristic and that true understanding of development requires analyzing the symbolic meanings of behavior and the deep inner workings of the mind. They also stress that the experiences children have with their parents earlier on in life shape development. The psychoanalytic theory highlighted by Sigmund Freud who was born in 1856 and died in 1939. As he listened to and examine his parents he was influenced they were the result of experiences early in life. He thought that as children grow up, their focus of pleasure and sexual impulses shifts from the mouth to the anus and eventually to the genitals. As a result, we go through five stages of psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. The oral stage is when the infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth, the anal stage is when

Erik Erikson and Sigmund Freud are well known within the field of psychology for their theories on human development. These two men acted both as scholars and psychoanalysts. Erikson was a psychologist and Freud a psychiatrist. Erik Erikson studied and taught Freudian theory in Vienna, where Freud once studied at the University and practiced as a psychiatrist. Erikson believed that Freud’s developmental stages had discrepancies. Freud believed that “our personality is shaped by the age of five” (Sharkey, 1997, para. 2). Erikson felt that our personalities are built and changed over the course of a lifetime. Both Erikson and Freud are amazing theorists and well respected by other theorists in the field of psychology.

Freud, the objective theorist, believed that the focus should be on the individual in compartments: defense mechanism, personality structures and levels of consciousness. Freud, Psychosexual stages of Child Development, widely dismissed because of the sexual perspectives. Nonetheless, we can see these concepts being present in the stages of development, such as the oral: the infant finds pleasure in chewing, biting, and sucking objects. The other concepts such as id, ego, and superego focuses on the personality and the balance needed in order to provide and shape individuality and social

Thanks to Jean Piaget, we have a little insight into how children think and how they grow mentally. Jean Piaget believed that every person grew mentally as there was an increase to understand what was going on. He though that needing to make sense of our experiences caused us to think differently. To understand his way of figuring out some of the way the thought

According to our text, Freud believed in five stages of psychosexual development which he termed oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital. These stages were important developmental milestones that individuals needed to successfully pass through without becoming stuck. Freud believed that specific behavioral occurrences could be traced back to a specific stage in which the person became fixated (Friedman & Schustack, 2012, p. 68).

Another theory of that Freud researched was the Id, ego, and superego. This idea was also a development theory which would advance itself in different stages. The id stage began at birth, it would be considered the need stage. An individual may not

Jean Piaget (1936), was a developmental psychologist from Switzerland. He was known to be one of the first psychologists to study cognitive development. His contributions include an in depth theory of cognitive child development. His studies include many detailed child observations and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal a child cognitive abilities. Before Piaget’s theory of development many psychologists believed that children were just less competent thinkers then adults. Piaget argues that this was in fact incorrect and children just thought differently to adults (simplypsychology.org).

Freud’s psychosexual stages of development were extremely controversial. Freud said that children go through five stages of psychosexual development: the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage, and finally, the genital stage. The oral stage includes the first year of life when children put everything in their mouths. The anal stage

“When you teach a child something, you forever take away his chance of discovering it for himself.” These words were articulated by one of the most influential figures in the area of childhood intelligence, specifically developmental psychology. Jean Piaget was a Swiss clinical psychologist who is well known for his work pertaining to child development. Similar to Freud and Skinner, Piaget believed in order to understand human behavior, you have to start with understanding how children function, grow and learn. Piaget spent ample years studying the behaviors and thought processes of children, analyzing the origins and development of intelligence and how it shapes our current and future behaviors. According to Piaget, intelligence is

Over the years, Sigmund Freud has created many theories involving many different ideas in the psychological world. One theory that stood out to me throughout our journey in introduction to psychology is Freud’s developmental theory. Freud 's development theory is " the influence that sexual growth has on personality development from birth to adult life, with the phases of sexual maturation designated as oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital." (psychosexual development. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Stedman 's Medical Dictionary. ) This theory stood out to me the most because I feel that Freud has a very unique idea of how we, as humans, develop and how almost every stage refers to a different growth, yet all involve sexual ideas.

Let´s take a look at Freud´s Psychosexual theory and Erikson´s Psychosocial theory beside each other. The first year of life. Freud called this the Oral Stage of development because he believes that oral stimulation was the primary means of development at this time.

Sigmund Freud is a psychologist who studied various stages within child development and is known for his study of the development of personality. Freud explained that child development was a sequence of psychosexual stages. “In "Three Essays on Sexuality" (1915), Freud outlined these stages as oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital” (Cherry, 2014). He thought that child development began at birth and their personality devolved throughout their life focusing on specific needs and demands. “Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which the