Question

Write a reflection comparing and contrasting an aspect of your development with an aspect of developmental psychology. Include at least 4 references.?

Answer 1

If I compare my growth and development with the developmental theory postulated by Erikson, it gives an insight about how the various psychosocial stages and their respective objectives have changed with the passing phases over time. Erikson was a stage theorist who took Freud’s psychosexual stages of development and modified that into an eight stage Psycho-social theory instead. During each of the stage, two conflicting ideas must be resolved in a way that a delicate balance is created between the two so as to successfully move on to a next stage, without indulging in any maladaptive behavioural/operational patterns. The first stage is trust/mistrust from birth to 12 months whereby infants must learn that adults can be trusted. If care, comfort and attention are not provided at a time when the infant needs it, the infant develops an unconscious mistrust towards the world taking it to be an unsafe place as adult individuals as well. At this stage, the care and attention given to me created a sense of trust in terms of establishing a secure lens to view the world. Autonomy v/s shame is the next stage (1 to 3 years) whereby the child needs slight flexibility in terms of the freedom to make certain choices for themselves. For instance, choosing the colour of the clothes they want to wear or the park in which they want to play, etc. If this autonomy is denied at this crucial stage, the child develops a sense of shame & dependence. Initiative v/s guilt (3 to 6 years) is a stage whereby the pre-schooler begins to feel a sense of responsibility and targets achievements in the little things they master. Enough space for exploration and freedom to make choices should be encouraged by caregivers in order to create a confident individual as opposed to develop feelings of guilt, thereby a low self-esteem. Industry v/s inferiority is stage whereby the schoolers begin comparing themselves and competing with peers. Children develop their sense of self-confidence from their achievements in various domains. As opposed to this, if the child is not reinforced for the little things, they may end up developing a permanent sense of inferiority. This again, did not occur as I was reinforced for the little achievements and given the opportunity t nurture my talents and passions. Identity v/s role confusion is the adolescent transitional age whereby one struggles to create an identity of themselves to relate to. The same could be created successfully and the psychosical challenge was met successfully since it was well catered to. Finally, the current stage that I am operating in is intimacy v/s isolation. A strong sense of self here is precursor to successful intimate relationships.