TABLE 6-4 Summary of Theories of Psychosocial Development Throughout the Life Cycle
| Freud | Piaget | Sullivan | Erikson |
|---|---|---|---|
Emphasis on Pathology (intrapsychic) |
Normal children |
Pathology (interpersonal) |
Both health and illness |
Anxiety |
No emphasis on ego, anxiety, identity, libido |
Anxiety |
|
Unconscious, uncontrollable drives |
Cognitive development |
Unconscious, uncontrollable drives |
Problems are manageable and can be solved |
Ego needing defense |
Tasks can be accomplished through learning process |
Self-system needing defense |
Need to integrate individual and society |
Pathological Development Influenced by Early feelings; repressed experiences in unconscious |
Individual differences and social influences on the mind |
Unconscious mind and interpersonal relationships (IPR) |
Ego, anxiety, identity, libido concepts combined with social |
Change Possible with Understanding content and meaning of unconscious |
Socialization process to facilitate cognitive development |
Improved IPR and understanding basic good-bad transformations |
Integration of attitudes, libido, and social roles for strong ego identity |
Age Group First 5 yr of life |
Middle childhood years |
Adolescence |
Middle age, old age |
Focus on Emotional development |
Cognitive skills |
Emotional and interpersonal development; relationships with opposite sex |
Emotional, interpersonal, spiritual |
Psychosexual aspects |
Cognitive, interactive aspects |
Psychosocial asepects; developing sense of identity |
Psychosocial aspects |
Cause of Conflicts and Problems Oral, anal, genital stage problems (especially unresolved oedipal/ castration conflicts) |
Faulty adaptation between individual and environment for intellectual development |
Threats to self-system; disturbed communication process; 7 stages not complete |
Unresolved conflicts, crises in 8 successive life cycle stages |
Prognosis Few changes possible after age 5 |
Little change in adult cognitive structure after middle adolescence |
Change usually possible with improved IPR |
Change not only possible but expected throughout life |
Sexual problems part of disturbed behavior |
Sex as a variable in learning (age, IQ) |
Sexual problems are only one type of faulty IPR affecting behavior |
Sexual identity as one of many problems solved by interaction of desire and social process |