Module 3, Lesson 2 Notes

1. Erik Erikson: Psychosocial
Development

2. I. Erik Erikson
• A. A student of Sigmund Freud (had pictures of
Freud’s kid in his wallet).
• B. Modernized Freud’s Theory.
1. Freud- by the time you are 6 or 7, tour
personal growth is essentially over.
2. Erikson- expanded the ideas of stages of
development into a broader framework, called
the life cycle.
a. Each stage of this period has a positive and a negative
dimension (this helped balance and clarify Freudian theory).
b. Although Erikson viewed childhood as especially significant,
he saw development continuing throughout one’s entire
lifetime.

3. II. Psychosocial Development
• A. Epigenetic Principle- personality itself goes
through structural elaborations in accord with a
ground plan (i.e. development is not random, but
proceeds according to the outline).
1. Ground plan- merely a map of potential; it is not
automatic development.
2. Environment factors (e.g. social feedback) play an
important role in development.
B. The stages of development are
consequential-one must come before the
next, or else…..

4. STAGES
Stage Age
Infancy 0-1
Early childhood 2-3
Play Age 4-5
School age 6-11
Adolescence 12-20
Young adult 21-35
Middle age 36-65
Old age 65+
Crisis
Trust vs. Mistrust
Autonomy vs. Doubt
Initiative vs. Guilt
Industry vs. Inferiority
Identity vs. Role Confusion
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Generatively vs. Self-Absorption
Integrity vs. Despair
Resolution
Hope
Will
Purpose
Competence
Fidelity