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After reading this article you will learn about the general and psychoanalytic concept of development of behaviour in an individual.
General Concept:
Some psychologists are of the view that the process of development proceeds in definite stages. Such psychologists have postulated different stages of development like infancy, early childhood, late childhood, adolescence, adulthood etc.
In fact the layman also uses these terms freely. To a large extent, description in terms of stages is related to the age of individual. Thus, the first few months are described as infancy, the first five years as childhood, the next five years as late childhood, the teen years as adolescence, and so on. Some other psychologists who also speak of development in terms of stages, however, use slightly different terms.
Freud, for example, used terms like oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage etc. Freud also believed that this process of development is somewhat related to the age of the person, but his concept of stage is based on the nature of the behaviour, the nature of the motivation etc.
In general the concept of stages in developmental psychology is based on the following assumptions:
(a) The developmental process while it is continuous, at the same time shows a certain degree of stability at different points. At these points where one finds stability, development proceeds very slowly. Such points are referred to as stages.
(b) Development of various aspects like emotional development, cognitive development, social development etc. run parallel and are very much inter-related. It is because of this that at each stage one finds a characteristic pattern of behaviour.
Each stage, therefore, represents an integrated point of stabilisation of all aspects of development. Thus, the child’s speech, emotions, perceptions etc. all share certain characteristic features, which can be called child-like. An arrest in the developmental process affects all these aspects. Because of this one can identify different stages of development.
Psychoanalytic Concept of Stages:
Sigmund Freud, the founder of the psychoanalytic school, describes the process of human development in terms of certain stages of development. According to Freud these stages centre around specific regions or organs of the body depending upon the importance of the biological functions most dominant at that stage, and also the development of the organ itself.
The four major stages described by Freud are:
(a) The Oral Stage:
The mouth is the most developed organ in a new born child and the most important activity is eating. In view of this the oral stage is the first stage. Here again, Freud differentiates two phases-the sucking stage, and the latter biting stage which appears with the growth of the teeth.
(b) The Anal Stage:
The anal stage centers around the anus, or the excretory organ. While eating is the most crucial activity of the oral stage, excretion assumes importance, particularly after the child starts taking mostly solid food. Here again, Freud described two phases: anal retention and anal expulsion.
(c) The Phallic Stage:
The phallic stage is the third stage and centers around the phallus, when urination along with the excitation of the phallus becomes the focal activity.
(d) The Genital Stage:
The genital stage is the final stage marked by the development of the genital organ, when the individual is sexually mature. Freud calls this process of development as psychosexual development and the various stages as psychosexual stages because according to him the sex instinct is the most powerful of human urges and the entire process of development of the individual centers around the development of sex functions.
Freud further states that many people do not reach the final stage of development and remain fixated at one or earlier stages, due to a number of reasons, and such a fixation underlies behavioural abnormality. He also stated that different societies and cultures tend to emphasise different activities, functions and consequently tend to develop a basic character type like oral, anal, phallic etc.
According to Freud, this process is known as fixation. Such a process of fixation is largely influenced by the child rearing practices prevalent in a culture. While such child rearing practices are to a large extent uniform in simple culture, in modern complex societies one finds a lot of variations.
In fact, according to Freud very few people reach the complete adult stage of genital development and each adult individual carries with him or her some degree of prudential features. Fixation according to Freud can be either total or partial. Total fixation or very high degree of fixation can result in personality disorders.
The psychoanalytic theory of development has been discussed here very briefly just to provide the reader with an awareness. However, it may be mentioned in brief that oral characters generally tend to be dependent, and unrealistic. Anal character, is obstinate with a pathological concern for details and also full of doubts and the phallic character is exhibitionistic and demonstrative.
Erikson’s Scheme of Life Stages:
Another theory which has gained wide currency in recent years, is the one postulated by E. H. Erikson. Though Erikson was originally trained in Freudian psychoanalysis, later he changed his views and felt that orthodox psychoanalysis attached very little importance to society and social task and challenges. Accordingly, he named his theory as a theory of psychosocial development.
The eight stages proposed by him and the corresponding dominant task or conclusions of each stage are as follows:
It may be seen that each stage is marked by a pair of opposite tendencies and the individual has to overcome these conflicts and the outcome of successful resolution of these conflicts results in a positive outcome, which is listed last, like ‘hope’ in infant and ‘willpower’ in early childhood.
It may be seen that the scheme presented by Erikson is based on an emphasis, and on the interaction between the individual and society. It is not based on physiological development. While the Freudian scheme suggests different definite chronological age limits corresponding to the different stages, Erikson’s scheme does not do the same.
Many psychologists, however, do not subscribe to the concept of stages. According to them the development of each aspect of behaviour is independent and proceeds continuously. Therefore, one cannot think of specific stages of development. Most experimental psychologists, more or less, subscribe to this view.
Generally clinical psychologists, personality psychologists and developmental psychologists subscribe to the stage approach. Those who subscribe to the stage approach tend to emphasise the innate nature of the developmental process and the tendency of development to unfold itself in a sequential manner.
According to them the presence of stages limits the possibilities of stimulating and accelerating the rate of development beyond certain points. Obviously, this type of approach leans heavily on the concept of maturation.
In fact, the different stages indicate different degrees and levels of maturation. Fortunately, this has not been a very serious controversy. The process of development proceeds whether psychologists look at it stage wise or not.