00:00
Welcome to the pediatric
growth and development lecture
on psychosocial development.
00:05
I'm going to begin by
telling you about a theory.
00:07
I know that theory may be the last
thing you want to learn about,
but trust me,
this one's important to understand.
00:12
It actually helps explain
people's personalities and traits
throughout life.
00:16
And that's always interesting,
right?
Stay with me here.
00:19
So Erik Erikson is a psychoanalyst
for the 1900s
famous for his theory
that each major stage of life
beginning at birth
is associated with a specific
psychological struggle
that occurs within the person.
00:33
This will make more sense
as we talk through each one.
00:36
What's important for you
to understand right now
is that each one builds
on one another.
00:41
According to his theory,
the outcome of each of these
psychological struggles
a human goes through
has consequences that can affect
the person's personality and traits
for the rest of their lives.
00:52
So this is actually applicable
to literally everyone in the world.
00:55
It's actually
pretty interesting stuff
and pretty relatable
once you understand it.
01:00
A side note,
Erickson's theory,
initially published in 1950,
did not define specific ages
when the eight stages occurred.
01:08
He only defined the
sequence of the stages.
01:11
Researchers since that
point have assigned
approximate ages
to the eight stages.
01:17
And those are the ones that
I'll include in this lecture.
01:22
We're going to review the
stages that children go through
from infant to adulthood.
There's six of them.
01:29
Let's start with the infant stage
for about birth to one year.
01:34
Each of Erickson stages
is actually two words
separated by the word versus
to represent the struggle
that's occurring.
01:41
That sounds dramatic, right?
Well, the first part of each stages
name is the goal of that stage.
01:47
That's what the person wants
or should want to achieve
in order to progress in life.
01:52
The second part of that stage
is the negative outcome that can
occur if the goal is not met.
01:58
So for example,
the first stage the one
that is experienced in infancy
is called trust versus mistrust.
02:05
Let's walk through this
so it makes more sense.
02:08
According to Erickson's theory,
the psychosocial task of infancy
is for the infant to learn
to trust himself,
their caregivers,
and their environment.
02:17
Despite the reputation infants are
usually pretty simple creatures.
02:21
They just want to be
warm, fed, safe, and loved
and occasionally entertained.
02:25
Infants acquire a sense of trust
when their needs are met
consistently.
02:32
During the first
few months of life,
infants don't understand the
concept of delayed gratification.
02:37
They don't even realize
and other human beings exist
beyond those they can actually see.
02:42
The fancy term for this
is primary narcissism.
02:45
It sounds really mean
It's actually pretty innocent
in the young baby.
02:49
Young infants certainly
don't understand
that their caregivers have
other responsibilities
such as jobs and household
responsibilities,
even other children.
02:59
As a result of this
primary narcissism,
infants don't understand
delayed gratification.
03:04
They can get pretty frustrated
if they're hungry,
and nobody feeds them right away.
03:08
Or if they wake up from their nap
and nobody comes
to pick them up right away.
03:11
They aren't trying to be difficult.
They just don't understand it.
03:14
Now, of course, at some degree,
the infant must get used
to these little inconveniences.
03:19
But if their care is
really inconsistent,
inadequate or unpredictable,
the infant may develop
a sense of mistrust and anxiety
as a result.
03:27
That can continue
to affect them for some time,
and to some degree,
prevent them from meeting
future psychosocial goals.
03:34
The takeaway point is
the quality of the
infant's attachment
to their primary caregivers
and the degree to which the primary
caregivers meet the infant's needs
can have some
pretty major consequences.
03:45
Trust versus mistrust
is a major stage of
psychosocial development
because the relationship between the
infant and their primary caregivers
can affect future relationships
throughout their life,
as well as how they deal with
each stage of life in general.
03:59
The good news is
unmet psychosocial needs
can be addressed later in life,
and as a result, sometimes
negative outcomes can be reversed.
04:07
Many therapists make a living
helping patients reverse negative
outcomes from their early life.
04:13
Okay, that was heavy.
04:15
Now let's move on to the second
stage of psychosocial development
that occurs from about age 1 to 2,
otherwise known as a toddler age.
04:24
During this stage called
autonomy versus shame and doubt,
the toddler is focused on developing
a sense of control and independence.
04:33
The toddler is going through
a lot of physical development
and learning many new skills.
04:37
They want desperately to be
more independent and autonomous.
04:40
If they're encouraged
in these efforts,
they'll become more
confident and secure.
04:45
You may recall that
toddlers love to say no.
04:49
Well, part of the reason is that
"no" is an easy word to learn.
04:53
But they also love to say it
because they're learning
to assert themselves
and express their opinions.
04:58
It makes them feel like
they're in control.
05:00
It can be very empowering
to express your opinion.
05:03
During this time caregivers are
challenged to say the least,
to allow independence while also
making sure the child is safe
and conforming to social norms,
such as eating on the table
instead of off the floor.
05:16
If the child was criticized
or overly controlled,
or not allowed to
assert themselves,
they may begin to feel
inadequate lack self esteem,
feel shameful and
doubt their abilities.
05:27
Now let's move on to the
third psychosocial stage
that occurs from about
age three to six.
05:33
During the initiative versus guilt,
psychosocial stage,
the child is learning to
make their own decisions
and is focused on developing
a sense of initiative.
05:41
They're very motivated to learn
and to practice new tasks.
05:44
But preschoolers are still
learning what's right and wrong.
05:47
One way they learn this is through
the use of punishment and reward.
05:50
As a child is rewarded
for appropriate
or socially acceptable behaviors,
they gain initiative
and the courage to repeat
those behaviors in the future.
05:58
This is one time when
positive reinforcement
or rewarding positive behaviors
can be very effective
in teaching them.
06:04
The preschool age child
is asking many questions
as their learning really takes off.
06:09
To learn at this age really
need the freedom to question,
to disagree politely, and to learn.
06:15
If the child's sense of
initiative is overly controlled,
or their questions are treated as if
they're inappropriate or a nuisance,
the child may develop
feelings of guilt,
and lose some of their initiative.
06:27
You can probably see
how this could affect their learning
at that age and later.
06:32
Now let's move on to the fourth
stage of psychosocial development
that occurs from
about age 7 to 10.
06:39
This is a stage called
industry versus inferiority.
06:42
The school aged child is
learning to read and write
and to do many things
independently.
06:48
They're focused on developing
a sense of competence,
also known as industry.
06:53
Teachers and peers become really
important to the school aged child.
06:56
Teachers are important
because they teach them
new knowledge and skills.
07:00
The child is age feels the need
to win the approval of others
by demonstrating that they can
master skills and responsibilities
that are accepted and valued
by society.
07:09
And that means by teachers
as well as parents and peers.
07:12
At this age peers
are their society.
07:15
The ability to explore
their environment
and to learn is essential
during this age.
07:20
The child's peers become a major
source of the child's self esteem.
07:25
If the child has restricted
too much socially,
or if their initiative to learn
isn't encouraged,
they may not be able to develop
skills that they feel are necessary
and they may begin
to feel inferior.
07:35
Now let's wrap this up
by discussing
the fifth stage of
psychosocial development
that occurs from
about age 11 to 18.
07:43
During this stage,
identity versus role confusion,
the child is
transitioning to adulthood
and trying to figure out
where they fit into society.
07:51
This is a
major stage of development,
where the adolescent
reexamines their identity
and tries to figure out
exactly who they are
and who they want to be.
08:00
They may try out different roles,
different peer groups
or even different identities.
08:05
Adolescents really want
to belong and fit in.
08:07
They meet many different people.
08:09
They want to explore
different possibilities
and begin to think about their
future career relationships
and where they want to live.
08:16
The more people they meet,
and the more role models
they have in their life,
the more they can explore.
08:22
Failure to establish
a sense of identity,
or to figure out
what they want to do with their life
can lead to role confusion.
08:28
Adolescents who identify as
LGBTQIA+
tend to take more time publicly
identify their identity
due in part to societal
or family pressures,
cultural beliefs,
or lack of similar peers.
08:42
During the psychosocial stage,
the adolescent also begins
to share themselves
more intimately with others
and explore relationships
outside their family.
08:51
Successful completion of this
stage of psychosocial development
can result in happy
healthy relationships
and a sense of
commitment and safety.
09:00
An adolescent who is very
sheltered from others
avoids intimacy, or fears
commitment and relationships
can eventually experience
loneliness and isolation.
09:09
And that wraps up
our discussion of Erikson stages
of psychosocial development
from birth through age
18, 19 to adulthood.
09:18
Please note that we have
a separate set of lectures
for overall pediatric
growth and development.
09:22
That series covers
the physical, cognitive, motor,
and language development
from birth through adolescence
to young adulthood.
09:30
Thank you for joining me.