Five Stages of Psychosexual Theory

¶ … five stages of psychosexual theory of development with the four stages of cognitive development. Briefly discuss and provide examples to support your response.

Freud described five stages of psychosexual development: the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital states. Struggles at any one stage could lead to fixations, neuroses, or habits related to that stage. Piaget also presented a stage theory of development. His four stages refer to cognitive development and include the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. If an individual does not successfully master the cognitive skills associated with each developmental stage, then the person may be considered developmentally disabled. Therefore, Piaget did not suggest as Freud did that fixations develop because of insufficient transition between phases.

The Freud theory presumes the supremacy of the subconscious mind in determining psychological development. Piaget focuses more on conscious cognition and is less concerned with unconscious sexuality. Both take biology and physiology into account; the developmental stages are purported to have physical roots. However, Freud's oral, anal, and phallic stages are formulated and presented far differently, with focus on specific body parts and how individuals can become obsessed with them. Piaget is concerned with physicality as far as it impacts motor functioning, spatial relations, and the sense of self in the world. Freud's view on selfhood is tied to his tripartite division into id, ego, and superego.

2. What are some of the gross motor skills that most 5-year-olds' have mastered?

By age five, most five-year-olds have mastered walking and running, jumping, standing on one foot, walking on tiptoe, throwing overhead, and kicking balls. Between the ages of three and four, most children can ride tricycles or bikes with training wheels, can balance on one foot for up to ten seconds, and can walk in a line. Earlier motor skill mastery such as sitting up straight, pulling and pushing objects, has been well ensconced in the five-year-old's motor skill repertoire.

Gross motor stills that should emerge before the child is four include running around obstacles, jumping over small objects and landing with feet together, and manipulating wheeled toys. Between the ages of four and five, children can walk backwards effectively from toe to heel, somersault, and climb up stairs without assistance and by alternating feet.

3. According to Vygotsky, what role does culture play in determining what things a child will learn? Provide an example.

Vygotsky's sociocultural approach to human development stresses the role of an individual's background in determining moral development, language, and reasoning. Culture also determines what a child learns because parents will stress certain types of learning as important. For example, some children will learn musical skills because music is valued in their society. Others will learn verbal skills earlier because language literacy is more important in some cultures than others. In some cultures, social and moral development is more important than whether a child speaks with proper grammar. Therefore, culture plays a huge role in what things a child will learn.

A culture that emphasizes the arts will yield educational systems more sympathetic to and supportive of the arts. Similarly, cultures that stress science will be more likely to fund science programs in school. Thus, culture affects childhood education on an institutional level too. Finally, what a child values personally is a product of his or her culture. Professional goals and personal goals are shaped by culture, as Vygotsky suggests.

4. What are the criticisms of Kohlberg's theory regarding moral development? What do you think of his theory (your opinion and give examples to support your response). What do you think the criticisms (your opinion and give examples to support your response).

Kohlberg's theory of moral development is critiqued because of its assumption that moral reasoning is based on law and order. The efficacy of justice in determining morality is questionable. For example, some individuals may make moral judgments innately, instinctually, and independently of any external controls. Kohlberg assumes social contracts that may or may not exist in all societies. Therefore, one of the main reasons why Kohlberg's theory of moral development is criticized is because of cultural bias.

Kohlberg's theory has also been criticized for being applicable mainly to men, as Kohlberg researched mainly male subjects. However, the theory seems more culturally biased than biased toward male moral reasoning. Morals are more likely linked to culture than to gender. Any differences between the genders in terms of moral reasoning are more likely due to socialization than biology.