Chapter 2

I think that the comparison for Freud's psychosexual and Erikson psychosocial stages of development are very interesting. The psychosexual stages were a bit confusing to me though. I understand the oral stage and phallic and genital stages, but can't grasp the concept of the anal stage. I don't understand the relationship with keeping track of money and how that was affected by the anal stage. Besides that, I agree and understand the points he was making. I do think there should be a stage for older adults other than the genital stage continuing until death though. Moving along to Erikson's psychosocial developmental stages; these were explained better in the chapter. It was all very understandable. I applied these stages to my nieces development. She seems to hit most of the stages and I am easily able to tell which of each she went through. She was very trusting, self-sufficient and initiative. She loves to do things on her own. She takes care of her younger sister and argues with me if I try and do it. She is a go-getter. I thought this way of her until we went to the doctor the other day. She was asked a series of questions dealing with letters, colors, listening, ect. When we go over such things at home, she is confident with her answers. As soon as she is around other children and older adults, she shuts down and seems to feel inferior. I'm not sure why this is but I think she is dealing with that stage currently. It's interesting to watch a child grow and know why she does the things she does. This part of the chapter definitely interested me most. It made me think and apply it to my own life, which is why I think I liked it so much.