Throughout history, there are many psychologists that have helped many people and generations to help the community. Without these theorists, psychology would have a huge hole and our society would be a disaster. The two theorists that I have chosen to speak about are Freud and Erikson. Throughout this paper, you will be able to see the similarities and differences between the two theorists. Sigmund Freud was born in Freiberg, which is presently known as the Czech Republic, on May 6, 1856 (McLeod, 2013). Freud improved psychoanalysis, a technique through which an analyst unloads unconscious issues taking into account the free affiliations, dreams and dreams of the patient (McLeod, 2013). He got his medical degree in 1881 and got engaged to
Freud believed that an individual’s identity was developed during adolescence, which help understand how they were raised and the atmosphere they were raised in. The following key concept was Freud’s psychosexual theory discusses the different stages of development such as oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, stage of Latency, and the Genital Stage. The Oral stage is from birth to one year in which a child’s first source of pleasure is by the mouth through sucking, eating, and tasting. The Anal stage is from 1 to 3 years old in which a child gains a sense of mastery by controlling bladder and bowel movements. The next stage of Freud’s phallic stage which is 3 to 6 years old, the energy is focused on the private parts and they start to identify with their same-sex parent. Freud’s stage of Latent is from 7 to 11 year and describes the libido energy is repressed and the child is more focused on hobbies, friends, and school. The adolescence and genital stage in Freud’s stages are a period and time when children search for romantic interactions and relationships. Finally, in adulthood, Freud discusses genital stage which will last an entire lifetime (McLeod,
The main difference between Erikson and Freud is their unique perspective of the factors that drive an individual’s development. While Erikson emphasizes the importance of social and environmental factors, Freud’s theory is based on basic needs and biological forces. The main similarity that these two pioneers of modern psychology have is that they both separate a person’s life in stages. Freud’s theory is a psychosexual belief which is that an individual is only motivated and pushed by his or her biological needs. Freud suggested that a person can develop a fixation if enjoyment is not offered. While Erikson suggested that personality develops throughout the whole life of a person and that is why the stages lead up to 50 years and older. Erikson also did not believe in the development of fascinations at any stage
One of Freud's followers, Erik Erikson, developed his own theory called the psychosocial theory. Similar to Freud's theory, psychosocial theory also has a series of developmental stages. For example, in adolescence where Frued deems it to be the genital stage, Erikson calls this stage Identity vs. Role Confusion. The psychosocial theory focuses more on a series of choices an individual has to make throughout their life, each choice leads them to develop differently.
In short, both approaches showed different stages and their own missions in the life cycle of human development. Freud’s approach is more on sexual behavior and the characteristics that we born with, while Erikson’s theory is based on what we are nurtured and taught to be. They both help us to understand the basic idea of identity formation. However, there is weakness of the theory, there is no standardized conditions that can prove whether people has succeeded in a particular stage, it is really depending on personal levels of self-understanding.
“ By the late 1930s, he had outlined four developmental stages-infancy (oral, anal, genital), latency, puberty, and adult heterosexual adjustment.”(Capps, 2004) Erikson wanted to build on Freud's early psychosexual stages by adding psychosocial stages that covered the full life cycle. In Erikson's opinion Shakespeare had risen above Freud in developmental matters because Shakespeare had covered development from infancy till death and he also believed that Shakespeare's stages were represented in social-ethical terms rather than sexual. Erikson wanted to go beyond Freud and Shakespeare in the developmental process. Although without Freuds model of psychosexual stages Erik Erikson believed that he would never have been able to create his own life cycle schema. With the addition of the eighth stage Erik Eriksons original life cycle work was taking on creative new dimensions. Erikson himself thought that he was only beginning to get a sense of the vast complexity of human life and it upset him when people attempted to describe human life in general limited terms. In Eriksons opinion human life was complex and had no limits. In Eriksons life cycle schema he insisted that all stages of development are present from birth and remain thoughout an individuals life time. It was not very clear
“According to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,” Sigismund Schlomo Freud was born May 6, 1856 in Freiberg in Mähren, Moravia, Austrian Empire. Freud passed away the 23 of September 1939 in London England, he was 83. Freud is known to be one of the founding fathers of Psychoanalysis. Freud attended the University of Vienna in 1873. Throughout the years of university, Freud studied biology for six years doing research of the Physiology under the German Scientist, Ernst Brucke. In 1881 Freud graduated with a medical degree. According to goodtherapy.com, “Freud drew heavily upon the emphasis of the philosopher such as Nietzche Dostoevsky and Kant. Freud’s theories continue to influence much of modern psychological and his ideas towards philosophy, sociology and political science. Freud’s emphasis upon early life and the drive the pleasure are perhaps his most significant contribution to philosophy. Some of Freud’s most significant theories were the Development of the Unconscious and Conscious Minds. Freud argued that the minds consist of the conscious mind which contains thought that...
In the 1950s, after studying Freud’s work, Erik Erikson developed his theories. Instead of Freud’s psychosexual stages, Erikson developed psychosocial stages. Erikson expanded on Freud’s work, and added that not only were the first years of development important, but that development continued through to early adulthood and
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a psychologist and analyze how their theories impact society in general. Sigmund Freud, one of the most recognized names in psychology to date, had developed some eccentric theories that many scientists still accept as having some factual basis. His theories on hypnotherapy, psychosexual development, and defense mechanisms gives people the ability to control and predict their future behavior. These theories, being recognized as some of the most remarkable and influential, have transformed a generation of free thinkers and scientists. His ideas have paved the way to what is now universally known as the field of psychology.
Sigmund Freud was born in Freiberg, Moravia, a part of the Austrian empire at that time, on May 6, 1856. Today it is a part of Czechoslovakia. He was raised in the traditions and beliefs of the Jewish religion.
The psychodynamic approach lends itself to being a controversial yet highly influential theory in the history of psychology. The theory has become one of the most significant psychological approaches and its originator, Sigmund Freud, has become a major influence in modern psychology. The psychodynamic approach largely focuses on motivation and past experiences which develop and individual’s personality. Freud used the iceberg metaphor to outline the three states of consciousness and argued that only twenty percent of the mind represents the conscious. In addition he theorised that there was a pre-conscious mind which represents general memory. Finally, the unconscious mind which is essentially the reservoir of repressed or hidden experiences and desire.
Freud emphasizes on the life history of individuals. As a result, he created 3 parts of human personalities. The first one being Id which is the largest portion of the mind. This portion is unconscious which results in being present at birth. The next one is ego; this portion is conscious and begins to emerge in early infancy. Lastly is superego which is the conscience. This part begins to develop from ages three to six. Freud also explains the five psychosexual stages which are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. “Psychoanalytic theory suggested that personality is mostly established by the age of five.” (Cherry, n.d.). All five psychosexual stages help establish a personality at a young age.
Erik Erikson was influenced by Freud and his concept of the ego. Erikson observed the impact of external factors on personality from not just childhood, but throughout the entire lifetime. He developed eight stages, which are split into different age brackets. As an individual passes through these stages, they must successfully complete the crisis to move forward onto the next one.
Erikson’s developmental theory was very detailed as compared to Freud. His theory describes the influence of social experiences in one’s life; however Freud described development based on sexuality. Another major difference between Freud and Erikson’s developmental theory is the end result of the stages. Freud believed that when fixation occurs in one stage, the problems occur associated with that stage would be permanent. However Erikson claims that the outcome of a particular stage is temporary and can be altered by experiences in later years.
Performing a background evaluation on my client using the theories of Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, and Lawrence Kohlberg are an accurate assessment of what stage of life the client is experiencing. At some degree, it is a valuable tool in examining where a person’s life should exist at certain stages. It is a guideline to moving forward with a treatment and helping an individual lead a normal productive life as much as conceivable.
Describe and evaluate the theories of Sigmund Freud's psycho dynamic approach as an explanation of human behaviour. In the evaluation summarise and evaluate the cognitive perspective as an alternative explanation of human behaviour.
Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was unarguably one of the most influential thinkers during the twentieth century. Freud was an Australian neurologist that was born May 6, 1856 in a place called Freiburg (in the Austrian empire). Freud’s birth name was Sigismund Schlomo Freud. He was brought up by his Jewish parents, Jakob Freud (his father) and Amalia Nathansohn (his mother). Freud was the oldest of eight children. During his childhood, their family struggled financially. They rented a room from a locksmith’s home, which is where his mother birthed Freud. When Freud was four years of age, his family moved to a place called Vienna, which is now the capital of Austria. He would live in Vienna all his life, up until the year
Freud believed that humans develop through stages based on particular erogenous zones. Freud theorized that to gain a healthy personality as an adult, a person would have to successfully complete a certain sequence of five stages. Within the five stages of Freud’s psychosexual development theory, Freud assumed there would be major consequences if any stage was not completed successfully. The stages, in order, were the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage, and the genital stage. In general, Freud believed that an unsuccessful completion of any stage would make a person become fixated on that particular stage. The outcome would lead the person to either over indulge or under indulge the failed stage during adulthood. Freud truly believed that the outcomes of the psychosexual stages played a major part in the development of the human personality. Eventually, these outcomes would become different driving forces in every human being’s personality. The driving forces would determine how a person would interact with the world around them. The results from Freud’s theory about the stages of psychosexual development led Freud to create the concept of the human psyche; Freud’s biggest contribution to