• Demonstrate your knowledge of early development normal behaviours and activities during early life stages (infancy to middle childhood).
• Explain developmental theories in your own words using your findings from naturalistic observation (research).
The said paper leads to an intricate discussion about the human theory laid down by Erik Erikson who has divided a human being’s stage of life into eight parts. The theorists clearly describes the nature and extent of development at each stage and how it helps in the furtherance of one’s life cycle. The said paper also describes about my experience of a birthday party wherein I met kids of varying age groups and each with a differentiating character. All were reacting and behaving in a unique manner which clearly was matching with the theory spelt out by the eminent theorist Erik. The same could be very finely interrelated to. Thus the paper would demonstrate how well the theory can be read and understood with the practicality of life.
A human being undergoes various stages of development from infancy to maturity. Various theorists have examined these stages. One of the most eminent was a German psychotherapist named Erik Erikson. He was greatly influenced by Sigmond Freud but the two differed in their opinions with regards ego and id. Erikson believed in the theory of resolution of predicaments which leads to successful development of ego. It extends further in nurturing trust and creating one’s own identity in the society and further serving the preparation of the upcoming generation for a brighter future.
As per Erikson, a person’s life can be divided into eight interlinked stages which comprises of four stages from infancy to middle childhood and the rest four belong to a stage from a young man to an old mature experienced person. He emphasized ,on the pubescent stage as according to Erik this stage is most sensitive of all. He studied basically on how the social life of a person aids in the positive development of the personality. Thus the theory proposed by Erik is rightly named as psychosocial theory.
The model depicted by this eminent analyst is very straight-forward , elegant yet sophisticated in nature. He has divided the same into eight stages namely:
Infancy Stage :
The age covered in this stage is from birth to one and a half year i.e. from the time a baby is born till he or she starts to walk. The kid at this stage basically fights between the concept of trusting and mistrusting the people around him as he has no knowledge with regards how the public is around. The distinguishing power of a child is at its nascent stage of development. At this stage the child should not be loved overtly rather for trust to grow the child should be given the basic care and attention required. However distrust will grow if the child is ill-treated, scolded or treated in an unkind and negligent manner. However over protection given to a child during its initial stage will create a rosy picture in his mind and hence will not be able to react rationally in times of surprises, crisis or any normal as well as abnormal situations.
Toddler Stage:
The next stage is that of a toddler wherein the child learns the basics of how to live such as getting trained to do toilet in the washroom. This stage is the initial phases which helps a child to become independent and self reliant. This stage enables the infant to believe that he or she is growing up and has the ability to become independent. However this is the time period toughest from the parents point of view as here the toddlers generally tend to become very loud and naughty full of tantrums and they are expected to handle the same with utmost care. This is a very tricky task and the parents will have to deal with the emotional quotient of a child while controlling their own emotions and methodologies of handling such situations as they may at times find themselves standing in an embarrassing position (Heffner, 2014).
This is the time when the child is exposed to the outer world. He or she becomes a part of a play school where they meet similar kids of their age. This is the first stage of interaction for them with people apart from their own parents and grandparents. During this period of a child’s growth he or she tries to nurture its skills towards understanding the emotion of guilt as well as initiative. Once a child starts to understand the fact that a particular act conducted by him may lead to discontent from people around the feeling of guilt takes birth. Similarly a child’s feeling to take initiative to do things by self will arise if he or she is encouraged optimistically to try to do something howsoever untidy or messy it be. This will also inculcate an attitude of looking towards thinks positively contrary to which the child may become introvert and highly scared to do anything or try anything unusual or new in life. His personality development will take a backseat if he or she receives only negation for all his acts.
This is the stage wherein children learn the most while growing up with nature. They experiment and try new things in lieu of educating themselves. However there are some who become very notorious and this is where the parents should interfere and check upon the same tactfully. Thus in this stage indirect parental involvement is a must. Freedom coupled with supervision is the key to success at this stage of development of a child(McLeod, 2008)
Early school Stage:
This is the stage where the children understand the fact that they are individuals living in a society. This is the time frame when they develop the qualities of responsibility and rationality in thinking. They develop a distinct quality of distinguishing between what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. The sensitiveness of belongingness towards the society develops the most in this time period. The most important part of a child’s life at this stage is the school and the other surroundings in the neighbourhood. The interacting components increase suddenly and the authority shifts from only parents to the school teachers and principal as well and in some cases to one’s friends and peers too.
For a child to cross this stage of life successfully has to be self motivated .Just like this stage enabled in nurturing one’s confidence at the same time a child who fails academically or is not as good as expected by his parents struggles with his self confidence and if at that time is not dealt with care and love may develop a pessimistic feeling. Children with a low self esteem tend to fail in life’s race, hence it is the responsibility of the parents as well as the school to help dig deep inside a child to find out his or her interest and show him a path towards development of that interest (Cherry, 2016).
Thus the said philanthropist has greatly described the various stages of a person from infancy to middle childhood very clearly bringing out all the possibilities of each stage. The theory adopted is very simple to understand and comprehend.
I had recently gone to a birthday party of my friend’s son who is 7 years old. The invitees were some of her friends and relatives and the child’s school friends. The party was on a large scale where she had called a magician, a tattoo maker, art and craft and a bouncy for the kids to play. There was music also for the kids to dance if they wish too. Apart from all this she had organized some games for them like statue dance, memory game and passing the passers. She had arranged for return gifts basis the age of the kids as apart from the child’s school friends there were kids of other age groups ranging from 1 year to 10 years. Each game had three prizes also so that kids don’t feel bad (Stoneman et. al., 1984).
I am a mother of a six month old boy so was sitting at one place with him watching the kids enjoy and observing their reactions towards various things. I also got an opportunity to gather the various kinds of behavioural patterns which kids adopt and how their mothers react. I would like to categorize my observation such as the style of playing games, the skills of children to react i.e. how does there sensory organs behave in various situations, the linguistic features, the kind of interaction they have with their parents and the maids who are employed to specifically take care of kids and the overall reaction of kids to a birthday party (Angrosino, 2007).
She had kept numerous games but before that she got the magic show conducted thinking that kids may get tired after playing games and then may not enjoy the show. The magician was a very talented one who was communicating in a very polite manner in English as well as Hindi. The words that he used were very simple for them to comprehend. The magician was trying to involve each and every kid. There were around fifteen kids spread over an age bar of 1 to 10 years. Since there were less of girls the boys enjoyed a lot. There was one child A who was very introvert and shied away when he was called upon by the magician. His mother also supported the child and said that he is a bit of an introvert and safeguarded him from involving oneself. On the other hand there were some kids who were willing to participate not only once but twice and thrice. They were naughty but not unruly (Pepler & Craig,1995). There was another child B who denied to the magician’s request to come forwards for magic. When forced by her mother she screamed her lungs out of resentment and then her mother also sided with her out of embarrassment. A while ago I even observed child B hitting her maid and the mother was sitting next to me like a silent watcher. This shows that it is not the fault of the child, it is the upbringing and the kind of support they receive. The child A who was also sided by her mother instead of being encouraged seems to be a quite kid as he was seen sitting all alone with his toys. This is also not a sign of healthy parenting as in this manner the child although proves to be a well-mannered kid yet is too aloof from the outside world which can be very detrimental for his future per se. Kids who were playing and enjoying the magic show though were loud and rowdy at times yet were very impulsive in nature which is what makes them confident (Smith & Dickinson, 1994).
The sensory organs of the chirpy kids are more developed than the ones who are a little subdued. They should be encouraged and their morale should be boosted else very soon they may turn up to become anti-social. Another very distinctive feature which I noticed was the language of these kids. The small kids between the age of 1 to 3 could hardly talk but there communication skills were yet very strong. Action is stronger than words is proven true by these kids (Berk, 2010). They know how to get their point clear to their parents and the maids. This is possible only if the people at home are attentive towards their child. Unfortunately this was missing in Child A who was quite at his age. Child C was seen talking to her friends in English and Hindi both depending upon to whom he was talking to. He was a relatively older kid of 8 years. Yet to have such an understanding is appreciable. This is possible only because of the kind of environment they get at home. I was having a conversation with her mother. She said that both the parents converse in English with each other in front of him and this is how he has developed this habit. Whereas child B simply communicates by shouting. She believes that all her wishes and demands should be fulfilled else she would end up behaving in a stubborn manner (Carver & Scheir, 2000).
Kids were playing games and were very receptive towards the rules of the game. Where they couldn’t understand they asked twice to the instructor which was very appealing. This simply shows that kids enjoy to play. However I felt very sad on looking at the upbringing of child A who was quite and shelled inside his own world. He was least concerned about anything and seemed to be a part of the party customary. Thus the said birthday party made me aware of how I should nurture my child so as to be able to give him a balanced life (Otnes et.al. 1995)
As per what I observed in the birthday party and what Erik suggests in his theory matches to a great extent. There were no infants ofcourse but for my son and he is too small to react. Yet he was seen enjoying the noises and was observing the lights and the bright decoration. I was continuously telling him knowing very well that he would hardly understand anything, yet this enables to develop a sense of trust which your child develops towards you. He is not a cranky kid and if he sees that I am comfortable talking to somebody then he easily goes in that person’s arms (Charlesworth & Lind, 2013).
Most of the kids belong to the second and the third stages described. The child A who was very introvert belonged to the second stage and there still are chances for his parent to ensure that the kid takes part in all the activities. The kid’s sensory organs are still in its budding stage and a little bit of push may change his life for the better (Rosenblatt,. & Howes, 1995).
Child B belonged to the third stage and is not a well bought up kid. She is an over cared kid who has become snobbish by nature because of the family members who have fanned her tantrums always instilling her to become a spoilt brat. However child C who is in her fourth stage is a well mannered kid. She enjoyed the birthday party, played games and was also seen handling younger kids. This shows that she was cared and loved by her parents and family but at the same time was given the liberty to justify what is right and wrong (Booren et.al. 2012).
Though there was some difficulty which I had to face as all children were different from each other yet I could segregate them into broad categories basis there behavioural patterns. Kids are very unpredictable as there were times when a child was chirpy but at the same time he was very well behaved. Yet the theory of Erikson helped me with this segregation (Searle, 1999).
Conclusion
On a conclusive note I would like to establish the fact that the human growth can be studied in detail only by breaking the same into smaller units of life. Erik Erikson has very rightly divided a person’s life into various stages of which the most important are the first four stages which is the moulding stage for any human being. It is the base which should be strong enough to help build a healthier and a wiser person. Every person has a different unique characteristic and no two person are totally similar in nature. Thus human psychology is a very in depth subject which needs to be studied taking at least a small group of three to four persons. This pattern cannot be studied in isolation.
References
Angrosino, M. (2007). Naturalistic Observation. Left Coast Press: USA
Berk, L. (2010). Development through the Lifespan. Boston : MA Pearson Education Inc.
Booren, L.M., Downer, J.T. & Vitiello, V.E. (2012). Observations of Children’s Interaction with Teachers , Peers and Tasks across Preschool Classroom Activity Settings. Early Educ. Dev
Carver, C.S. & Scheir, M.F. (2000). Perspectives on Personality . Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon
Charlesworth, R. & Lind, K. (2013). Math and Science for Young Children , 7th Eds. Wadsworth Cengage Learning : USA
Cherry, K. (2016). Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved from https://www.verywell.com/erik-eriksons-stages-of-psychosocial-development-2795740
Heffner, C.L. (2014). Chapter 3:Section 3: Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. Psychology 101. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/psychology101/social_development/
McLeod, S. (2008). Erik Erikson. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Otnes, C., Nelson, M. & McGrath, M.A. (1995). The children’s birthday party : A study of mothers as socialization agents. Advances in Consumer Research . vol. 22
Pepler, D.J., & Craig, W. (1995) A peek behind the fence: naturalistic observation of aggressive children with remote audiovisual recording. Developmental Psychology. Vol. 31. Pp. 548-553
Rosenblatt, S.M. & Howes, C. (1995). Alternative influences on children’s development of friendships : A social developmental perspective. American Journal of Community Psychology. 23(3). 429-434
Searle, A. (1999). Introducing research and data in psychology. Routledge: London
Smith, M.W. & Dickinson, D.K. (1994). Describing oral language oppurtunities and environments in Head Start and other preschool classrooms. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. Vol. 9, pp. 345-366
Stoneman, Z., Brody, G.H. & MacKinnon, C. (1984). Naturalistic Observation of Children’s Activities and Roles While Playing with Their Siblings and Friends. Child Development. Vol.55, pp. 617-627
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