Brian Alves

PSY 3320

11/7/10

Case Study 5 Questions

1. The first stage humans go through according to Erikson is basic trust versus mistrust.

Chrystell was not a very demanding baby. She hardly cried and did not drive her parents

crazy. Her mother fed her and took care of her when she felt it was time to do so.

Therefore, Chrystell’s demands were met as an infant so she developed trust with her

mother. It was favorable because infants are dependent on others and cannot survive on

their own.

2. The second stage is autonomy versus shame and doubt. Chrystell’s parents felt that it

wasn’t necessary to force her into using the potty until she was ready. Instead, they

showed he how to use it and whenever she felt she could control the urge is when it was

time for her to use it. This was favorable because her parents did not put an unreasonable

amount of pressure on her to use the potty. She learned control on her own and was not

embarrassed or scolded when she had an accident.

 3. The third stage is initiative versus guilt. Chrystell’s parents showed her how to do basic

activities like using a spoon, walking, etc. Also, they let her choose how to entertain

herself.

4. Industry versus inferiority. Chrystell became jealous of her newborn baby sister. She

would often attempt to get her mother’s attention, something she never did before. Herm

other would try to reassure her by comparing Chrystell and her sister, telling her that she

gave her the same amount of attention when she was a baby. Her mother would not yell

or reprimand Chrystell when she felt she was being obnoxiously overwhelming and

seeking attention. Which in the end helped Chrystell to not get that feeling of being

inferior to her baby sister. This is favorable because she is not choosing one child or the

other and she was very passive when resolving conflicts between her older daughter and

her newborn.

5. As a newborn, you obviously want to meet the baby’s demands. However, not every baby

is as good as Chrystell was, so it might be more or less straining on the parent, depending

on the baby, when it came to potty training, her parents did well by not pressuring her

and letting her take her time. Then they allowed her freedom to play as she pleased while

also teaching her basic activities she would use in the future. And her mother handled the

jealousy problem quite well. Overall, her parents are the ideal caretakers.

Case Study 1
1. According to Freud, Hang displays neurotic behavior. It is evident because instead of

keeping these thoughts within his id, his ego fails to block these reactions and he says

them out loud. Hank is also in the oral stage of fixation, due to his knack of putting things

in his mouth to calm him down, such as smoking cigarettes and eating excessively.

2. Internally, because his ego isn’t able to keep his unconscious thoughts in check.

3. Hank displays a defensive style-defense mechanism, as shown in the way he tries to

enforce his opinions on others.

4. An example of regression would be Hank recalling his childhood when he was learning

about computers. He thought doing so would help him forge friendships with others and

allow him to meet new people.

5. Hank’s problems can be described as a little bit of everything. It was stated that most of

Hank’s relatives are overweight which shows evidence that the problem most likely is

gene related. Then you also have the fact that he is fixated in an oral stage, and his

inability to think before he speaks.

6. A Freudian therapist would use Psychoanalysis to treat Hank. By getting Hank to bring

his unconscious mind into a state where he can talk freely about it, the treatment would

then begin. I imagine that the therapist would ask Hank all sorts of personal questions,

especially childhood related ones because from what I read, it seemed like he did not get

much attention when he was an adolescent. His passion for computers could have been a

result from being neglected.