Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Freud also though that all babies are initially dominated by unconscious, instinctual and
selfish urges for immediate gratification which he labeled the Id. We are all born with
our Id and it is an important part of our personality. Babies always want to get all their
needs and wants met which is expressed through crying. Often times, when they are
hungry or in need of something, the first thing a baby does is cry. If these needs or
wants are not met, the most common response is crying harder.
Cognitive Development Theory by Jean Piaget ✓ Grasps Mother’s finger or a lock of hair
✓ Cuddles blanket when sleeping
First Stage: Sensorimotor Stage (birth to 24 months) ✓ Reacts to sounds such as clapping of hands or her mother’s voice
✓ Starts to focus eyes on things
The sensorimotor stage is the first of the four stages Piaget uses to define cognitive
development. Piaget designated the first two years of an infant’s life as the
sensorimotor stage. During this period, infants are busy discovering relationships
between their bodies and the environment. Researchers have discovered that infants
have relatively well-developed sensory abilities. The child relies on seeing, touching,
sucking, feeling, and using their senses to learn things about themselves and the
C1 – GROUP 1 (0 TO 1 MONTH)
environment. Piaget calls this the sensorimotor stage because the early manifestations
of intelligence appear from sensory perceptions and motor activities.
The theory emphasizes that learning is basic, and it continues throughout lifespan. It
has six stages of development task from 0 to old age. Each developmental task is
influenced by an individual’s biology, psychology and sociology. An example of tasks in
the first stage or the developmental tasks of infancy and early childhood are learning
to have control of bodily functions, responding to reflexes, learning how to eat,
respond to senses, talk, control the elimination of body wastes, learning sex differences
and sexual modesty, forming concepts and learning language to describe social and
physical reality and, getting ready to read.
Stages of Psychosocial Theory by Erik Erikson ✓ Cries upon waking up when mother is not at her side
✓ Usually only responds to mother’s voice
First Stage: Trust vs. Mistrust (0 to 12 months) ✓ Reacts to mother’s voice
✓ Only wants her mother to carry her
From birth to 12 months of age, infants must learn that adults can be trusted. This
occurs when adults meet a child’s basic needs for survival. Infants are dependent upon
their caregivers, so caregivers who are responsive and sensitive to their infant’s needs
help their baby to develop a sense of trust; their baby will see the world as a safe,
C1 – GROUP 1 (0 TO 1 MONTH)
predictable place. Unresponsive caregivers who do not meet their baby’s needs can
engender feelings of anxiety, fear, and mistrust; their baby may see the world as
unpredictable. If infants are treated cruelly or their needs are not met appropriately,
they will likely grow up with a sense of mistrust for people in the world.