Derek Erikson's Stages Of Development

Derek was born about four weeks premature. He was a little underweight (four and a half pounds). Derek was physically healthy and met all his milestones. Derek was a cautious and shy kid when he met new people. Derek development below average in language development but above average in motor skills. When Derek entered school he was able to focus on tasks and was able to follow directions. Derek was never a behavior problem. He had friends and was very social. Derek’s physical development has been in the normal range through his life. It 9 months he was crawling, sitting up and standing up. It 12 to 15 months he was average for gross motor development. He loves to play indoor and outdoor games such as catch and kickball. At 2 ½ years old
he had average skills in copying shapes, working with picture puzzles and constructing things out of blocks. Once Derek entered elementary school his physical development was average and today he enjoys playing sports and outside activities Currently, Derek is 18 years old and high school is over.
Derek’s grades and test scores were not great so he will need to go to community college before he can transfer to a four-year college. According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Derek would be in the formal operational stage. Derek can use logic and focus on different possibles. Derek is in early adulthood and Freud would consider him in the genital stage of psychosexual development. He has a girlfriend and is interest in a mature sexual relationship. Derek also is considered to be in Erikson's identity vs role diffusion stage of social development. . He is self aware of the roles in society but it is still unsure what he wants to do with his life. Derek’s behaves in a way to win the approval of others and always obeys society rules because it is the right thing to do . This would put him in level 2 conventional morality according Kohlberg. It is important to consider all of these theories to understand how Derek developed over
time. Piaget’s view of the ways infants learn could be summed in a simple equation: Action=knowledge (Feldman, 2017).
A swiss psychologist Jean Piaget states to obtain knowledge through sensation and perception. He came up with four universal stages which are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. The first stage is sensorimotor stage which Piaget states is the major stage of cognitive development. The second stage of cognitive development is preoperational stage. This stage is from age two to seven years old. This stage develops mental reasoning and symbolic thinking (Feldman, 2017). This stage is a period when a child will increase use of language and thinking. For example, Derek may see his mothers keys and say “go to the store”. The third stage of cognitive development is concrete operational stage. This stage takes place from 7 to 12 years old. This stage a child will use logic. They could start to understand the relationship between time and speed ( Feldman, 2017 ). Their decisions are not only determined on appearance but with logical and cognitive reasoning. The last stage of Piaget’s cognitive development is formal operational stage. The stage is consider the start of adolescent which begins around the age of 12 years old. Jean Piaget’s stage of formal operational is a stage at which people develop the ability to think abstractly (Feldman, 2017) Adolescents are able to consider problems in the abstract rather than only in concrete
terms. They are able to test their understanding by carrying out experiments on problems and situations. According to Derek’s abilities in math and science he is now in the formal operations stage. He has been above average in math and science and shows a great interest in those subjects.Derek is able to consider problems abstractly rather than only in concrete terms. He is more argumentative and he is always giving other explanations using his abstract reasoning.
Derek went through all the Freud psychosexual development. He start in the oral stage when he focused on oral pleasures. Derek enjoyed sucking his thumb. Then he went through the anal stage which is when a child focus of pleasure in this stage is on eliminating and retaining feces. Derek was toilet trained at the age of three. The next stage he went through was the phallic stage. The pleasure zone switches to the genitals. Freud believed that during this stage boy develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother. The next stage he went through was the latency stage. It’s during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed and children interact and play mostly with same sex peers. Derek went through puberty at the age of 15 year old . He is in the Genital stage which is the final stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once again awakened (feldman, 2017). He currently has a girlfriend and he want to have a mature sexual relationship. Derek also shows signs of Freud personality structure. Through the years Derek’s ego which was characterized by self awareness, guided him every day. Derek’s Superego is the moral standards that he follow by staying out of trouble and make him feeling guilty. Derek also had a reckless side that got him in trouble. Freud would consider that his Id which was present at birth and fuels his recklessly side (Hedgespeth, 2015 ). Derek went through Erikson’s stages of social development. In Stage 1, trust vs. mistrust, all Derek’s needs were met by me and my husband. Derek learned that he can trust us .If Derek needs were not met he could have grown up with a mistrust of the world. In Stage 2 - Autonomy vs shame and doubt, Derek began to develop independence and start to learn that he can do some things on his own (such as going to the toilet). If a child is not encouraged properly at this age, he or she might develop shame and doubt about their abilities (Hedgespeth,2015) In Stage 3, Initiative vs guilt, Derek continued to develop more independence and start to do things of his own. If a child is not able to take initiative and succeed at appropriate tasks, he or she might develop guilt over their needs and desires (Erikson's Stages of Development, 2017)In Stage 4, Industry vs. Inferiority , Derek continue to develop his self-confidence through learning new things. Currently, Derek is in Stage 5, identity vs role confusion. When Derek reached early adulthood he started to care how he looked. He started to form his own identity but he is still unsure of what he wants to do with his life. According to Kohlberg stages of moral development, Derek is started in the preconventional stage which was when he was motivated by rewards and punishments. Derek was a rule follower. He would behavior a certain way knowing that he would be punished if didn’t. The next stage was the conventional stage which is where he accepted and was motivated by society’s laws and standards. Derek is currently in the postconventional stage in which he is motivated by his own derived rules for moral action. (feldman 2017). Derek follows his personal and idealized principles.
Derek is currently in community college. Derek has a part-time job at a grocery store and living at home . He had a girlfriend but now is concentrating on school. Derek’s interest in science and math has remained, and his grades reflect his enthusiasm and interest to do well in those subjects. He has also grown much more interested in music, and is really excited that college has to offer so many music classes. I believe a STEM career might be very suitable to Derek’s interests and abilities. Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) are the field’s that require a love for math and science.(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Careers). Derek is also focused and conscientious on his studies. .I think these qualities will make him successful in whatever career he decides. According to Ginzberg’s career choice theory, Derek is in the tentative period. This period is when people begin to think about the requirements of various jobs and how their own abilities might fit with them (Stem). The advice I would give Derek for his future would be to spend your time and money on things that make your life better, rather than things that make you feel good. Every single day, get better at meeting people and developing relationships. Explore new ideas and opportunities often. Accept and embrace change and don’t worry too much about what other people think about you. Always be honest with yourself and others. Be respectful of others and make them feel good and be who you were born to be. Do as much as you can in the time you have because life is too short for regrets. It is important to fill your life with experiences, adventure, love and happiness.