First Two Years of Birth

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Tiffany Luke Professor Mosley Psychology 102 Make-up First Two Years of Birth: Piaget, Freud and Erikson The first two years of life is complicated. The body and brain undergoes much development in just a short span of time. Physically, the body stretches and more than triples its weight. By the end of its two year term, a child is able to walk, sit up, feed itself, communicate-talk and process thought. Three psychologists, Piaget, Freud and Erikson theorize on each stage of a child and justify their reasoning. Both biosocial and psychosocial developments are controversial concepts that are dissected throughout this paper. Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist considers the first two years after birth to be a sensorimotor stage. It is where cognition develops from senses and gains knowledge from that experience. Motor skill is the ability needed to move and control the body. An example of this is a reflex. Running, yoga-like stretching including knee bending, and quick reactions are all reflexes. By practice, brain maturation and muscle strength, a baby is able to master these things before the end of its first complete year. The senses of a child are very sensitive. “Newborns have open eyes, sensitive ears, and responsive noses, tongues and skin” (Berger, 2007 p.136). Infants use their senses to sort and classify their many experiences. Freud focused on the oral stage. Oral fixation theory is known to stimulate the need for a child to suck, eat, drink, chew, bite or ramble excessively. A baby’s hands are prone to a grasping position months after birth. A baby also forces that hand motion towards their mouths. They use this as aid of familiarity. They receive sensation when their sensory system detects stimuli. Freud’s second stage of an infant’s psychosocial development is potty training. It is the ability to hold one’s bowl movement. We are all taught
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