Child Development - Eric Erikson - Research Paper Example

Infants are highly responsive to any type of behavior and presence. During the first two months of life, an infant looks at the person. During the third and fourth months of life, the infant tries to touch and explore manually. By the sixth month, an infant responds by smiling and producing sounds. After six months of age, as the infant learns to move around and manages to crawl, social interactions get a step ahead in the form of following around and going after other infants. At this stage, the infant’s social response is evident in the form of laughter, imitation, and other gestures.

In the second year of life, an infant’s social development is related to cognitive development and newly acquired communication skills. The gestures of laughing, smiling, and vocalizing, which were initially mere responses now become a part of the infant’s coordinated behavior. Playing and interacting with other children complements an infant’s development and various types of social responses come to breed Infant focuses on objects that keep up their mutual interest like play toys. It is during the second year of life that an infant develops the behaviors of conflict and cooperation.

As children learn to play together, harmony in games and activities, play. Imitations take the form of conversation-like sequences. A child’s behavior comes to get influenced by the behavior of the other. Daycare centers and preschool environments pose new challenges for the infant as there are new authority figures and other unfamiliar children. In this new environment, the child hangs on by using parallel play and remains at the edges of the group play, and avoids breaking into activities due to his lack of social skills.

A child’s socializing skills develop further when his social life expands as he joins the school. An improvement in the quality of the behavior is also witnessed in these years (Durkin 1995). Eric Erikson was an American developmental psychologist. He is best known for his work on social and emotional development. He presented a model of the human life span by putting together the psychosocial personality development at various stages of life. This model is based on the ‘eight stages of a man’, each stage consistent with a particular behavior pattern.

These stages are described below: Stage 1. Trust versus Mistrust (Hope): This stage reflects the period of infancy, i.e. from birth up to two years of age. The child learns to depend upon his caretakers. He trusts and relies on them. This gives him a sense of security. In contrast, a deprived child tends to develop mistrust. Stage2. Autonomy versus Shame (Will): This stage refers to the child between 1.5 to 3 years of age. As the child gets more capable in his physique and explores around, he feels more confident.

Parental support at this stage will lead to a confident child whereas if taunted and suppressed the child will end up with feelings of doubt and shame. Stage 3: Initiative versus Guilt (Purpose): This stage relates to the playful preschool years. This is the time when a child’s imagination develops and expresses itself as the child takes initiatives that are evident as curiosity and the need for exploration. Rough parenting that restricts imagination and learning will result in the child being guilty and doubtful. Stage 4. Industry versus Inferiority (competence): This stage relates to the primary school years (six to eleven years).