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2 34 Chapter2 Methodological criticisms notwithstanding, how plausible do you think Freud's ideas are? Do you think that we are all relentlessly driven by sexual and aggressive instincts? Could we have really experienced Oedipus or Electra complexes and simply repressed these traumatic events? And what about the role of culture in human development? In 19th- and early 20th-century Europe, there were no clinical psychologists or sex therapists, and the topic of sex was not discussed publicly in this outwardly prudish Victorian era. Could the sexual conflicts that Freud thought so important have merely been reflections of the sexually repressive culture in which his patients lived? Few contemporary psychologists accept all of Freud's major premises and propositions. For example, there is not much evidence for the notion that the oral and anal activities of childhood predict one's later personality. Nor is there reason to believe that all children experience Oedipus and Electra complexes. To experience these conflicts, 4- to 6-year-old children would have to recognize the anatomical differences between the sexes, and there is little evidence that they do. In fact, Alan Katcher (1955) found that the majority of 4- to 5-year-olds are inept at assembling a doll so that its genitals match other parts of its body. Even 6-year-olds often made mistakes such as attaching a lower torso containing a penis to an upper body with breasts. Clearly, these "oedipal-aged" children were confused or ignorant about sex differences in genital anatomy, and it seems highly unlikely that they could be experiencing any castration anxiety or penis envy. But we cannot reject all of Freud's ideas simply because some of them may seem a bit outlandish. Indeed, there are several reasons that Sigmund Freud will always remain an important figure in the history of the behavioral sciences. For one thing, his theory was the first systematic explanation of human behavior, and it revolutionized the study of psychology. When psychology came into being, in the middle of the 19th century, investigators were concerned with understanding isolated aspects of conscious experience, such as sensory processes and perceptual illusions. It was Freud who first noted that these scientists were studying the tip of the iceberg when he proclaimed that the vast majority of psychic experience lay below the level of conscious awareness. Perhaps Freud's most important contribution was his concept of unconscious motivation, the idea that much of our behavior is caused by forces or repressed conflicts of which we are not consciously aware. Freud also convinced many scientists that development occurs in stages and that the events of childhood are truly the foundation from which the adult character arises. In sum, psychoanalysis was a new look at human behavior that attempted to explain a wide range of phenomena that Freud's predecessors had not even considered. Freud was truly a great explorer who dared to navigate murky, uncharted waters. In the process, he changed our view of humankind. ERIK ERIKSON'S THEORY OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT As Freud became widely read, he attracted many followers. However, Freud's pupils did not always agree with the master, and eventually they began to modify some of Freud's ideas and became important theorists in their own right. Among the best known of these nco-freudian scholars is Erik Erikson, who was a ~tud~rit orfr~ud's daughte'~ci'a~-iffi.-'"~c". r: Erikson accepts many of Freud's ideas. He agrees 1 that people are born with a number of basic instincts and that the personality has three components: the id, ego, and superego. Erikson also assumes that development occurs in stages and that the child must successfully resolve some crisis or conflict at each stage in order to be prepared for the crises that will :,. emerge later in life. However, Erikson is truly a revisionist, for his theory differs from Freud's in several important respect.s. F. ir. st., J2Ji~.~-.9U. (1963, 1972) str~"sse _.th~.tchi.l-! dren are activii; ({al:lptive explorers who seek to cone=---:;-~--~:.~::'"~- ~~ '-,.,:--:---~ ~ =~.:s-"'...:.:...:.:~-"-.-:.-~ ~-.::.:.::;-...::-:-~ =:,;-:.,:-- _:-.. ~r~t~t~ji~~r~~ci~ii~~:~~~7"~~~~~ ~~~~r1:~t labeled an ego psychologist because he believes that an individual must first understand the realities of the social world (an ego function) in order to adapt successfully and show a normal pattern of personal growth. This is perhaps the major difference between Freud and Erikson. Unlike Freud, who felt that the

3 I l basic ways of [viewing the w~rld] are transmitte~ to the [child]... and tie the ch1ld forever to h1s anginal milieu. 35 In sum, Erikson believes that we are largely products of our society rather than our sex instincts. For this reason, his approach should be labeled a theory of psychosocial development. PHOTO 2-2 Erik Erikson (b. 1902) has emphasized the sociocultural determinants of personality in his theory of psychosocial development. most interesting aspects of behavior stemmed from conflicts between the id and the superego, Erikson assumes that human beings are basically rational creatures whose thoughts, feelings, and actions are largely controlled by the ego. Clearly, Erikson's thinking was shaped by his own interesting experiences. He was born in Denmark, was raised in Germany, and spent much of his adolescence wandering throughout Europe. After receiving his professional training, Erikson emigrated to the United States, where he studied college students, victims of combat fatigue during World War II, civil rights workers in the South, and American Indians. With this kind of cross-cultural background, it is hardly surprising that Erikson would emphasize social and cultural aspects of development in his own theory. Henry Maier (1969, p. 23) used these words to reflect Erikson's point of view: Culture adds the human aspect of living. Man lives by instinctual forces, and culture insists upon the "proper" use ofthese forces. [But] it is the cultural environment... which determines the nature of each individual's experience. The child and his parents are never alone; through the parent's conscience [many past] generations are looking upon a child's actions, helping him to integrate his relationships with their approval.... A culture, class, or ethnic group's Eight Life Crises Erikson argues that all human beings face a minimum of eight majqrcris~s 1 or conflicts, during the course of their lives. ~ach. crisis_is. prjmarily "social~' in character and has-1mpc,rt~nt implications -for the future. Table 2-1 compares Freud's psychosexual and Erikson's psychosocial stages. Note that Erikson's developmental stages do not end at adolescence or young adulthood. Erikson believes that the problems of adolescents and young adults are very different from those faced by parents who are raising children or by the aged who must grapple with the specter of retirement, a sense of uselessness, and death. Most contemporary psychologists would definitely agree. As we have noted, Erikson believes that the successful resolutiqn of e.9ch~life crisi~ pr~par.es 'th~ 'personfo~-the~n~~t-~-life's conflicts. By contrast, the "individual who failstore's~lv~ ol1e ~r more of the life crises is almost certain to encounter problems in the future. For example, a child who learns to mistrust other human beings in infancy may find it exceedingly difficult to trust a prospective friend or lover later in life. An adolescent who fails to establish a strong personal identity may be reluctant to commit his or her fragile sense of "self" to a "shared identity" with a prospective spouse. We see, then, that later crises may become very formidable hurdles for the individual who stumbles early. Although Erikson believes that the crises of childhood set the stage for our adult lives, we must remember that he views human beings as rational, adaptive creatures who will struggle to the very end in their attempts to cope successfully with their social environment. Charles Dickens' Scrooge, a fictional character from A Christmas Carol, aptly illustrates the self-centered, "stagnated" adult-one who is failing at Erikson's seventh life crisis (and who has been unsuccessful at establishing a sense of intimacy

4 36 Chapter 2 as well). You may remember that old Scrooge was so absorbed in his own interests (making money) that he completely ignored the needs and wishes of his young storekeeper, Bob Cratchit. Scrooge's tale had a happy ending, however. By the end of the story, he had acquired a sense of intimacy and generativity that had eluded him earlier, and he was now ready to face life's final crisis in a positive frame of mind. An unlikely reversal? Not necessarily! Erikson is quite the optimist; he maintains that "there is little that cannot be remedied later, there is much [in the way of harm] that can be prevented from happening at all" ' (1950, p. 104). Evaluation of Erikson's Theory Many people prefer Erikson's theory to Freud's because they simply refuse to believe that human beings are dominated by sexual instincts. An analyst like Erikson, who stresses our rational, adaptive nature, is so much easier to accept. In addition, Erikson emphasizes many of the social conflicts and personal dilemmas that people may remember, are currently ~, experiencing, or can easily anticipate. In the words of 1 11 one student, "Erikson's theory is so relevant )... Freud's is a figment of his wild imagination." '' Although Erikson's ideas evolved from his many TABLE 2-1 Erikson's and Freud's Stages of Development Approximate age Birth to 1 year I to 3 years 3 to 6 years 6 to 12 years Erikson's stage or "psychosocial crisis" Basic trust versus mistrust Autonomy versus shame and doubt Initiative versus guilt Industry versus inferiority Erikson's viewpoint: Significant events and social irifluences Infants must learn to trust others to care for their basic needs. If caregivers are rejecting or inconsistent in their care, the infant may view the world as a dangerous place filled with untrustworthy or unreliable people. The mother or primary caregiver is the key social agent. Children must learn to be "autonomous-to feed and dress themselves, to look after their own hygiene, and so on. Failure to achieve this independence may force the child to doubt his or her own abilities and feel shameful. Parents are the key social agents. Children attempt to act grown up and will try to accept responsibilities that are beyond their capacity to handle. They sometimes undertake goals or activities that conflict with those of parents and other family members, and these conflicts may make them feel guilty. Successful resolution of this crisis requires a balance: the child must retain a sense of initiative and yet learn not to impinge on the rights, privileges, or goals of others. The family is the key social agent. Children must master important social and academic skills. This is a period when the child compares the self with peers. If sufficiently industrious, children will acquire the social and academic skills to feel self-assured. Failure to acquire these important attributes leads to feelings of inferiority. Significant social agents are teachers and peers. Corresponding Freudian stage Oral Anal Phallic Latency

5 Psychoanalytic Theory and Modern Biological Perspectives 37 and varied experiences and his observations of both normal and clinical populations, his research methods (basically consisting of unstructured interviews and nonsystematic observations) were every bit as subjective as those of Freud. Ariother major shortcoming of Erikson's theory is that it does not clearly specify the kinds of experiences that people must have iri order to cope with and resolve various psychosocial crises. For example, what kinds of caregiving might lead an infant to trust (or mistrust) other people? Why is trust important for the child's developing sense of autonomy, initiative, or industry? Exactly how do adolescents formulate stable identities with which to face the tasks of young adulthood? Erikson is simply not very explicit about any of these important issues. His theory is a descriptive overview of human social and emotional development that does not do a very good job of explaining how or why this development takes place. Researchers who study such topics as the emotional development of infants or the growth of the adolescent self-concept are beginning to pay more attention to Erikson, for they often find that their results are consistent with his descriptive framework. Many of these investigators are now using Erikson's description of psychosocial development as a general TABLE 2-1 continued Approximate age Erikson's stage or "psychosocial crisis" Erikson's viewpoint: Significant events and social influences Corresponding Freudian stage 12 to 20 years 20 to 40 years (young adulthood) Identity versus role confusion Intimacy versus isolation This is the crossroad between childhood and maturity. The adolescent grapples with the question "Who am I?" Adolescents must establish basic social and occupationai identities, or they will remain confused about the roles they should play as adults. The key social agent is the society of peers. The primary task at this stage is to form strong friendships and to achieve a sense of love and companionship (or a shared identity) with another person. Feelings of loneliness or isolation are likely to result from an inability to form friendships or an intimate relationship. Key social agents are lovers, spouses, and close friends (of both sexes). Early genital (adolescence) Genital 40 to 65 years (middle adulthood) Old age Generativity versus stagnation Ego integrity versus despair At this stage, adults face the tasks of becoming productive in their work and raising their families or otherwise looking after the needs of young people. These standards of "generativity" are defined by one's culture. Those who are unable or unwilling to assume these responsibilities will become stagnant and/or self-centered. Significant social agents are the spouse, children, and cultural norms. The older adult will look back at life, viewing it as either a meaningful, productive, and happy experience or as a major disappointment full of unfulfilled promises and unrealized goals. One's life experiences, particularly social experiences, will determine the outcome of this final life crisis. Genital Genital

6 38 Chapter2 ::::~... "' ~,.. ::o=.f"'- ' WI ~ k-~ \, 02. cftlllla' < ''') '~ ',... ~.4 C.. :~,;::~ 'f\'lftt J,,_ :-" >'.,...,.~. " starting point and then trying to explain how children are able to develop a sense of trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, or a personal identity. So Erikson's theory is having an impact, and we will look at some of the more encouraging of the early returns as we proceed through the text. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY TODAY Today psychoanalysts represent a small minority within the community of child developmentalists. Many researchers have abandoned the psychoanalytic approach (particularly Freud's theory) because it is difficult to verify or disconfirm. Suppose, for example, that we wanted to test the basic Freudian proposition that the healthy personality is one in which psychic energy is evenly distributed among the id, ego, and superego. How could we do it? There are objective tests that we could use to select "mentally healthy" subjects, but we have no instrument that measures psychic energy or the relative strengths of the id, ego, and superego. The point is that many psychoanalytic assertions are untestable by any method other than the interview or a clinical approach, and unfortunately, these techniques are time-consuming, expensive, and among the least objective of all methods used to study developing children. Of course, the main reason that developmental researchers have abandoned the psychoanalytic perspective is that other theories seem more compelling to them. One theoretical approach that is currently attracting a good deal of attention is the modern biological viewpoint, to which we will now turn. RECENT BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES Freud's psychoanalytic theory obviously has strong biological overtones. Not only are inborn instincts the motivational components of his theory, but the maturation of the sex instinct was said to determine the course (or at least the stages) of social and personality development. In this section of the chapter, we will become acquainted with two additional streams of thought that emphasize biological contributions to human social and personality development. One of these approaches, the ethological traditioll, focuses most intently on inherited attributes that cfiaracterize ail members of a species and conspire to make us alike (that i~, contribute to common developmental outcomes). By contrast, the second approach, behavior genetic.,9, is concerned mainly with determining how the unique combination of genes that each of u~" inherits might be implicated in making individual~ different from one another. ETHOLOGICAL THEORY If!~~ is th~.~~~lol~he, Y!12~~~L:~~~~s RL~~.- mrvwr, mcludmg Its evolution, causation, and development (Cairns, 197'9r-'rhis th~;(;tfcai approicfi farose"rromthe work of several European zoologists r] who argued that other theorists, particularly social N scientists, had overlooked or simply chosen to ignore ~ important biological contributions to human and ~ animal behavior. According to the ethologists, the newborn of each species come equipped with a nu*-;f i~boo~-attri~ 6utes~mctreSPc>nsesihai'"arer'f'0dliC'i's''0f"evofliti~;~ Tiies;; 7 bto16giealty'progran1illecf'cli'iiracie!tsii~s~are thought to have evolved as a result of the Darwinian process of natural selection. Presumably, environmental stre;s;;;;;-ct;;;:~'simpinge on members of all species, ensuring that only those individuals with the most adaptive characteristics will survive to pass these attributes along to their offspring. Thus, each "species-specific" behavior is preselected-meaning if ~J:iat ~p_ersis~ :ov~~~j>)ecli~s~r~~sji some fu~q~~n!h~l,tcreases th~-~!!~!!c~s,,~l~-~e~'~~~~}jl for the individual and the species (Blurton-lones, '! I 972T' Example~S'OfS'Ucllprescleeted characteristics are the nest-building behavior of lovebirds, nut cracking by red squirrels, and crying to communicate discomfort by human infants. When conducting research, ethologists prefer the method of naturalistic, observation because they believe that "bi~l~gi~ally-pr~g;ar;~ed" behaviors that