Behavioral psychology CH. 15 Flashcards
Growing older
Act their age
this means moving through the various stages at appropriate speeds, neither too fast nor too slow and being able to deal with the transition much as anybody else in the culture would.
Trust and Mistrust
are the two opposed elements in the first stage; this stage occurs during infancy.
- The mistrust comes from the child’s sudden appearance into a difficult world and is resolved by the attachment to the mother, or primary care giver.
- The sense of trust that develops in this first stage provides hope that then lasts throughout life.
Autonomy and shame/doubt
the conflicts of toddlerhood. This is where the child begins to develop a sense of will.
•How the parents handle this is crucial. The ideal is that will is allowed expression but not to the extent that it is willful. It has to be within socially acceptable limits.
Initiative and guilt
characterize the pre-school phase.
- It is a balance between these two that is needed for a satisfactory transition and a reasonable degree of maturity to develop.
- The child is learning to take initiative within what is socially acceptable, the of which is a genuine sense of purpose.
Industry and inferiority
is the conflict of middle childhood during the school years.
- On the one had is the sense of pleasure from working and on the other are the feelings of inferiority that comes from unfavorable comparisons with others.
- The stage is all to do with competition and cooperation at school and if traversed reasonably well should lead to a sense of competence.
The struggle to find identity and to deal with Identity confusion
is what characterizes adolescence.
- This is the identity crisis that so much has been written about. The struggle that any adolescent experiences, according to this way of looking at things, is to find a coherent self.
- The resolution of this crisis is through the formation of a firm sense of ‘who I am’, a faithful sense of self.
The struggle of early adulthood as described by Erikson (1971)
are to do with attaining intimacy versus remaining in isolation.
•Concerns the search for a partner.
Generativity
The period of middle adulthood.
- The lack of generativity leads to self-absorption or stagnation.
- The individual is concerned with accomplishing things, things that might or might not be socially significant.
- An important way to resolve the crisis of generativity is to realize one’s personal limitations. Not everything that one attempts will necessarily make a successful contribution to others or to the future in general.
Search for Integrity
The final crisis that anyone who lives to be relatively old has to deal with.
- If this is not successful, then the person has to struggle with despair.
- If this crisis is weathered successfully, then the result is a degree of wisdom.
Three marriage style of cohabitation
- Traditional
- Egalitarian
- Collegial partnership
Traditional style of cohabitation
Has husband and wife (usually traditionally married).
- The husband makes the big decisions and brings in the money and deals with whatever they do in their spare time.
- The wife looks after everything domestic, including bringing up the children.
Egalitarian style of cohabitation
Each partner assumes no specialized role.
- They both do everything, but at different times.
- It is almost inevitable that some specialization develops in the end.
Collegial partnership style of cohabitation
is a mixture of the other two.
- There is specialization but not along traditional lines.
- Each does what he or she finds comfortable.
- In the extreme traditional roles may be reversed.
Successful marriages tend to:
They like eachother; they are ‘best friends’ and confidants.
- When they talk to other people of what they do they tend to say ‘we’ rather than ‘I’.
- They value interdependence.
Forms of successful marriages
- From time to time, they mention their commitment to each other and to the relationship.
- They argue constructively rather than destructively. That is, they look for solutions to problems and for ways forward.
- They listen to each other respectfully, that is, they genuinely listen rather than appearing to listen while thinking what they are themselves about to say.
- They try to solve any problems rather than reiterating the difficulties.
- When they argue, they do not dwell on past hurts but look to the future.
- They tend to use positive comments about each other and the future and to use humor a great deal.
