Key stages of Piagets Theory

Question 1

Oral (birth to 1 year)

Answer 1

• children are preoccupied with activities that are associated with their mouths
• sexual urges are gratified with oral behaviors (biting, chewing, sucking, eating)
• Children who do not have their oral needs may become thumb suckers
• in adulthood, they may become compulsive eaters or smokers
• normal development requires not depriving oral gratification such as weaning too soon or rigid feeding schedule

Question 2

Anal (1-3 years)

Answer 2

• preoccupied with the ability to eliminate
• sexual urges gratified by learning voluntarily defacate
• sphincter muscles maturing

Question 3

Phallic stage (3-6 years)

Answer 3

• preoccupation with their genitals
• curious about childbirth, masturbation, and anatomic differences
• Girls experience penis envy and wish they had one; boys suffer from castration anxiety the fear of losing the penis
• Children develop a strong incestuous desire for caregivers of the opposite gender
  —– Oedipal complex- attachment of boys to his mother

——-Electra complex- attachment of a girl to her father

• Children need to identify with the caregiver of the same gender to form male and female identity

Question 4

Latency stage
(6-11 years of age)

Answer 4

• sexual drives submerged
• energy focus on socialization and increasing problem-solving abilities
  -appropriate gender roles adopted
• oedipal or electra conflicts resolved
• Identifies with same-gender peers and same-gender caregivers
• Superego developed to a point where it keeps id under control

Question 5

Genital stage around 12 yrs -adult hood

Answer 5

• Struggle with sexuality
• sexual desires return and are related to physiological changes
  and fluctuating hormones
• changing social relationships
• dealing with struggles of dependence and independence issues with parents
• learning to form loving and appropriate relationships
• must manage sexual urges in socially accepted ways