Mahler Stages of Development

Question 1

The infant is focused purely on themself; they are unresponsive to external stimuli.

Answer 1

Mahler: Autistic Stage (newborn-1 month):

Question 2

Infant begins to perceive the ‘need-satisfying object’. During this stage, the mother’s ego functions for the infant. The infant begins to understand that the mother is a separate being from themself.

Answer 2

Mahler: Symbiotic Stage (1-5 months):

Question 3

During separation, the infant begins to develop an understanding of the boundaries of self and they start to see their mother as a separate individual.

Answer 3

Mahler: Separation-Individuation Stage (5-24 months+)

Within separation-individuation there are four sub-stages.
○ Differentiation Substage (5-9 months)
○ Practicing Substage (9-14 months)
○ Rapprochement Substage (14-24 months)
○ Object Constancy Substage (after 24 months)

Question 4

Mahler: Separation-Individuation Stage

The infant’s attention shifts from being inwardly focused to outwardly focused. (i.e. crawling)

Answer 4

Differentiation Substage (5-9 months)

Question 5

Mahler: Separation-Individuation Stage

The infant continues to separate from their caretaker; their autonomous ego functions become more apparent. (i.e. walking, playing)

Answer 5

Practicing Substage (9-14 months)

Question 6

Mahler: Separation-Individuation Stage

The infant begins to want to act independently. They will move away from their mother, but regularly come back to ensure she is still there.

Answer 6

Rapprochement Substage (14-24 months):

Question 7

Mahler: Separation-Individuation Stage

The infant internalizes their mother and begins to understand that their mother still exists for them despite her absence.

Answer 7

Object Constancy Substage (after 24 months)

Question 8

Theory that refers to the way a child’s Ego becomes organized over the firt 3 1/2 years of life. During this time, the child struggles between the self and others.

The theory focuses on the reciprocal reliationship between a mother and her infant and its effect on the infants development of sense of self that occurs in three stages.

Individuals are born with the drive to develop a sense of self and others along the motivation to build interpersonal relationships.

Answer 8

Mahler Object Relations Theory of Development