AP+P2+2015+Erik+Erikson

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==== Erik Erikson was a psychologist who made a major contribution to psychology through his developmental theory that included eight stages to illustrate human development. Differed from Sigmund Freud’s idea that a person’s personality has been shaped by age 5 (Sharkey), Erikson focused on how a person’s personality and mentality change as they grow and mature. Erikson realized that from the time a person is an infant until the day they die their personality is being formed and changed, and he broke up the different “stages” of life that every person goes through. In these stages he breaks down the major changes that are happening to a person as they age, including both the positive and negative aspects of each stage. The picture above maps out the different stages that range from infancy to the elderly, and the positive v.s. the negative aspects of each stage, according to Erikson’s theory. Erikson’s purpose with creating these different stages of life was to provide clarity to other psychologists and to each person as they aged to help them understand how and why a person’s personality continuously changes throughout their lives and what can cause a person's personality to change. Erikson also focused on children and “was the first to propose that children are not simply biological organisms but also products of society’s expectations, prejudices, and prohibitions” (Erikson Institute). This emphasis on children brought a new perspective on diagnosing children with mental illnesses and other conditions, and brought a “new education of children” (Erikson Institute) into psychology to help children live happy lives. ====

Works Cited: Sharkey, Wendy. "Erik Erikson." // Psychology History // //.// N.p., May 1997. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

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====Erik Erikson has two main audiences; a primary and a secondary. His primary audience was the scientific community. Erikson’s ideas are like those of Sigmund Freud, however, his science was much more progressive and focused more on psychosocial stages, which hadn’t been seen in the scientific community before (Heffner). Thus, Erikson’s primary goal was to provide evidence through his research and experiments that would prove his model correct to fellow psychologists. Erikson’s secondary audience is the public, more specifically parents and their children. Erikson focuses his work largely on the developmental psychosocial stages that occur and have a huge impact in the brains of teenagers. Thus, his audience is not only teenagers, themselves, but more importantly their parents, who play a large role during this developmental stage in their children’s lives. ==== ====Some assumptions that Erikson makes about his audience is that they have prior knowledge of both psychological terms and the history of social developmental theories. This can be a strength in his primary audience of the scientific community because it allows him to explain his thoughts in deeper detail with more scientific evidence. Additionally, if his scientific audience does in fact have such a background, they can make further assumptions and connections based on Erikson’s work that could lead to more scientific/psychological discoveries or theories. The fact that Erikson assumes that primary scientific audience will have this prior knowledge is a weakness for his secondary audience because they will have a hard time interpreting his work and putting his ideas into play. However, since parents, teenagers, and the general public was not his primary audience, he didn’t need to explain every psychological term, the study’s history, and so forth. ====

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====Erik Erikson’s work, though developed using information from a specific time period, is universally applicable without historical context. Erikson, who was born in 1902, studied World War I soldiers and wrote about social change in America, which greatly interested him. He studied what was changing during the time period he lived in, which had a great effect on his research. His study of Freud, who was alive during this time, was influential on Erikson’s work. Though Erikson agreed with Freud on most of his psychoanalytical theories, he believed that humans developed in stages that influence their identity and personality at different points in life: “Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair” (Sharkley). These stages were claimed to be applicable to all humans, and when studying them over fifty years later, Erikson’s research still holds great merit. The idea that the mind develops in specific ways during specific periods can still be seen in how people develop their identities today; the context of early 20th century America having little to do with how Erikson’s Stages of Development are applicable, though it was used to develop the theory. Though Erikson primarily used data and ideas from the late 19th century and early 20th century (both psychoanalysis and social changes), his ideas are universally applicable and endure no matter what the historical context. ====

**Cultural: ** Camille Spendlove
 ==== Erik Erikson's theories were developed and came from culture that had different values than today, but the theories themselves are relevant to modern society and culture. Erikson was "constantly concerned with the rapid social changes in America and wrote about issues such as the generation gap, racial tensions, juvenile delinquency, changing sexual roles, and the dangers of nuclear war" (Sharkey). Erikson's theories stemmed from the issues at the time, but are still applicable through the rapid progression of the American culture. In his developmental theory of the stages of human life, Erikson has a set standard for human progression, but changes in views of home life change the audience's view of Erikson’s credibility. There have been many reforms in recent years of what a family is, and the growing differences in opinion inhibits belief in Erikson's theories. Erikson’s persuasion of the development of individuals over their entire lifetime is relevant to the cultural changes in America, that people are not fixed in their states and will change culture with them. In modern society, Erikson's views are that the makeup and structure of society can change with the people. Even though Erikson's theories and views are from his era, they can still carry over if today's society is able to accept their validity. ====