Learning and Human Nurture psychology 102 course - Assignment Example

7 May Learning psychology and human nurture: Learning and nurture are related to each other. One theory that sufficiently explains the link between learning and nurturing is the psychosocial theory proposed by Erik Erikson (Chapman). In his theory, Erikson has asserted that the learning and development of human personality occurs in eight stages. An individual learns from the social experiences throughout the life. Thus, personality keeps modifying over time as more experience is gained. Daily life experiences influence the development of ego identity.

“Ego identity is the conscious sense of self that we develop through social interaction” (Cherry 1). Each of the eight stages explains learning with respect to a particular area of competence in life. The way an individual copes with the challenges of these stages is an outcome of the nurture. Good performance of an individual in a stage inculcates a feeling of mastery which symbolizes ego strength. On the other hand, poor management inculcates low self-esteem in the individual. Erikson’s eight stages are briefly discussed below: Stage 1: trust vs mistrust This stage begins from birth until the end of first year.

Good nurturing of children in this year makes them learn how to trust whereas bad insufficient nurturing deprives them of trust. Stage 2: Autonomy vs doubt This stage covers early childhood. Children develop personal control in this stage. A child who can learn to control the needs starts to feel independent. If the child manages to do that, he/she becomes confident. Otherwise, the child lacks confidence. Stage 3: initiative vs guilt This stage occurs in the preschool years. Good nurturing in this period makes a child powerful.

He/she develops leadership skills and unsuccessful experience makes him/her guilty. Stage 4: inferiority vs balance Ranging from the age of 5 till 11, proper nurturing of children makes them competent and confident, and lack of encouragement by parents makes the child suffer from inferiority complex. Stage 5: confusion vs identity Occurring in adolescence, proper nurturing in this stage provides a child with strong identity and lack of it makes him/her confused. Stage 6: isolation vs socialization Occurring in early adulthood, good nurturing makes people feel secure.

Accordingly, they are able to socialize better. Stage 7: generativity vs stagnation This stage focuses on the career building. If the environment is conducive, a person would tend to contribute to the world positively whereas failure in this stage inculcates idleness. Stage 8: integrity vs despair In old age, reflection upon the life gives satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The former inculcates integrity while the latter inculcates despair. Summary: Human psychology develops as a result of the information gained from environment.

The quality of nurture a child is given influences his/her ability to retrieve information from the environment. That is why, some people remain optimistic while others remain pessimistic in the same circumstances. An individual’s learning ability is a result of both his/her individualistic nature and the nurture he/she is provided with. In fact, nurture sets the standards for a person, and his/her nature depicts the extent to which he/she should follow them. For example, every child’s parents choose the same religion for the child as believed in by themselves.

However, some children tend to change their religion as they grow up because their nature does not approve of the parent religion, though their ability to change the religion is in itself an outcome of the nurture provided by the parents. Because of the good or poor quality of nurturing, people learn to pick up positive or negative influences from the environment respectively. This in turn tells whether or not an individual would succeed in the eight stages of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of learning and development.

Erikson’s theory judges the development of certain skills or areas of competence in each of the eight stages. The stages cover the whole life of an individual starting right from the birth until the death. This essentially tells that learning is a never ending process and is free from the constraints of age. However, the quality of nurture provided in the early years of life shapes the personality of an individual and strengthens or weakens good traits in the personality. Therefore, in order to make the children achieve the state of self-actualization and play a constructive role in the society, it is imperative that their parents nurture them good enough.

According to Erikson, people encounter situations of conflict in every stage of life. This conflict lays pattern of their psychosocial development. As a result of these conflicts, the individual either matures a psychosocial or else, fails to cultivate it in his/her personality. In each of the eight stages, the potential for learning and development of psychology is immense, though the chances of failure are no less either. Works Cited: Chapman, Alan. “Erikson's psychosocial development theory.” 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. . Cherry, Kendra.

“Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development.” 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .