Theorists
Describe each theory, including some history about the person who developed the theory and the major ideas and applications of the theory.
Describe the ways in which the two theories are similar, and how they differ.
Include a statement of how each theory could be used in your nursing practice. Include specific patient examples if you have them. You may also critique the theory: Is there anything with which you disagree or are there any problems you can identify?
Sample Solution
Piaget`s theory of cognitive development – Early researcher Jean Piaget developed his theory from detailed observations of infants and children, most especially his own three children. He made significant contributions to the understanding of how children think about the world around them and shifted the view of children‘s thinking from that of ―little adults‖ to something quite different from adult thinking. Piaget believed that children from mental concepts or schemes as they experience new situations and events. Piaget argued that children cognitively adapt to their environment through two interrelated processes, assimilation and accommodation. Freud`s psychosexual theories of development – Psychosexual development refers to a shift in areas of gratification, known as erogenous zones or area of the body that produces pleasure. At each stage, a different erogenous zonebecomes a source of pleasure, as well as conflicts. Conflicts that are not fully resolved can result in fixation. Fixation is getting ―stuck‖ to some degree in an early stage of development.The child may grow into an adult but will still carry emotional and psychological state of mind from that earlier fixed stage. According to Freud, during development, each person passes through five psychosexual stages.
