Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

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activity 1:
psychological viewpoint
questionnaire (pretest)
Jeffrey s. nevid, PhD
St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY
activity 1 continued on next page
InStructIonS
Read each of the following statements and decide if you more AGREE with the statement or more DISAGREE with the statement. Write an A next to those statements with which you agree more than disagree, and write a D next to those statements with which you disagree more than agree. Express your opinion about every statement even though you may have some trouble deciding in some cases 1. In attempting to understand human beings, one should stick to what can be directly observed and avoid theory or concepts that cannot be seen or observed.
_____ 2. Events taking place in the present are systematically linked to events that have occurred in one’s past 3. A specific piece of human behavior cannot be understood without considering the person and his or her life as a whole 4. People are basically good (as opposed to evil or neutral. If left to a natural state without external controls, they will seek health and personal growth while respecting the rights of others to do the same 5. A person’s character is largely determined before he or she reaches adulthood. The only real changes that one can expect from an adult are relatively small ones, and these occur slowly overlong periods of time 6. General laws of behavior and experience that apply to all people are not very helpful if you want to understand a particular individual 7. Much of behavior, both conscious and unconscious, is directed by unconscious impulses and motivations 8. Aggression is an inherent and inescapable part of human nature 9. People are capable of making major and lasting changes in themselves within a relatively brief period of time 10. Human behavior can be understood as a continuous attempt to increase pleasure and avoid pain and discomfort.

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activity 1 continued from previous page
_____ 11. There are no values inherent inhuman nature or in the human condition -only those that are discovered or learned through experience 12. Learning processes play a major determining role in the formation of personality and human behavior 13. Events that occur early in life are more important in determining one’s adult personality and behavior than are similar events after the person reaches adulthood 14. Looking inside a person for the causes of behavior (for needs, impulses, motivations, etc) is probably more misleading than enlightening 15. The use of scientific experiments is not an appropriate way to try to understand the psychology of behavior 16. People are neither inherently good nor basically selfish 17. In order to change a present pattern of behavior, it is important for the person to explore the past, particularly childhood, to find causes of behavior 18. Little or none of what people do is the result of freewill. Behavior is controlled by lawful principles, and free choice is an illusion 19. The therapist who wants a person to change should not give advice or suggestions. Rather, the best approach is for the therapist to allow the person to talk and explore his or her feelings without direction or evaluation 20. A person is free to be what he or she wants to be.
Go to scoring guide.
Reprinted With Permission From
Rathus, SA Nevid, J. S. (2004). Psychology and the challenges of life
(9th ed. New York Wiley.

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