The basis of comparing the theories of Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget is that both of them developed stage theories of development in early childhood which they each argued had an enormous impact on adult personality and cognition. When reviewing the work of Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget two other things come to mind immediately where their similarities are concerned-both had a major, lasting and profound impact on the field of psychology and both received considerable criticism regarding their theories. Freud is considered the father of psychoanalysis, an analysis that was based on childhood development and psychosexual stages. However, Piaget was the ultimate stage developmentalist, “During the 1960s and 1970s, his theory of cognitive development dominated the landscape the way Freud’s account of psychosexual development had a generation before,” (Brainerd, 1996: 191). For all the criticisms of their work, both Freud and Piaget so influenced their respective fields of psychology that today their thoughts and concepts are so widespread and pervasive in the field as to be almost hidden, “Freud has been credited for having revolutionized how we think. Acceptance of various parts of his system of thought has come to be so widespread as to be almost anonymous”; and, “Assessing the impact of Piaget on developmental psychology is like assessing the impact of Shakespeare on English or Aristotle on philosophy-impossible. The impact is too monumental to embrace and at the same time too omnipresent to detect, “(O’Brien, 1992: 611; Flavell, 1996: 202). This discussion will compare and contrast the theories of Freud and Piaget, who, except for B.F. Skinner, remain the most influential names in twentieth century psychology.
Psychoanalysis views the individual as being in a constant state of conflict among the id, ego and superego. Lack of mental health, i.e., anxiety, is the result of these conflicts that are often amel...