Influence of Sigmund Freud

Hedonistic theories--stating that man seeks pleasure and avoids pain--are among the oldest interpretations of human conduct. There is no doubt that learning is controlled by way of reward and punishment. Freud's pleasure principle is in accord with these facts, and his interpretation of the pleasure principle represents one of the first points of correspondence between his views and those of learning theorists. The corresponding principle in contemporary learning theory is the law of effect or reinforcement theory. The broad conception, common to both psychoanalysis and learning theory, is that a need state is a state of high tension. What controls the direction of movement is a tendency to restore some equilibrium, thus reducing tension. Freud talked about a return to a constant quiescent state, which the physiologists, after Cannon, refer to homeostasis. The principle goes back to Claude Bernard, but it is also shared by Freud and the learning theorists (Hilgard & Bower, 1975, p.

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egard the same-sexed parent as a rival. Unfortunate experiences causing a fixation at this level may lead to competitiveness. The stage from age six to 11 years is called the latency period. This involves resolution of the Oedipus complex by identifying with the parent of the opposite sex and by satisfying sensual needs vicariously. Puberty, the stage from 11 to 14 years involves the integration the sensual tendencies from previous stages into a unitary and overriding genital sexuality (Biehler, 1974, p. 109). Erik Erikson, who met Freud and studied with him, was greatly influenced by Freud's theories on childhood development. Erikson was also interested in the relationship between the culture in which a child was reared and the type of adult the child becomes. This emphasis on the relationship of culture and the individual led Erikson to propose a psychosocial theory of development. His theory was based in large part on Freud's work, but Erikson went beyond Freud's emphasis on early childhood and psychosexual development. Erikson also focused on parental and societal demands on the individual. However, like Freud, Erikson saw development as a passage through a series of stages, each with its particular goals, concerns, a
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