Erik Erickson was an influential psychologist who studied under Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna Freud.

Erikson's views on development differed from Freud's focus on psychosexual stages. Instead, Erikson postulated that humans progressed through eight psychosocial stages, including learning trust, developing autonomy, and gaining competence. According to Erikson, each stage was marked by a conflict. Resolution of the conflict enabled successful progress to the next stage. As you peruse Erikson's psychosocial stages, consider the current stage of psychosocial development in which you find yourself.

For this Application Assignment, you describe elements of Erikson's Psychosocial Theory and apply them to behaviors exhibited by individuals. You develop an argument for or against the validity of the theory, based upon your own experience.

In a 250-300 page paper, respond to the following prompts:

• Identify the eight stages of psychosocial development, and provide a global overview of the stages.
• Identify the critical psychosocial dilemma faced in each stage.
• For each stage's dilemma, describe a specific behavior (either of an individual or parents of an individual) that would likely result in a successful outcome. Describe a specific behavior that could contribute to an unsuccessful outcome of that stage.
• Present an argument on the validity of Erikson's psychosocial stages in terms of your life. Refer generally to your own experiences (that is, without revealing intimate, personal details). Explain whether you think the stages are relevant. Justify your response.