A Childhood Memory
I seem to recall happy memories or good moments from my early childhood. For instance, when I was around five years old, I remember my mother warning me not to accept gifts or food from strangers. In particular, I never eat outside our home unless my mother accompanied me. I remember I time when my mother’s female friend brought us cookies, and I refused to eat. I lied that I was full and that I will eat later. I never took them, even after the assurance from my mother. It seems that I rarely trusted other peoples’ cooking. I developed a tendency that my mother’s cooking was not only sweet but also safer.
Analysis using developmental theories
Psychosocial Theory
The psychosocial theory explains eight stages of development. The first stage is trust vs. mistrust. Infants must learn to trust adults. The refusal to accept food from strangers or close people is an illustration that I learned to trust my mother because she met my basic needs. A twelve months infant is already sensitive and responsive to needs (Pretorius & Van Niekerk, 2014). This means that I was already sensitive and could see the world safe in the immediate environment. By the age of five, I was able to develop my own initiative. Even though I refused cookies from a close family friend, my mother did not force me to take them. She supported my choice.
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Behavioral Theory
The behavioral theory focuses on how the environment and interactions influence the development of a child. Development occurs due to reinforcement, rewards, stimuli, and punishment. There is a possibility that I developed my behavior because of reinforcement. Anything that strengthens behavior, including events, situations, and rewards qualify to a reinforcement (Nelson, 2015). I think that actions reinforced my situation. Since my childhood, I have learned never to trust food and gifts from strangers. My mother used to praise if I refuse something from a stranger. Hence, my praising my actions, I developed a behavior of refusing things from people. My reinforcement was secondary because some form of stimuli were involved in influencing my actions.
Psychodynamic Theory
This theory explains that events that occur in early childhood explain human behavior later in life. For instance, my childhood memory described above reveals that I had specific fears that contributed to shaping my personality. In particular, I had a fear of strangers, which continues to influence my character traits. I must form a close relationship in order to trust people. The fear of receiving gifts from strangers, for instance, made me skeptical when dealing with people. In general, the vital experiences of my early life shaped my personality. Moreover, I learned to be independent early in life because my mother trusted and supported my decisions.
References
Nelson, J. A. (2015). Child reactivity moderates the over-time association between mother–child conflict quality and externalizing problems. International Journal of Behavioral Development , 39 (4), 376-382. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025415573643
Pretorius, K., & Van Niekerk, A. (2014). Childhood psychosocial development and fatal injuries in Gauteng, South Africa. Child: Care, Health and Development , 41 (1), 35-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12140
