Psychology Homework Assignment 2

1. The girl in the story, Kathy, was in Eriksons Industry vs Inferiority

developmental stage. She is also in Piagets Preoperational stage of his developmental
theory. Kathy was six years old, so that fits into both stages. Also, Kathy liked to draw
and work on black-board, thus proves that she is in the Preoperational stage of Piaget.
In addition, she is in the Industry vs Inferiority stage because she is developing her self-
confidence, dealing with her eczema condition. She may be lacking the Initiative vs
Guilt stage because she does not feel the need to go play with her little brother, and she
does not feel bad about it. She also is lacking the first stage of Eriksons, Trust vs
Mistrust. Her parents are working a lot, and so she doesnt have that trust with anyone
in her family.

2. From reading the story, there are a lot of bonding problems evident. First of,
Kathys parents work full-time. So they take care of their kids with a lot of different baby-
sitters. The parents may not be doing this on purpose, but only to provide for their
children. Along with that, the parents seem to have more than one baby-sitter over
periods of time. Kathy and her brother cant seem to develop a relationship with just one
person, and that prevents them from learning how to create an attachment with
someone. With consideration of that, Kathy unfortunately does not know how to create a
bonding relationship with her younger brother. She does not play with him, and ignores
him most
of the time. Kathy struggles to bond with anyone in her life.

3. In the story, there may not be something as serious as a sibling rivalry, but it is at
the beginning stages. Before the new baby-sitter Maureen came, Kathy and her brother
did not communicate at all. She ignored him, and didnt take the time to play with him
either. But after Maureen spent some time with her, eventually Kathy would start playing
basketball with Maureen and her little brother.

4. A physical problem that was present in the story was her eczema condition. This
condition of hers made her think she couldnt do anything out in public. This led to her
wearing clothing covering her arms and legs, not going out of the house, and playing
alone in her room. This physical condition, led to her developing a psychological trauma.
In addition to that, Kathy would have a less self-esteem for herself, not wanting to have
any social interactions. Kathy might have had an improved emotional understanding, in
so that she is ashamed of her condition and does not want to lose her pride.

5. The difference in her later behavior and attitude after Maureen had been with her
was the development of an attachment, or bonding with someone. She did not receive
the love and care she is supposed to get from her parents, and so once she got it from
Maureen, things changed for her. She started to act differently. She became more out-
going, more playful with her brother, and less withdrawn and cooperative. Through this
story, we can see that if a child receives the love and care they are supposed to have, it
will affect who they become as a person.