Sociology Theory

Freud

Freud’s view of the human self was that the mind consisted of three different systems or aspects.  The first is the id, which is basically the most primitive and primordial version of the self, constituted of little else besides instinct.  Then there is the ego.  The ego is “above” the id in the sense that the ego corresponds to reality and pertains to consciousness.  The ego is a sort of advocate on behalf of the id (whether it realizes this or not) and seeks for rationale, acceptable ways to satisfy the needs and demands of the id.  By itself, though, the ego doesn’t have any moral sense or value.  The superego, on the other hand, helps to control and direct both the id and the ego.  The superego is something that is acquired after the ego, and it imposes moral sense on the ego.  The superego “tells” the ego whether or not what it wants to do in order to achieve a particular end is moral or socially acceptable. Carl Jung researched these theories further to expand on Freud's discoveries.

For example, the id drives our passions and instincts, one of which is hunger.  The id doesn’t really “know” anything besides the fact that it is hungry.  Since the id is entirely unconscious, though, it can’t correspond with or react to society and reality.  So the ego, on behalf of the id, corresponds with reality.  In the example of hunger, this could mean that the ego seeks out different real opportunities for food.  This could include hunting, going to the fridge, going to a supermarket, etc.  Keeping in mind that the ego is not, by itself, moral, the ego might select an illicit way to get food—say, stealing.  So the ego might see an elderly woman carrying her groceries and propose that she be toppled over and her food taken to satisfy the id.  The superego would recommend against this action because violently harming elderly women and stealing their groceries is something that society frowns upon.  The ego can listen—or not listen—to the superego.  Suppose the ego does not listen to the superego; since the superego persists across all ranges of consciousness, the superego can “probe” at the levels of unconsciousness, resulting in a feeling of guilt to punish the id and ego.

Piaget

The very first of Piaget’s stages is the sensorimotor stage.  This initiates at birth and only goes until the child is about two, but it is the most exponential of all the stages.  It is broken into a variety of sub stages.  During the course of sensorimotor development, a newborn goes from knowing virtually nothing at all to knowing how to touch, suck, move, elicit reactions from their environment and those within it, primitively communicate, develop habits and object permanence, etc.

Once someone is around two years old they graduate from the sensorimotor stage and start developing further.  The next stage is the preoperational stage, which builds off the sensorimotor stage.  This stage is marked notably by play and mental extension, as children between the ages of two and seven play continuously as a way to continually learn about the world around them.  Role-playing can begin in this stage and children begin to interact in more complex ways with those around them.

Next is the concrete operational stage, which picks up where the preoperational stage ends and lasts until early adolescence.  By this time a child has accumulated enough experience to operate with confidence in their environments—interacting with friends, family, communicating, understanding, making, and responding to requests, etc.  At this stage, some level of abstract thought becomes capable, like understanding how a glass that two containers of different shapes can hold the same amount of water.

Finally, there is the formal operation stage, the last of the developmental stages.  This occurs sometime during adolescence.  What distinguishes it from the previous stage is that it consists of continued application of logic and abstract thought to a wide array of situations and realities.