Psychology 2075 Study Guide - Oedipus Complex, Menarche, Social Forces
Document Summary
Chapter ten: sexuality and the life cycle childhood to adolescence. We use the terms having sex" and sexual intercourse" synonymously but sex is more than intercourse. Human sexual development a process influenced biologically, psychologically, socially and culturally. Lifespan: life cycle development from birth through old age. Most data comes from surveys which question adults about their childhood sexual behaviour errors in memory. Alternative is to interview children but this would arouse tremendous opposition (ex. No one has made systematic, direct observations of children"s sexual behaviour. Before 1890, sexuality was thought to appear at puberty, but freud: children have sexual urges too. The capacity of the human to show a sexual response is present at birth first intimate with parents. Infants are observed fondling their own genitals engaging in sexual self stimulation. The rhythmic manipulation of the genitals (adult masturbation) doesn"t occur till around 2 years old. If permitted, they will progress from absent minded fingering to systematic masturbation by 6-8.
