Question

Answer the following question:

Briefly explain the oral stage of psychosexual development.

Answer 1

The oral stage is the initial psychosexual stage during which the developing infant’s main concerns are with oral gratification. The oral phase in the normal infant has a direct bearing on the infant's activities during the first 18 months of life. Freud said that through the mouth the infant makes contact with the first object of libido, the mother’s breast. Oral needs are also satisfied by thumb-sucking, other objects like dolls, toys or blankets into the mouth. Freud believed that the end of the first-year oral phase begins to shift towards the anal region.