Final answer:
The correct answer is choice a) Trust vs. Mistrust, which is the first psychosocial stage defined by Erik Erikson for infants, aligning with Freud's oral phase.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first psychosocial stage defined by Erik Erikson is trust vs. mistrust, which spans approximately the first year of life. During this time, infants are wholly dependent on their caregivers, and the treatment they receive plays a significant role in their future perception of the world. A responsive caregiver helps foster a sense of trust in the infant, making the world appear to be a safe and predictable place. In contrast, an unresponsive caregiver who fails to meet the baby's needs may instill feelings of anxiety, fear, and mistrust, causing the infant to view the world as unpredictable and perilous.
Aligning with Freud's oral phase, Erikson's stage emphasizes the importance of feeding and the comfort obtained from sucking behaviors, such as on pacifiers or thumbs. During this stage, weaning can also be a source of conflict, and how it is managed by caregivers can influence later behaviors, according to Freud's theory of psychosexual development. Thus, the correct answer to which stage aligns with Freud's oral phase and is defined by Erikson in infants is a) Trust vs. Mistrust.