Sigmund Freud

Luis Alamilla
March 2, 2011
Psychology journal
Corozal Junior College
　
　

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was known as the father of psychoanalysis, he was a physiologist, a medical doctor, psychologist and influential thinker. He first worked in close collaboration with Joseph Breuer, where Freud elaborated the theory that the mind is a complex energy-system, and structural investigation of the proper province of psychology. His theories consisted of the concepts of the unconscious, infantile sexuality and repression, and he proposed a tripartite account of the mind’s structure all as part of a radically new conceptual and therapeutic frame of reference for the understanding of human psychological development and the treatment of abnormal mental conditions. I chose Sigmund Freud as the theorist that I believed the most because he is the most well known theorist and most importantly because of his theory on psycho sexual stages and the 3 parts of personality that he had develop for us to understand the conscious and unconscious forces that guides the individual. The three parts of the personality model consist of ID, Ego, and Superego. The id is the primitive part which is present at birth, it is unorganized, inherited part of the personality. Its purpose is to reduce tension created by our primitive drives such as those relating to hunger, sex, and aggression and irrational impulses. It would function in regard to the pleasure principle, which its goal is to receive immediate gratification and reduction of tension. In reality most people are prevented demands of the ID from being fulfilled. Such as receive food when hungry and carry out sexual drives whenever we feel like. The ego is the second part of the personality, it deals with reality. The ego functions on the reality of the principle, it ensures that our impulses can be expressed in an acceptable manner that could be conscious and unconscious. It would restrain us in order to maintain the safety of ourselves and help integrate the person into society. The ego can also influence in making decisions that controls actions and allows for a higher capability of problem solving that the ID would not be capable of such higher level of thinking. The ego is responsible for the higher cognitive functions such as intelligence, thoughtfulness and learning, and also the benefit of actions that delay gratification. The final part of the personality trait would be the superego. It is similar to the id in the case that it is unrealistic to an extent. The superego would be the last too develop, usually occurring in the pre adolescence. It gives a sense of the rights and wrongs of the society as well as family that is passed down to the person over their lifetime. The superego consists of two subparts known as the conscience and the ego-ideal. The conscience part deals with information about what’s bad or forbidden, prevents us from doing morally bad things, such as self punishment, guilt and remorse. The ego-ideal on the other hand gives rules and standards for behavior that motivates us to do what is morally proper, such as pride, value, and accomplishments. Basically the superego helps to control the id's impulses, making them less selfish and more morally correct. I agree with Sigmund’s theory because everyone has to have an ID where they have a need that is primitive in which there behavior is acted upon instincts before the mind is fully able to think for itself. I relate this to my personal life for example when my sister was born, as a baby she was not able to think she didn’t know from right or wrong, but what she knew by instinct was that she needed to feed. Whenever a baby is hungry or felt sleepy or simply jus needed attention by instinct they would cry to meet there required needs. So for my sister to meet her pleasure principle of services of immediate gratification, needs, desire, wants she would receive it by crying. The other part that deals with reality is the ego. In this part of the theory as u get older you begin to become able to think for yourself. You learn that some desires cannot always be met. This part of my life when I was younger I realized that everything has a limit no longer could I receive whatever I required when I needed it. For example one day when I was trespassing on a person’s yard picking grapes when a dog attacked me, crying never got me anywhere. I was faced with reality that next time I just simply run from the dog or avoid getting into that situation again. The final stage is super ego I defiantly agree because as everyone gets older, we all learn of moral values. Without the super ego stage I would not be the outcome of this world. Everyone has a form of fear in violating values and moral codes, which appear in a feeling of either guilt or shame. In my life as growing up I have been teached of having morals whether it is at school, home or even at society thru religion by going to church. I believe everyone should follow up to this theory because everyone has a conscious that gives them a sense from right or wrong and they freedom to choose on which they wish to act on. For example when not doing homework, or telling a lie can lead to trouble. Other theory of Sigmund Freud that I would agree on is the Psycho sexual stages. In this theory he developed on how our sexuality started from a very young stage and developed from various fixations. The oral stage begins from birth to 2 years where the baby begins to experience libidinal gratification through the mouth. I agree with this theory because it relates to the personality model where the ID dominates completely, as I had also stated an example of this stage in the ID trait. The second stage is the anal stage which begins from fifteen months to three years. This stage is where the infant changes from the sensitivity of the mouth to the anus. I agree with this stage because at this point ego starts to occur in conflict with ID, where as the child begins adjusting to the parents demands. Such as being toilet trained in which the key anal experience that is required. The Phallic stage is the third psycho sexual development stage which spans from the age of three to about six years. In this stage the child genitalia become his or her primary zone of sensitivity. Here the child begins to become aware of their bodies, the bodies of other children, and the bodies of their parents, basically learning the physical difference between male and females. In this theory there is still a conflict between ID and Ego for example in the boys case he would feel jealously and emotional rivalry against the father, where his ID wants to kill the father but his ego based on reality principle tells him the father is stronger of the males competing. The fourth stage is the latent period which spans from the age of six until puberty. Unlike the past three stages, here the child must derive the pleasure of gratification from second process thinking that directs the libidinal drives towards external activities. I agree with this stage because here is where sexual urges become suppressed. The final stage is the genital stage which spans from puberty and adult life, occupying most of the life of a man or woman. Its main purpose is to have a psychologic detachment and independence from parents. Here the persons concern shifts from instinct into applying secondary process thinking to gratify desire symbolically and intellectually by means of friendship, relationship, family and adult responsibilities. I agree with the genital stage because it comes about the strong sexual interests and eventually maturing in become self dependent and moving from the dependency of others. This is a stage that eventually everyone has to go thru if they have fully advanced from the previous fixation stages. In example when I grow up and go study abroad once a finish my career I am able to be independent no longer requiring help from my parents. Here I become responsible of my own actions in life and learn to deal with it alone for the most part of it.