Freud and Behaviourist's Theories
In the late 19th and early 20th Century, there were many important theories developed explaining, or trying to explain, human behaviour and personality development. In this essay, I aim to compare and contrast the Freudian Theory and the Theories of the Behaviourists. These were some of the main theories constructed with aims at looking at the way our behaviour is, or isn't, controlled by our personality. The way I have decided to structure this essay is to firstly describe each theory separately. I will make my comparisons between the two theories and finally I will conclude with some criticisms aimed at each theory.
Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) dedicated
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The final section is our unconscious mind. This is our store of long term memories or memories that cannot be recalled so easily. We may not even be aware of all the memories within this section because they are stored so deeply within the section but these memories can be triggered unknowingly as a result of sensory stimulation. i.e. a particular smell could trigger a memory of when we first experienced that smell. (Horle, 2002.)
Another factor in the makeup of the psychoanalytic theory is Freud's view on 'personality'. He claimed that our personality is made up three elements, the 'Id', the 'Ego' and the 'Superego'. Three elements interacting with each other and thus governing our behaviour. He said the id is our unconscious reservoir of primitive instincts. This part of our makeup is out to satisfy our basic urges without any consideration of the consequences and without waiting to be polite. The id is totally un-socialised. On the other hand, we have our superego, which consists of ideas influenced by our parents, which restricts us from doing wrong and is set from early childhood before the child gets a chance to question them. This leaves our ego, which is aware of the id, and of the superego, and often finds the two in conflict. It is the job of the ego to balance the other two in order to maximise pleasure and minimise
The unconscious mind houses the preconscious, a small section that houses material that is non-threatening, and easily brought to mind. But deeper in the unconscious mind are the instinctual drives, the wishes, desires, demands, and needs that are kept hidden from out conscious selves because of the conflicts and pain they would cause if they were brought to bear every day. Psychoanalytic personality theory tells us that the personality consists of three separate, but forever intermingling elements, id, ego, and superego. The id section of a personality is by far the largest, the only section that we are born with, and the section that contains the unconscious thoughts, it is raw, unorganized, and from the time of birth it tries to reduce tension caused by our primary drives. The ego, a section that develops soon after birth, balances the instinctual desires of the id and the realities of the outside world. Last of course is the superego, the final personality structure that is developed in childhood, and represent the rights and wrongs of society, contained within the superego is the conscience, the part of us that prevents us from behaving in a morally deplorable way and is responsible for guilt. Psychoanalytic personality theory is not without its virtues; Freud’s proposed five psychosexual stages – oral, anal, phallic-oedipal, latency and genital – are all supported in life.
at times, clashing and conflicting with each other. These clashing traits bring out the role of
The Psychodynamic Approach was first approach by Sigmund Freud; he dealt with the understanding that personality came from our unconscious state of mind. And that unconscious state interacted to determine our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings (Bernstein, 425). Freud also created the psychoanalytical theory stating that personality led the way to handling psychological disorders. He divided personality into three main topics; which are the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the basis of each human being’s instincts we are all born with. It is the immediate wants I crave; it may show more selfish side. The ego is the part that subdues the id and calms it down. It allows me to think and realize certain actions may upset someone else around me. The superego is
The psychoanalytic theory by Sigmund Freud has always been argued to be one of the most controversial theories in the school of psychology. Critics have questioned how relevant the perspective of Freud is due to the fact that it holds no scientific basis. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behavior is the result of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id, ego, and superego. This theory, known as Freud's structural theory of personality, places great emphasis on the role of unconscious psychological
Developmental psychology is an area of research dedicated to the understanding of child-development. Throughout history many theories have been used to attempt to explain the complex process. Two of those theorists, Freud and Erikson, were instrumental in creating a foundation for child-psychology to build on. From a Freudian perspective, human development is centered on psychosexual theory. Psychosexual theory indicates that maturation of the sex drives underlies stages of personality development. Alternatively, Erikson is considered a neo-freudian scholar who developed psychosocial theory. In Erikson models there are eight major conflicts that occur during the course of an individual’s life.
but his theories on dreams seemed to be the most popular, even to this day.Freud thinks that the agent that
The psychological genre as it relates to sociological and medicinal matters has gained an increasing amount of scientific approval. Impartiality and the scientific method are both integral components to a psychologist’s mode of practice. However, even the most esteemed of psychologists can only speculate at what makes human beings act the way they do. Absolutes play no function in psychology. Everything is relative and open to conjecture. Theologians give us their visions or thoughts about life. In the field of psychology, there have been many different regions of interest and speculation.
The psychodynamic theory has its own perspective, thus ranging us with numerous experimental findings and studies. According to Freud, the psychodynamic theory has developed from the psychosexual stages of an individual; in terms of normal development, at which, is a start at birth and throughout his adulthood. There are multiple factors structuring of human personality; and therefore, Freud had introduced us his theory in achieving it from the state of the unawareness. Ermann also focused on the same idea, indeed he presented his psychoanalytical research in an article titled, "You touched my heart": Modes of memory and psychoanalytic technique. His concentration was upon the procedural state of the mind as well as referring back to the
One advantage of Freud’s concept of the ego, id and superego in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour is that it gives a good overall description of development of the human psyche. It recognises the
Think back to your childhood and try to remember a time where you felt lost or confused about your own sense of self, or maybe you saw others and wondered why you didn’t like the same things that they did. These moments and feelings directly relate to the psychoanalytical perspectives in childhood today. (verywell.com/child-development-theories, “2016) This paper discusses two major theorists who contributed a range of theories and stages to explain the psychoanalytical development among children. Our first theorist, Sigmund Freud,
Sigmund Freud's revolutionary ideas have set the standard for modern psychoanalysis in which students of psychology can learn from his ideas spread from the field of medicine to daily living. His studies in areas such as unconsciousness, dreams, sexuality, the Oedipus complex, and sexual maladjustments laid the foundation for future studies. In result, better understanding of the small things, which shape our lives.
Personality is the enduring and unique cluster of characteristics that may change in response to different situations. It can be asses via different approaches such as Self-report or objective inventories, projective techniques, clinical interviews, behavioural assessment procedures and thought and experience-sampling procedures. In the study of personality ideographic research and nomothetic research are used and the major methods that the clinical method, the experimental method and the correlational method.
One of the most intriguing aspects of psychology is child development, it greatly impacts the rest of our lives and ultimate helps determine who we become as an adult. From a psychoanalytical perspective there are two great theorists, Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson.
It is difficult to summarize psychodynamic theory without a brief discussion of Freud. Sigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalysis, the father of psychodynamic theory, and in effect the father of modern psychotherapy. Freud's notions retain quite a bit of popularity, especially his ideas that things are not what they seem on the surface. Because of his understanding of the mind and behavior, Freud considered that overt behaviors were not always self-explanatory (or perhaps "not often explanatory" would be the better term). Instead, these overt or manifest behaviors represent some hidden motive. Sigmund Freud was trained as a neurologist and specialized in the treatment of nervous disorders. His early training involved using hypnosis with the French neurologist Jean Charcot in the treatment of hysteria, the presentation of baffling physical symptoms (mostly in young women) that appeared to have no physical origin (Hall, Lindzey, & Campbell, 1998). Freud also partnered with the Viennese physician Josef Breuer who practiced a revolutionary "talking cure" to reduce patients' symptoms by talking with them about how they felt as well as using hypnosis to remove emotional barriers to their feelings. He eventually abandoned the use of hypnosis in favor of a process he termed "free association" in which he had patients talk about what was on their minds without censoring their train of thought. This led Freud to develop his theory of the human mind as a complex system that is