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Sigmund Freud Research Paper

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Sigmund Freud was a Viennese physician who developed the psychoanalytic theory or psychoanalytic perspective. He believed that human behavior was the result of interactions between three parts of a person's personality which are the id, ego, and superego. This theory places considerable significance on the role of unconscious psychological conflicts in forming one's personality and behavior. Spirited interactions between these fundamental parts of the personality are believed to develop through five psychosexual stages of development. The id, is the "I want to do that now!" part. This part is the unconscious, largest portion of the mind and very much concerned with immediate satisfaction of basic physical needs and urges. The id contains …show more content…

It is the conscious part that the world or life has modified. The ego is more realistic in nature. Freud gave the perfect analogy between the id and the ego when he relates the id to a horse and the ego to the rider of the horse. The ego is what veers the id into appropriate conduct. The superego is developed between the ages of three and six. It is also known as the conscience. The superego embraces the values and morals which are learned from parents and others in society. The sugerego develops over time and serves as a sort of "moral compass" for the child. It learns what is right and wrong through society. For example, a child would not walk past someone drinking a milkshake and take that milkshake away from them. They know it is wrong and that it is rude to do …show more content…

He believed that there were five different stages, each with a different focus. The five stages are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. This became his psychosexual theory of development where each psychosexual stage was linked to a particular pleasure. The oral stage is from birth to one year old and relates to a baby's need to suck either a breast or a bottle. Freud maintained that if those needs were not met, the child would resort to sucking their thumb, biting their fingernails, an overindulgence in food and/or smoking. The anal stage is from one to three years of age. Freud believed that toddlers and preschool age children took delight in holding their bodily functions, such as urine and feces. He claimed that if parents would potty train too early or make unreasonable demands up a child, that child could become obsessive compulsive. When a child is between the ages of three and six years of age, the child is in the phallic stage, according to Freud. Freud believed at this age, the main source of the libido was the genitals and the differences between boys and girls are discovered. He believed that boys at this age begin to see their fathers as competitors for the attention of their mother, fearing punishment will be inevitable for feeling this particular way. He claimed that because of this, the formation of the superego occurs. The The Latency stage occurs between the ages of

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