Post by David Ibarra on Oct 19, 2015 0:19:45 GMT
Sigmund Freud was an Australian neurologist who is considered to be the father of modern psychology. Freud studied the human mind in more depth than any other psychologist prior to him. He is also known as the father of psychoanalysis; a theory that is used for treating patients with mental illness' and also a theory which explains human behavior. This theory can be simply explained with three terms; the id, ego and superego. This is what is known as the psychic apparatus.
The id, ego and superego can be best illustrated by child development. Since the birth of a child, they begin to observe the world around them and absorb information into their psyche. Everything that they observe with their senses is being processed in their psyche and in turn, aid them in the development of their personality as an adult. Although, as a baby, there are things that are thought to be more instinctual or in other words, nature rather than nurture. This is what is known as the id. The id is the impulsive and unconscious part of our psyche that responds directly to the instincts. It is composed of all of the biological components of our mind and is a crucial component to our survival. The id seeks to satisfy our desires regardless if it breaks the rules of social normality. As a baby we do things impulsively to satisfy a desire. For example, if a baby is hungry, they will continue to cry until they get fed or in other words satisfy this desire. The baby does not care that the crying may annoy other people. All the baby cares about in this moment is getting some food. The id also consists of actions such as breathing and pain. When it comes to pain, if a baby feels something that may be uncomfortable it will cry. These are all things that we do or experience without control. For the beginning stages of our development, we do everything impulsively and subconsciously. As we get older, we gain the ability to think independently and make decisions for ourselves. These are actions that are controlled by the ego. The ego can be described as the decision making area of our personality. The ego is thought to work logically and through reason. The ego seeks to satisfy the id but in a way that is more realistic and also seeks satisfies social norms. As we get older, we begin to learn what is considered good and bad. We learn social norms and what we can and cannot do in certain situations. For example, if i am eating dinner with my family and i am thirsty, i have 2 choices. I can either get up and serve myself more water(Ego) or i can reach across the table and take my sister's drink(Id). As you can see one of these actions is more impulsive while the other is more logical and would satisfy social norms. In a sense, the ego is what keeps the id in check to make sure we do not get out of hand. As we observe the world around us we begin to pick up certain habits and begin to learn morals. These morals that we learn mainly come from our parents. This is what is known as the Superego. The superego takes values and morals that we have learned and incorporates them into real life situations. The Superego begins to develop around ages 3-5. As oppose to the ego, the superego is moralistic rather than purely realistic. In school we are pressured to fit in with everyone else. Sometimes we may do things that are wrong in order to acquire the approval of others. The Superego will keep us in check so that we do not do something that is morally wrong. For example, If a kid is being bullied we may feel tempted to join in order to gain approval of ones doing the bullying. Although, the superego will pull us back. These characteristics are essential to our survival in society.
