WEEK 8 PSYCHOLOGY CD - Essay Example

Assignment Due Psychology Week 8 Give a brief explanation of Freuds model of personality, including the id, ego, and superego. Sigmund Freud’s stages of psychosexual development explains that he believed that people develop through stages, primarily, based on erogenous zones that act as developmental keystones; the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages. Freud’s overall theory of personality has several active elements that are important to address. The Id, which we are born with, and is what allows infants to attain the necessities of life.

The Id wants what it wants when it wants it without regard for others or consequences after the fact. The Ego, which we develop as we become toddlers, is well aware of reality and the wants and needs of others. The Superego, which develops at about 5 years of age, it brings one the sense of morality, our ability to negotiate right and wrong. Freud theorized that the majority of what we know is buried within our unconscious mind, while all that we are aware of is in the limited areas of our conscious mind.

The preconscious or subconscious is what we can access when needed, but is not actively a part of our everyday thoughts, like the names of old school friends. (Heffner 1)2. Give a brief explanation of one of the Neo-Freudian psychoanalytic theories, including the theorist and key concepts. Neo-Freudians are students of Freud’s theories and teachings; however they either disagreed with elements of the accepted theories or adapted variant theories of their own. Generally, most Neo-Freudians maintained Freud’s ideals on focus on the unconscious, past and childhood, and anxiety and defense mechanisms, however they tended to vary in that they focused more on adulthood, ego relevance, and encouraged constructive and helpful behaviors.

Carl Jung is a famous Neo-Freudian who was once a direct student of Freud until the relationship ended unpleasantly. Jung focused much of his theories on the idea of “collective consciousness” and the concept that one’s ego can overcome instinctual drives in motivating a person’s behavior. He encouraged that one must “self realize” through gaining individualism and transcendence, therefore gaining balance of the psyche as a whole.(Prager )3. Give a brief explanation of one of the learning theories including the theorist and key concepts.

Albert Bandura defined aggressive behavior as the,”…intentional casual behavior that results in injury to a person or destruction of property.”(qtd. in Hart, and Kritsonis 3) That said, he believed that such behavior was either learned through living experiences or via a social learning “observation-modeling” from others. The famous “BOBO Doll Experiment,” which involved testing children exposed to aggressive and violent imagery fully hoping to prove that they would then react in kind, per what they had seen, when they became frustrated.

The outcomes were promising and did not bode well for “media.” Television, film, radio, and, today of course, the internet, all would then play a huge role in encouraging learned aggression. Critics of the study point out that the children used in the study were not diverse enough to gain a universal result, they were primarily pulled from economically sound white communities. So today, we might see that the study was not ideal but Bandura’s overall theory is not without merit. (Hart, and Kritsonis 4-5) Intervention, ideally, is the best means to avoid the learned behaviors from media sources.

Making certain that the children in one’s life are aware of the distinct difference between what is acted or pretend aggression and violence and what is not. 4. Give a brief explanation of one of the humanistic theories including the theorist and key concepts. Considered one of the most important psychoanalysts, since Jung, is Abraham Maslow. Maslow believed in the idea of the “self-actualizing” being,”…the supreme human type who becomes everything he is capable of becoming.”(Valiunas ) In Maslow’s eyes the appropriate question is not why Beethoven was the prodigy that he was, but why aren’t all people like Beethoven?

At its core Maslow was encouraging mankind to become the best that ones nature will allow them to be. This is a much more wholesome reality of theories that have been misused and misinterpreted since the 1960s. Many have perceived his theories as an excuse for complacency and laziness, as opposed to an active effort to improve one’s self.5. Which theory do you believe is the most credible? Why? Of the different theorists that have been reviewed, there is no single idea that can be regarded as universally ideal.

Freud, although a ground-breaker in the realm of psychological studies, was biased in much of his perspectives; as in his fixation with sexuality as the supreme core of human behaviors. Bandura’s studies, although holding merit, may show that the media can have negative influences on some children, but much of that reality can be rectified by alert and instructive parents. Maslow, however often misunderstood, still leaves behind much of what we would call “hard” science for a very philosophical approach.

Ultimately, it is Jung’s overall theory that appears to balance best the scientific and philosophical elements that speaks to mankind as both a physical animal and as a being capable of more at the same time.Works CitedHart, Karen E., and William Allan Kritsonis. "Critical Analysis of an Original Writing on a Social Learning Theory: Imitation of Film-Aggressive Models By Albert Bandura, Dorothea Ross, and Sheila A. Ross(1963)." National Forum of the Applied Educational Research Journal . 20.3 (2006): 1-7. Web. 3 Sep. 2012. http://www.

nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Hart,%20Karen%20E,%20Imitation%20of%20Film-Mediated%20Aggressive%20Models.pdfHeffner, Christopher L. Psychology 101. AllPsych Online: The Virtual Psychology, 2011. 1. eBook. .Prager , Karen J.”"Neo-Freudian" Approaches." The University of Texas at Dallas. The University of Texas at Dallas, n.d. Web. 3 Sep 2012..Valiunas, Algis. "Abraham Maslow and the All-American Self." New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society. Fall.33 (2011): n. page. Web. 3 Sep. 2012. .