Father of Psychology! Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud

Theory of Personality Development Believed personality develops through a series of childhood stages If the stages are completed successfully, the result is a healthy personality.

Freud’s Stages Stage 1: The oral stage Last from birth to 18 months Primary source of interaction occurs through mouth Mouth for eating, and infant gets pleasure from oral stimulation through tasting and sucking. Child depends on caregiver to feed them, they develop a sense of trust and comfort through oral stimulation.

Child must become less dependant on caretakers, if not child fixates at this stage and would have issues with dependency and aggression. Could cause problems with drinking, smoking, and nail biting.

Stage 2: The Anal Stage

Primary focus was on controlling bladder and bowel movements. Success depends on parents toilet training approach. If parents praise and reward If parents punish, ridicule or shame a child for accidents If approach too lenient, an anal expulsive personality can develop = messy, wasteful or destructive personality If too strict = becomes orderly, rigid,obsessive.

Stage 3: Phallic Stage

Focus on genitals Discover differences between males and females Boys begin to view father as a rival for their mothers affection ( child fears punishment from father for feeling this way) Oedipus complex Young girls experience penis envy ( electra complex) Child realizes and begins to identify with the same sex parent as a means of possessing the other parent. Believed that females never resolve their penis envy and are somewhat fixated at this stage.

Stage 4: The Latent Period 6- puberty ( around 12) Development of the ego and superego Become more concerned with relationships, hobbies interests Time of exploration sexual energy still present, but is directed into other areas; intellectual pursuits and social Important in development of social and communication skills and self confidence.

Stage 5: The Genital Stage Begins at puberty Resurgence of the sex drive Strong sexual interest in the opposite sex If all other stages were completed successfully the individual should be well balanced warm and caring Goal of stage is to establish a balance between life areas.

Psychoanalytic theory of personality: Composed of three elements These 3 elements work together to create complex human behaviours.

The Id Only part of personality present at birth Unconscious ( includes instinct and primitive behaviours) Source of all psychic energy,making it the primary component of personality

The Ego Part of personality responsible for dealing with reality. Develops from the id, and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. Present in conscious, and unconscious mind Operates on reality principle( strives to satisfy the id’s desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways.

The Superego Last to develop Holds all our moral standards that we get from parents and society ( sense of right and wrong) Provides guidelines for making judgements Emerges at around 5 Acts to perfect and civilize our behaviour. Works to suppress unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards.

Group Activity 1) In your groups please come up with strengths and weaknesses to this theory. 2) In your groups you are to pretend that one member is Sigmund Freud and the other member is a patient coming to him for help. You are to develop a problem, and scenario where Feud can help the patient to overcome their problems based on his theory of personality development. Each group must have a script for their scenarios.