Models of human behaviour

The ID:

The id

According to Freud, we are born with our

Id.

In Psychoanalytical theory, it is the part of the

personality

which contains our primitive impulses such as sex, anger, andhunger. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows usto get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our

pleasure principle.

In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with noconsideration for the reality of the situation. When a child is hungry, the id wants food,and therefore the child cries.

The ego:

The ego

Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop. Freud called this part the

Ego.

It is the part of the personality which maintains a balance between our impulses (id) and our conscience (superego). The ego is based on the

reality principle

.

The superego:

The superego

By the age of five the

Superego

develops. The Superego is the part of the personality thatrepresents the conscience. It is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral andethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers. Many equate the superego with theconscience as it dictates our belief of right and wrong.In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy theneeds of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation.

States of mind

Unconscious

Freud believed that the majority of what we experience in our lives, the underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a conscious level.He believed that most of what drives us is buried in our

Unconscious

Preconscious

Conscious

The divisions of mind

Freud also believed that everything we are aware of is stored in our

Conscious

. At any given time, we are only aware of a very small part of what makes up our personality;most of what we are is buried and inaccessible.

The final part is the

preconscious

and subconscious. This is the part of us that we canaccess if prompted, but is not in our active conscious. Its right below the surface, butstill buried somewhat unless we search for it.

Scientific Experiment

Scientific experiment

Often a demanding process, but results have helped us learn a great deal about our behaviors,the effect our environment has on us, how we learn new behaviors, and what motivates us to change or remain the same. Behaviorism traces its roots to the early part of the 20th century, a time when many psychologists emphasized self-analysis of mental processes (

introspection

) or the

psychoanalytic theory

of Sigmund Freud.

By emphasizing mental processes, it places itself in opposition to behaviorism, which largely ignores mental processes. (

Not measurable directly

).Today, the cognitive approach has overtaken behaviorism in terms of popularity, and is one of the dominant approaches in contemporary psychology. (Especially in treatment)

Emphasis

Mind Body Connection

Mind body connection

Another question which raised many controversies among scientists is the issue of the mind body connections. Most experts in the field of psychology and biology agree that the mind and the body are connected in more complex ways than we can even comprehend. Research constantly shows us that the way we think affects the way we behave, the way we feel, and the way our body’s respond.

Understanding Development

Understanding development

Psychologists have also been interested in the changes that occur during our lives since the very beginnings of the discipline. John B. Watson, in his famous statement about being able

to shape any child to achieve any career

, was making an assertion about the power of the environment to shape development. Others, from Francis Galeton onward, have asserted that our destiny is in our genes.