Internal Assignment 1

Internal Assignment

Anika Mittal

20/1911

Zakir Husain Delhi College, Delhi

Introduction to Psychology

Mrs. Pavani Tyagi

February 27, 2021

Internal Assignment 2

INTERNAL ASSIGNMENT

Question: Write in detail about the psychoanalytic theory of personality development.

Answer:

PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
The psychoanalytic theory was founded by Sigmund Freud. It is a set of philosophical
aspects of human nature and it is both an approach to therapy and a theory of personality. This
theory emphasizes the unconscious motivation and, according to Freud, the main cause of
behavior lies in the unconscious mind.

LEVEL OF MENTAL LIFE

1. Unconscious - The unconscious contains all the feelings, urges, or instincts that are
beyond our awareness. But it affects one’s expressions, feelings, actions, etc.
Example: Slip of tongue, dreams, wishes, etc.
2. Pre Conscious - The preconscious contains the facts stored in a part of the brain, which
is not conscious but is available for possible use in the future.
For example, a person will never think of his/her home address at that moment but when
his/her friend asks for it, he/she can easily recall it.
3. Conscious - The conscious is the only level of mental life that is directly available to a
person. It is awareness of one’s own mental process such as thoughts and feelings.

STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY
The structure of personality consists of three parts:
1. Id - Id operates on the pleasure principle (gaining pleasure or avoiding pain). The Id is
driven by sexual and aggressive urges. Infants are born with Id intact.
2. Ego - The ego operates on the reality principle, i.e., it does realistic and logical thinking.
Ego is the balance between Id and Superego which is why it is the rational level of
personality.
3. Superego - The superego operates on the moral principle, making it differentiate
between good and bad, and right and wrong. It is partially unconscious. If people follow
their superego, they will feel proud but if they do not follow it, they will feel guilty and
anxious.

For example,

I want to eat chocolate! Eats a small bar of chocolate I am on a diet!

ID EGO SUPEREGO
Internal Assignment 3

PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES
According to Freud, children progress through five psychosexual stages during
psychosexual development. A person becomes ‘fixated’ or gets stuck in a stage when a basic
need is not met, therefore that person will face difficulty in transiting to another stage.
1. Oral Stage - The oral stage starts from the birth of a child to 18 months of age. The
pleasure center is the mouth during this time period which is seen as sucking and biting.
Fixation:
● If a child is overstimulated in this stage, as an adult he/she may become
dependant on cigarettes or alcohol, become a chatterbox, or derive pleasure from
acquiring possessions (collect things).
● If a child is under-stimulated in this stage, as an adult she/he will make bitingly
sarcastic remarks or be argumentative.
2. Anal Stage - This stage starts from 18 months until 3 years. The pleasure focuses on the
bowel movement (withholding/eliminating feces).
Fixation:
● If parents over-emphasize pooty training, the child develops a retentive character.
He/she will become obstinate and stingy.
● If parents neglect potty training, the child develops exclusive traits such as bad
temper, cruelty, and messy disorderliness.
3. Phallic Stage - It lasts from 3 years to 6 yeast of age. The pleasure zone is the sex
organs/genitals.
Fixation:
● Oedipus complex in males / Electra complex in female: The boy will have the
desire to possess his mother and displace his father and the girl will want to
possess the father and remove her mother.
● The child who had been fixated in this stage will develop a phallic character, such
as reckless, proud, and vain This conflict can also cause the child to be afraid of
close relationship and weak sexual identity.
4. Latency Stage - It occurs from 6 years to 11 years or until puberty. No fixations occur
as the child’s energy is focused on peer activities and personal mastery of learning and
physical skills.
5. Genital Stage - This stage starts from 12 years onwards. During this stage Sexual interest
in opposite-sex increases. The child improves their personal identities, develop caring
feeling towards others, establish a loving and sexual relationship and progress in
successful careers.
Fixation: Frigidity, impotence, and unsatisfactory relationship.
Internal Assignment 4

DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Defense mechanisms are invented by the Ego in an attempt to resolve the conflict
between Id and Superego – so that personality can operate in a healthy manner. It denies/distort
reality while operating at an unconscious level. If it is used once a while, the purpose of using it
is to reduce stress. But if it is used frequently, it means the individual is trying to avoid facing the
reality.
Following are some of the defense mechanisms:
1. Repression - It is the basic defense mechanism. Unpleasant experiences are stored deep
in the subconscious mind and cant be access by the conscious mind. For example, an
accident victim nearly dies but remembers none of the details of the accident.
2. Displacement - It is the diversion of emotions such as anger from the original source to a
substitute target. For example, Angered by a neighbor’s hateful comment, a mother
punishes her child for accidentally spilling her drinks.
3. Rationalization - Developing false though plausible excuses to justify irrational and/or
unacceptable behavior. For example, stealing from a store and justifying it by saying,
“They make millions of dollars.”
4. Denial - Denial is when the reality is distorted to make it suit the individual’s wishes. For
example, an alcoholic fails to acknowledge that he/she is addicted to alcohol.
5. Regression - Regression is reverting to childlike patterns of behavior. For example, after
Lucy’s parents got a divorce, she refused to sleep alone in her room and crawled into bed
with her mother.
6. Reaction Formation - Thinking or behaving in a way that is the extreme opposite to
those that are of real intention. For example, a woman who loves an unobtainable man
and behaves as though she hates him.
7. Projection - Projection of one’s own feelings or thoughts onto someone else. For
example, a person in an extremely bad mood accuses his/her family members of being
hard to get along with.