Sunday, April 6, 2008

Bibliography

LInks to Pictures:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Structural-Iceberg.svg/280px-Structural-Iceberg.svg.png

http://www.tamilnation.org/images/art/penn/a22.JPG

http://www.thepsychfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/defensemechanismsdn.jpg

http://fac.hsu.edu/langlet/lectures/dev/Erikson/Erikson8.gif

http://modoathii.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/zi070815.gif

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Karen_Horney_1938.jpg

http://staff.gc.maricopa.edu/~jpell/blackboard/MASLOW.JPG

http://www.kaboodle.com/hi/img/2/0/0/28/4/AAAAAhdeyzoAAAAAAChL4A.jpg

http://c.myspace.com/Groups/00000/96/08/208069_m.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HXXM0JGCL._AA240_.jpg


Information for Context Sources, as well as helpful links:::

http://allpsych.com/psychology101/ego.html

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9041087/Karen-Horney

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm

Approaches to Psychology Textbook -- William E. Glassman and Marilyn Hadad

http://www.freudfile.org/

Entry #11: Bonus – Reflection on Writing the Psychology Blogs:

To me, these psychology blogs had two benefits: First, it helped me learn more about the actual concepts – people can listen to lectures all day long everyday and the information still won’t sink in until they can reiterate it and apply it to their own lives. One of the things that I love about psychology is that it is extremely important in my everyday life and that I can apply it in my interactions. The other way that I benefited from this blog assignment is that because it asked for personal experiences and examples, not only did I have to relate it to myself, hence making it more likely that I will remember it, but also it helped me begin self reflection. I have always been a “thinker” – I like to contemplate decisions before I make them, and I always think about the outcomes of things. But this made me think in a different way – it made me contemplate how I fit into all of these theories. The one that I think I benefited from the most was the last one, the self case study. I think this because this once gave me more freedom to explore my past and present without constraints of a theory, and it helped me think about my behavior and sources of motivation as a whole instead of as within each theorist’s ideas. This blog was a lot of work – all in all, I wrote almost 9,000 words! But I definitely see the benefits of this work, and for that I am glad.
Entry #10 – A self case study:

One of the most useful ways of examining different aspects of psychology is through the use of case studies. A case study is a detailed description of a single individual. A good case study “captures the essence” of a particular individual’s behavior. The value of this research method is that it provides good contextual detail for the behavior of the individual. Case studies originally rose out of medical practice, where developing a clear picture of a person’s medical history would help reach a correct diagnosis. Many basic advances have come from the use of case studies, particularly in the area of brain function. However, there are some limitations to case studies. One important one is representative ness – a case study is a sample of one and so a researcher must be careful not to generalize about general populations. However, in many cases important aspects of a case may in fact be applicable to a broader group.

A self case study is taking yourself as a case study – or in other words writing a psychological autobiography, which is a reflection on who you are and where you are going in the context of psychology. To do my psychological case study, I am going break it up by answering a series of questions that will together form my self case study.
Who are you?
Wow – this is a question that I think is hard for ANYONE to answer. (In all honesty, I’m not sure why I set myself up to attempt to answer this one!) I think the best way for me to describe who I am is in a series of words and phrases: typical teenager, inquisitive, Jewish culturally but not religiously, questioning, curious, easily captivated, likes to try new things, American living in India, an optimist in life but a pessimist in love, in love, appreciative of the little things, open, interested. In my mind, I think my superego is often dominating the conflict, although often in situations, especially since I have become a teenager, my id seems to have more power, but my ego also maintains my good grades and good relations with my family, friends and significant other (at least for the most part).
What incidents seem especially important in shaping who you are?
There are many incidents that seem important to me in shaping who I am – the first, I think, is my relationship with my sister. While we were very close from the time we were little babies until I was about 11, we grew apart – probably because of our age difference. But when I turned 14 we became so much closer, and by the time I left for India right before I turned 16, she was one of my best friends. While I used to feel extremely inadequate in her shadow, I have learned that we are different people with different ambitions and personalities and that while we may fight for some of the same things, such as our parents attention, there is no need to. I used to try to reflect her actions, but after being away from her I realize that what she did was open me up to new things and help me gain independence, once I came to terms with the fact that I am not supposed to be like her in every sense. Another extremely important incident that has shaped who I am is coming to India – being thrown into a situation where you don’t know anyone and you are expected to live with all these people from different cultures for a year, and work with them every day, with no safety net is a scary but life changing thing. I have changed my views on a lot of things and become much more open to experimenting with things in life – I have chosen to try to live life to the fullest, although my studies are still a top priority.
Another extremely important event in my life that has changed the way that I feel about things and they way I think about things, as well as I behave is when I found out that my mother has Huntington’s disease. It’s a genetic disease that both my sister and I tested negative for, but ever since my more has been diagnosed the dynamics of the relationship have changed – I take care of her instead of the other way around. It’s been as if I have grown up without a mother from the time I was around 10 years and her disease has only gotten worse and worse. At first it was extremely hard for me to cope – I thought that if I ignored it or neglected it it would just disappear – it took me about two years from the time I found out to tell all of my close friends. But I have definitely developed as a person since then and I am comfortable talking about it and telling new people --- it’s a part of my life and if they aren’t going to accept it, that’s their problem. I try to help people understand how it has changed me – it made me grow up faster, confront my inner strength, and mature differently. I think that it follows those sayings: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. While this disease may be killing my mother, I am not going to let it kill me – I will bend my life to this disease, but in no way will I compromise my life for it. It has added responsibility and different dynamics within my family, but once you learn how to deal with it and you come to terms with it, I think that it has only made me a better person.
What is your heart’s longing?
I have never wanted anything more than to be happy. I don’t care if am successful or fulfill my parents expectations of me, because I have come to find that if you are happy, the people who truly care about you will support you because everyone knows that all we can ask for from life is happiness.
Describe your spiritual life and development.
I grew up in a very Jewish household – my mom is a Rabbi! As I grew up a big part of my life was the Jewish community, although I have never completely shared their beliefs in many respects, I think that the morals that come with the religion are respectful and good. The Jewish lifestyle was always important to me but since coming to India, where I have pretty much had to sacrifice that lifestyle. But, since coming here I have been thinking more and more about organized religion and realizing all of it’s negative aspects, and I have grown to think about and question the existence of god more. If I had to describe my personal religious status, I would call myself a Agnostic Culturally Jewish Theoretically Quaker because while I have not decided about the existence of god, I am very strongly culturally Jewish but as a form of worship I like the Quaker style, as well as what they stand for. My school in the states is a Quaker school and so I have a lot of interaction with Quakerism and worship in the Quaker way once a week with the rest of the school.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Entry #9 - The phenomenological perspective


The humanistic approach as a variety of theorists, and many of them applied different labels such as existential or phenomenological to their psychology. In the phenomenological viewpoint, there are two basic assumptions. The first is that behavior must be understood in terms of the subjective experience of the individual. Basically, if you want to understand behavior, you must first understand the person producing the behavior and how they see the world. The second assumption is that behavior is not constrained by either past experiences nor current circumstances. 
Rogers is one of the theorists involved in the phenomenal field. According to him we all live in a world of our own creation formed by our processes of perception. He referred to each individuals perception of reality as his or her phenomenal field. He also said that we have perceptual processes that structure our experiences of the world according to "highly individual realities". In many cases our personal perceptions (subjective reality) are in accordance with the "objective reality" or external world. According to Rogers we each live in our own subjective realities that can only be known completely by ourselves. It is this individual (or phenomenological) perception of reality rather than the objective reality that ultimately determines behavior. 
I think that this is a very interesting view of psychology and how our behavior is determined, and I agree with it to a certain extent. I definitely have a subjective reality that is sometimes quite different from the objective reality. One good example of this is how I see myself in my mind's eye - when I think of myself (physically) in my mind, I look different than I do in real life. It's not very different, but it's little things, and usually things that change on a daily basis - like how my hair is. While this probably does not affect my life much, as I am not particularly concerned about how I look, nor do I view myself in my mind's eye very often, it does show the gap between our personal subjective realities and the objective reality. 
The famous image that I attached to this post depicts someone at odds with the relation between their subjective reality and the external world or objective reality. 

Entry #8 - Rogers conditional and unconditional positive regard


Rogers saw the need for positive regard, in the form of approval and love as universal. He said that we would ideally receive this type of regard on a free and open basis as both children and adults. He believed in unconditional positive regard, which is acceptance and caring extended simply because the person is a human being. Many religions have urged people to accept this attitude but it is a very difficult thing to adopt all of the time and always put into practice. Roger called regard that is given only for meeting certain standards of behaviour conditional positive regard. As children, we are rewarded for doing little things like sharing or cleaning up our rooms and in later life this trend continues- positive regard is given for good preformance at school or work. We also find that our friends will encourage some actions and scorn others (otherwise known as the phenomenon "peer pressure"). The problem with conditional positive regard is that it often leaves the person feeling that it is their self, not their behaviour that is unacceptable. Ideally it should be possible to value a person as a human being without implying that you accept all of their actions (basically regard for the person would be unconditional but regard for their actions would be conditional). In practice however, this does not work out quite so well because both the person giving regard and the person receiving regard find the distinction between the person and the action hard to maintain. When one's actions are criticized, it is hard to not take it as one's general competence and worth as a human. 
I think that Rogers brings up an interesting point in conditional and unconditional positive regard. I can think of times when i have felt conditional positive regard from family and friends. One example that is a fairly prevailing things is that I feel as if I will only get positive regard and love from my parents if I do well in school and get into a good college, and perhaps more importantly, live up to the standards that my sister set for me, even though I know that they will love me no matter what. I know that they have unconditional positive regard to me, even though they have conditional positive regard towards my actions. It is sometimes hard to seperate these two though, and I think this becomes more difficult with people that are not quite as stable in life as your family -- like your friends or someone you are in a relationship with. While your family (hopefully!) will always be there, through the good and the bad, it is harder to take conditional positive regard from people who are not as accountable in the future. 
The picture attached to this post is of Carl Rogers, the theorist attached to unconditional and conditional positive regard. 

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Entry #7 - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs


Maslow was a humanistic theorist who recognized the complexity of motivation and so sought to describe it in terms of a hierarchy of needs - which is a model of basic human needs, structured in a hierarchical way. The most basic needs are those which are linked to our survival - our physiological needs for food, air, sleep, etc. When these needs go unfulfilled, nothing else matters, but once these needs are fulfilled, other types of needs are experienced. The next level of our needs are our safety needs which relate to both physical and psychological safety. The next level of needs are related to love and belongingness - giving and receiving acceptance and affection. These needs are usually fulfilled by our interactions with family and friends. There are many phenomena that reflect the human need for this level, such as dating clubs and personal ads. The next level up on the hierarchy is esteem needs - this means that the individual feels a need to feel self respect and the sense of being competent at what one does and receiving regard from others. 
Maslow believes that the more basic the need the more powerfully it is experienced and the more difficult it is to suppress or ignore. For this reason, the most basic needs are universally experienced, where as the higher needs are less commonly experienced. Maslow did believe, however, that the hierarchy is not completely rigid - this qualifies many special situations such as parental sacrifice. The highest level of the hierarchy of needs is self actualization, but Maslow believes that most people will rarely experience a strong need for self actualization because the lower needs are rarely ever completely satisfied.  A self actualized person, according to Maslow, has most or all of these characteristics: accurate perception of reality, enjoyment of new experiences, tendency to have peak experiences, clear moral standards, sense of humour, feeling of kinship with all people, close friendships, democratic character accepting others, need for privacy, independence from culture and environment,  creativity, spontaneity, problem centred rather than self centred, acceptance of human nature and resistance to conformity.  
Maslow's hierarchy of needs are very interesting theory as to our needs and how and in what order they need to be fulfilled. I think that both my physiological and safety needs are completely fulfilled -- I am not going hungary or being deprived of water (although sometimes I could use a little more sleep!) and I always feel safe, both physically and physiologically. An example of someone whose physiological needs are not being met is someone who is experiencing malnutrition from hunger. A friend of mine was anorexic last year, and she is currently recovering, but at the time she was not having her physiological needs met. I also have another friend that is not having his safety needs met - he has an extreme phobia of falling down the stairs to his death, and this causes him a lot of anxiety, which stops his safety needs from being met. I think that while my love and belonging needs are being met fairly well, I don't think that anyone's can ever be fully met because there is always some degree of uncertainty, especially concerning the future fulfillment of that need, when there are other people involved. But for the most part I think this level is being fulfilled for me - I have a loving family and great friends and am in a relationship, and even if these things are not constant everyday - I live far away from my family and many of my friends - this needs is primarily filled. The next level of need fulfillment is esteem - I think that this level is generally well fulfilled in my case, although because I have not have a very stable living situation in the recent past, and I have changed in personality significantly in recent years, this is a much more fluctuating one, and I have had higher or lower self esteem depending on my friendship/family situation. Currently I have medium level self esteem - while I believe and have faith in myself, my self esteem is definitely not as high as it could be - I am more easily swayed by other people's opinions than I would like and I am more sensitive towards and dependent on other people than I would like. 
While I think I have some of the qualities of a self actualized person, I think that in realizing that goal I still have a long way to go. 
The attached picture is pyramid displaying the hierarchy of needs. 

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Entry #6 - Horney's Basic Evils


Karen Horney was one of the first female analysts and was extremely critical of the male centered ideas in Freud's theories. She was particularly focused on Freud's notion of penis envy or the idea that women feel inferior to men. She in fact argued that women and physiologically superior. Despite of these differences she agreed with Freud and Adler that early childhood is extremely important in shaping personality. She came up with some of her own theories, too - one of them being about the "basic evils".

Her theory says that unconscious conflict is between hostility towards unloving parents and anxious helplessness. The "basic evils" that parents can commit to create this unconscious conflict are: domination, isolation, overprotection, hostility, indifference, inconsistent behaviour, disparagement, parental discord, lack of respect and guidance and lack of encouragement and warmth. Horney also came up with ways that people cope with basic evil as part of her theory. The first is moving towards others, or "compliance". People who cope in this manner feel a need for affection and approval, want their partner to take control and restrict their life to narrow boundaries. They might think for reasoning their actions "If you love me, you will not hurt me." The second way of coping is moving against others, or "aggression". People using this type of coping mechanism feel a need for power, omnipotence and perfection. They sometimes exploit others and search for social recognition and prestige, personal admiration and personal achievement. They might think for reasoning their actions "If I have power, no one can hurt me." The third type of coping is moving away from others or "detachment". People who use this coping device feel a need to restrict their life to narrow boundaries, and want to be self sufficient, strive for perfection and unassailability. They might think for reasoning their actions "If I withdraw, nothing can hurt me."

I think that this is a very interesting theory, but I don't believe that it covers as much as it is meant to. Horney originally intended it to explain all of our unconscious conflict - using the basic evils as the reason for the conflict and the ways of coping as how we react and how it reflects in our personality and being. But I don't think that just how our parents treat us badly can account for this much of our personality and inner conflict. For example, I had a very good childhood - I love my parents dearly and they have always been very good to me - I can't think of any of the basic evils as applying to our relationship. They were not indifferent, they did not reject me, they never showed hostility or preference for my sister. They did not unfairly punish me, or ridicule, humiliate or lie to me. While I am sure that at some specific times in my childhood they did some of these things, I believe that we are all human and make mistakes. The important thing is that none of them were important or prominent in my childhood or occur regularly today. 

As far as my personal experience with these coping mechanisms that she suggested, when I read about them I automatically thought of people I know who show these signs or mannerisms, and I also reflected upon which ones of these I see in myself. To begin with, I have a friend back home in the states who comes under the "compliance" coping device - she is always looking for approval from her friends, and teachers and is extremely affectionate and expects the same back when she is in a relationship, and when she is not in a relationship is always looking for someone who will show unconditional love and caring towards her. She does not like to push boundaries or do things that are outside of her comfort zone. I see some of these qualities in myself, but upon reflecting on these three coping mechanisms, I realized that I use all of them, changing which on on what situation I am in. For example, I have a need for affection and approval from friends, family and when I am in a relationship, but I often combine this coping mechanism with "aggression" in that I unconsciously feel better about being "vunerable" in a relationship if I have personal accomplishments that are independent of other people. I also unconsciously use detachment in some situations in that I dislike being dependent on others and like to be completely self sufficient. 

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Entry #5 - Alfred Adler


Alfred Adler was another psychodynamic theorist who studied inferiority, superiority, associated complexes and compensation. His views were mainly shaped by his interest in organic dysfunctions and Darwinism theory. His notion of inferiority is that all children experience a sense of inferiority because of their size and dependence on others. He said that this inferiority will lead to attempts at overcoming the perceived weakness, or otherwise compensating. He believed that this process is motivated by the generalized drive known as "striving for superiority". As opposed to Freud's emphasis on sexual and aggressive drives, Adler saw motivation as the desire for mastery over oneself and a striving for power. He saw striving for superiority as a lifelong process that is guided by conscious goals and values rather than but forces of the unconscious. For Adler, the most important influence on the development of personality is the experience of childhood inferiority. 
Some individuals have such a strong experience that they develop a lifelong sense of inferiority, otherwise known as an inferiority complex. An inferiority complex is an intense feeling of insecurity based on the failure to resolve the feelings evoked by childhood experiences of helplessness. Others develop a superiority complex which is essentially a response to feelings of inferiority and the person deals with it by attempting to mask it by adopting an attitude of exaggerated self importance. Early experiences such as having a major illness, being spoiled or being neglected can have a major impact on how the child views their own capacities which in turn affects the child's social interactions. 
I think that Adler's concept of inferiority and superiority complexes is very interesting, and valid but only to a certain extent. Unlike Adler, I do not believe that childhood experiences of inferiority have THAT big of an impact on our personalities later in life, although I agree that early experiences do help shape our view of ourself and in turn how we react to the world. On a more personal level, I do not believe that I developed a inferiority or superiority complex due to my childhood experiences. I do remember feeling more helpless when I was younger, and hence inferior. I think this feeling was especially great in my case because my older sister always had more freedom and could do more on her own than I could, so not only did I feel inferior to adults, but I felt inferior to my closest peer, my sister. I don't think this caused me to develop a complex, however, because I don't feel like I am over compensating or under compensating for this feeling of inferiority in my childhood. I have no particular reason (such as being overly pampered, neglected or having a major disease) to have some sort of distorted view of my capacities and capabilities. 
The attached picture is a comic strip depicting a comical action of someone with a inferiority complex. 

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Entry #4 - Erikson's Psychosocial Stages


Erik Erikson created his own theory of development which greatly differed from Freud's in a variety of ways. In Erikson's theory, the main drives are social ones, not sexual or aggressive ones and he believes that these are biologically based. Erikson believes that to progress through the stages, one must develop, or resolve a series of problems or conflicts which concern the individuals sense of self and relationships with other people. Also, Erikson's theory has eight stages, half of which focus on the years after puberty, although in this reflective journal I will only talk about the stages up till and including adolescence. In Erikson's opinion, personality continues to change in adulthood. 
The first of Erikson's stages occurs from the time someone is born till they are about a year and a half old. This stage is trust vs. mistrust, and involves developing trust in others as well as in oneself. This is very important for infants, as they show by their attachment to their parent's, typically their mother. I think that I learned to trust people as well as myself fairly strongly during this stage. When I was very young I was always cared for, either by my mother, father or a babysitter or other family member. Because I have a sister who is two years older than me, my mother was focused on taking care of us for the first year or so of my life, before she started to focus on work again. Also, both my parents are very trustworthy and dedicated people, so I assume that they fulfilled my need for connecting and developing trust with them. Now, I tend to be a fairly trusting person, which sometimes does not work to my benefit, but once someone proves that I should not trust them, it is very hard for me to trust that person again. I also trust myself to make good decisions and to lead my life properly, and I believe that everyone should trust themselves more than they trust other people, because they are the only ones who can ultimately control themselves. 
The second stage is from when we are around a year and a half old until we are about three years old. It is autonomy vs. shame, or learning self control. This is very commonly seen in society today -- if you spend any prolonged period of time with a toddler of this age, they are sure to break boundaries and be scolded by their parents. In most societies, this is how children learn what is allowed or is socially acceptable and what is not. While my parents have always been extremely accepting and kind with me, I am sure that there are many incidents during this stage when I was reprimanded, and it probably helped me form my idea of society and they way to act within it. 
The third stage occurs from when we are about 3 years old until we are five. It is initiative vs. guilt, and is about learning to plan and initiate new actions. We often see this in older toddlers and small children - they are just learning about the world, and they want to take initiative to explore it. They are just learning not only about the world, but also about the practicalities of life, as much as they try to avoid it. I have always been one to plan ahead to a certain extent, and I remember my parents tell me that as soon as I could walk, I did not want to be told what to do. While I am not a particularly demanding person now, they said that they used to call me "Talia the dictator" because I always took such initiative to what I wanted to do. I am very independent now and I don't like to have to rely on people for things, I am not quite as set on taking the initiative as I was during this stage. While I rarely feel shame for anything I've done, I often feel guilty, more than the average person, for little things like forgetting to call a friend back or snapping at someone when I am in a bad mood, and that could possibly be traced back to this stage. 
The fourth stage is from when we are five until we are twelve years old, and is about industry vs. inferiority. During this stage people are usually absorbed in activities like school or sports and are developing a sense of competence. During this stage I remember experiencing a real change in my level of independence and not only could I do more than before, but people trusted me to do more than I had before. I was given both more responsibility and more freedom, and I became focused on school and other activities. I have always been a very good student, and I think that probably started at this stage. I remember that while I was not quite as focused on the big picture at this time, or knowledgeable about problems around the world, I was very focused on my achievements within my own little sphere. I also remember that my main focus during this time was achievement and competence and not trying to figure out my person as a whole. 
The fifth stage, and the last one that I will reflect on, as I am still experiencing it, occurs from when we hit puberty until we are about twenty years old. It involves identity vs. role confusion and is focused on forming a clear sense of self identity. In this stage an individual seeks to create a clear sense of who they are, but failing to do so can create role confusion. Because of the self doubt and difficulties in relationships with others that sometimes occur, role confusion can trigger an identity crisis. This is a difficult stage to reflect on, because it is still going on, but I think that it is a very accurate way of describing the recent years of my life, and I think it holds true for the majority of teenagers. When reflecting on recent years, I realize how drastically I have changed - while my general personality and character traits have stayed constant, my general being and sense of self has changed. Even since coming to India at the beginning of the year my sense of identity has changed. Shifting family situations, friend groups, personal priorities and personal experiences have all contributed to my change in identity. While I have not gone through an identity crisis, I don't think I need to to establish my sense of self firmly. I am not sure if I am completely done establishing myself, and I have a feeling I will not be done until sometime after I have been in college and experienced that aspect of life. 

The other three stages are Intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair, which span respectively from 20 - 25, 25 - 65 and from 65 till death. 

The table attached displays how Erikson's stages correlate with Freuds.  

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Entry #3 - Freud's Defense Mechanisms


The ego, in trying to deal with the demands of the id, superego and external world, will invoke various defense mechanisms. Defense mechanism are techniques used by the ego to protect itself from anxiety and the threats that may rise from it. There are a number of different defense mechanisms, and the ego will often use a combination of them. There are several important things to know about defense mechanisms. First, they operate unconsciously, otherwise, they would fail to protect the ego from anxiety. Second, most defense mechanisms offer some sort of gratification in some indirect way, reducing id's demands. Third, defense mechanisms must distort reality to be effective. 
One type is repression, which is the most primitive of all defense mechanisms. It involves the blocking of id impulses at the unconscious level. Freud saw repression as universal but extremely limited. The basic problem is that it fails to resolve the demands of the id, because no gratification occurs. Also, it can require significant amounts of mental energy to maintain the blockage against the increasing pressures for gratification. Maintaining repression can take up energy normally devoted to other things, and so the ego suffers from fatigue, but because repression is unconscious the ego is unaware why it is suffering from fatigue. For this reason, depression is seen by Freudians as extreme repression. There is also a very controversial idea that traumatic memories can be repressed and later recovered. 
I think that repression is a very interesting concept, and I do believe that people repress traumatic memories or experiences, although I have doubts as to how strong one's mind can be in repressing things, and if when you repress something if it is completely in the unconscious mind. I also have doubts as to how long you can repress something for. As far as I know I am not repressing anything, but the irony of repression is that you would not know you are repressing something until it is recovered at some point in time. One example of repression however, is that sometimes children will repress incidents of sexual abuse. 
Displacement is another type which involves redirecting drive energy from one object to a substitute object. It is a very common defense mechanism and is typically when the direct expression of the drives would be too threatening. The problem with displacement is that the substitutes are unrelated to the original object, and so involves a distortion of reality. 
I think that displacement is a very commonly used defense mechanism. I know that I have used displacement before - sometimes if I get upset with someone of authority to whom I cannot retaliate, I will later take out the anger or frustration on someone else - a friend of a family member. Displacement can also be used in healthy ways - for example, I have one friend who has anger management problems, but when she bought a punching bag, she would go take her anger out of it instead of displacing that anger onto other people - her social life improved greatly and so did her upper body strength! 
Identification is another defense mechanism which involves incorporating characteristics of a drive object into one's ego. Identification often occurs initially with one's parents, but more generally it occurs mostly with individuals who are either admired or feared. Sometimes, when we are unable to directly express impulses, we may adopt the guise of a figure in whom such impulses are acceptable. In extreme forms, the identification may replace the individual's own identity. 
I think that almost everyone uses identification at some point during their lives. It is probably most common during one's teenage years, when people are still figuring out who they are in relation to their environment. I know that when I was younger, I identified with my sister because she seemed to be everything my parents wanted in a daughter - smart, athletic, friendly, involved and trustworthy. Because I also wanted to be accepted and loved equally by my parents, I identified with her. I now realize, however, that I am equally loved and accepted by my parents, even if I am not my sister - I have my own personality and I bring my own aspects to the family. 

Rationalization is another defense mechanism that involves offering an acceptable reason for behaviour in place of the true reason. This new reason is acceptable to both the ego and other people (the external world). "White Lies" is an analogy for this mechanism. Since rationalization prevents a person from recognizing the true motives for their actions, it represents a form of distortion of reality. 
I think that people use rationalization as a mechanism more than anyone would like to admit - it is so much easier for us as humans to rationalize actions that we have "unacceptable" motives for. One example of a time that I have used rationalization is when I am procrastinating. To make an excuse to not work, I'll say, "well, I can only hang out with my friends until after dinner, and then I have to go back to dorm for study hall, so I can just hang out with them now because I will have to focus later."

A fifth type is Sublimation, which os when drive energy is redirected towards a socially desirable creative activity. While sublimation is useful, because it results in a valued product, it is also limited because the gratification cannot fully satisfy the demands of the id. Also, because it requires creative talent, it is not a workable mechanism for every individual. 
I think that sublimation is a very interesting form of defense, and I believe it to be a very healthy expression of emotions and drives. I actually believe that without sublimation, many of the greatest creative masterpieces ever made would never have been created.  Art, music, writing, you name it, is powered by emotion and experience, conscious and unconscious. I know that whenever I am feeling a particular emotion intensely, I tend to write poetry - this very well may be a form of sublimation for me.  

The image attached to this post is a flow chart showing some of the different types of defense mechanisms, how they work, and examples. 

Friday, February 29, 2008

Entry #2 - Freud's Psychosexual Stages


Freud was the first to create a detailed psychological model of human development based on stages. The stages are based on biological drives. Throughout our lives, our behaviour is motivated by our basic drives. These drives, however, change during the course of our lives. The objects which are the focus of our gratification change, and in turn, so does the "mode of gratification", otherwise known as the area of the body that is the centre of gratification. Freud said that it is the shifts in mode of gratification, associated with different erogenous zones or body regions that defines the different stages of development. These stages are said to play a key role in the development of personality.
Oral Stage = the oral stage is the first of Freud's Psychosexual stages. The focus of gratification is the mouth. This stage extends from birth till about 15 months of age. An infant is satisfied by nursing - in Freud's stages, nursing is not only a mean of obtaining food, it is also a primary source of pleasure, through oral stimulation. Only the id is present at birth, and as the oral stage progresses, the beginnings of the ego are formed. One aspect of this development is body image - the recognition that one's body is different and separate from the environment. Through this realization, the child begins to understand the boundaries of the body and develops a sense of self, or an ego. One of the key experiences of the oral stages is weaning, which is when a child stops nursing and begins eating normal food. When weaning occurs, much of the intimate contact that they used to experience while feeding is lost. Freud said that this is the first major loss in the child's life, and that it affects the immediacy of obtaining gratification in future stages and the child's awareness of the external world. Freud actually saw weaning as the origin of the biblical story of being cast out of Eden. 
The oral stage - a personal reflection: 
I personally do not remember this stage in my life, as I do not have any particular memories from that early in my life. I have also not observed this stage in other people, as I am the youngest of two children in my family and I was too young to remember any of my cousins going through this stage. While I don't think I have any serious fixation formed from the oral stage, I do have a tendency to chew gum, and I like to pop my gum very loudly when I do chew it. I also have a tendency to chew on the ends of my pens in class, or to bite at my nails. 
Anal Stage = the anal stage is the second psychosexual stage. It begins at around 15 months of age and then continues till we are about three years old. The shift of the drive energy is from the mouth to the lower end of the digestive tract. Pleasure comes primarily from the process of elimination and activities related to it. As infants become toddlers, they undergo toilet training. Toilet training poses a conflict between the demands of the id and the external world. For the child, bowel movement are pleasurable, and their own feces are of interest. The external world, however, sees feces as smelly, messy and germ filled. The resolution of this conflict may be gradual and untraumatic or intense, depending on the timing and the parents involved. 
The anal stage - a personal reflection:
I don't specifically remember the time of my potty training, and so I presume that it was fairly untraumatic. My parents had already potty trained my sister, and so they knew what to do, and I was potty trained fairly quickly and painlessly. I also don't think that I have any particular anal fixation left over from that stage, because I am neither excessively sloppy or compulsively neat. 
Phallic Stage = The phallic stage is the third of Freud's stages, which occurs from the time we are three until we are about five years old. In this stage gratification is focused on the genitals. Genital stimulation is found pleasurable, and parents often find that children are increasingly aware of their own and other people's bodies during this stage. The phallic stage is associated with a major conflict which challenges the developing ego, known as the Oedipal conflict. The child becomes jealous of the father, because the id wishes to unite with the mother and eliminate the father as competition. The resolution of this conflict comes through adopting two defence mechanisms - identification and repression. The Oedipal conflict also applies for girls, but the roles of the father and the mother are reversed. In both sexes, the Oedipal conflict is important in the formation of the superego and in establishing the basis for sexual identity and formation of love relationships. 
The phallic stage - a personal reflection:
I personally do not believe in Freud's Oedipal conflict theory. I honestly do believe that while every child struggles with their relationships with their parents, and that sometimes that these conflicts are related to attention - either neglection, or too much attention from one parent and not enough from the other. But I do not think that there is jealousy because of the father's sexual relationship with the mother. I think that the ambivalence towards the father or whoever the source of authority is is because they are just that - a source of authority. Nobody likes being told what they should do, and many people dislike voices of authority for that very reason. While I don't think that I have a particular fixation from the phallic stage, I do have a automatic dislike for figures of authority, and I have fairly negative connotations with most of the authority that I have encountered - wether it be the administration, or the government.
The Latency Stage = the latency stage is the fourth stage which begins at about 5 years of age and extends until puberty. The drives seem to be relatively inactive during this time. In part, this is due to the use of repression in resolving the Oedipal conflict. These repressed impulses are redirected into new activities such as sports, hobbies, school and friendships. 
The latency stage - a personal reflection: 
I remember these years of my life fairly distinctly. I was quite busy during these ages - I always had a medium size group of very close friends, and I always loved making new friends wherever I went. I played a lot of sports, and I did a lot of activities after school, and I was very focused on school, at least towards the end of the latency stage. 
The Genital Stage = The genital stage is the fifth and last stage. It begins when we hit puberty and last for the rest of our lives. During this stage there is a resurfacing of drive energy, which is triggered by the physiological changes involved in puberty. At this point the individual enters the adult phase of development. The ego's secondary process thinking has become well developed at this stage and the person is directed towards new types of behaviours, including forming a love relationship, having children and assuming other responsibilities. Freud gave comparatively little attention to this stage, even though it occurs during the majority of one's life. 
The genital stage - a personal reflection:
While it is hard to reflect on a stage that is still occuring, and still has a long time to play itself out, I think that Freud's idea of the genital stage is interesting, if not completely accurate. Since puberty I have definitely experienced a change in priorities, but they are not all the way Freud said they would be. For example, at this point in my life I have no desire to have children, and I am doubting if I will want to have them in the future.  
The picture for this entry depicts a mother reaching to nurse a infant. (The oral stage). 

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Entry #1 - Freud's Structures of Personality


Id: In Freud's theory, the id is the element of the psyche which is the source of all basic drives.
Ego: In psychoanalysis, the ego is the element of the psyche which provides the intergrating of personality by mediating between the id and the superego. It also mediates links with the outside world.
Superego: The superego is the portion of the psyche which represents the moral demands of family and society, and is governed by moral constraints.

Here is a situation in my life that can be used to explain Freud's structures of personality:
When I am up late studying for a test the next day, my id urges me to go to sleep, not think about the test tomorrow and fufill my current wishes and drives - sleep! But my ego tells me that I need to study to do well on my test. It deals with the reality of the outside world, namely the reality of my upcoming test. The next day, as I sit down next to a particularly smart classmate to take my test, my id may urge me to cheat - but at this point my superego would come into play, reminding me that I cannot cheat as it is morally wrong. These three structures of personality work constantly, but we are very rarely aware of them at work, as the whole of the id and some of the superego and ego are submersed in our unconscious, with the rest of the ego and super ego being in our preconscious and conscious. Above is a diagram (taken for wikipedia.org) displaying the common "iceberg" metaphor for describing the structures of personality in relation to our conscious, preconscious and subconscious.

One of the most important aspects of Freud's structures of personality is the fact that conflict is a fact of life within personality. The varying demands of the id, ego, superego and external world require a continuing balance act by the ego. The ways in which one's ego balances is what determines behaviour. Freud suggested that individuals will respond to the moral demands of the superego even when this conflicts with reality - an example being when someone risks thier own life for anouther. In other cases, ones ego may allow id's demands for gratification, even when the superego demands against it.


माय यौर आईडी सुपेरेगो एंड एगो अग्री --

talia