Freud's Theories

Freud's Theories

  • Submitted By: erica89
  • Date Submitted: 12/08/2008 6:47 PM
  • Category: Psychology
  • Words: 430
  • Page: 2
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Running Head: FREUD THEORIES Sigmund Freud and His Theories
Freud was well known for his theory on the Unconscious mind. This was a person’s feelings, thoughts, urges and memories that were held outside of our conscious awareness. According to Freud, most of the feelings held within the unconscious were feelings of pain, conflict or anxiety. Although these thoughts are kept in our unconscious mind, Freud believed that these feelings were what influenced a person to act a certain way even if the person was unaware of their unconscious thoughts. He also felt that slips of the tongue or pen, dreams and obsessive behavior were all determined by the unconscious. Any choice made by a person is governed by hidden mental thoughts that a person is unaware of and has no control over. He associated the unconscious with the id, saying that all humans were born with an id and that the id wants whatever feels good at the time. For example, when a baby is hungry, the id wants food; therefore the baby will cry (Thornton, 2006). The id is selfish; it doesn't care about reality, only about its own needs, which is why it is related with the unconscious mind. Freud (1918/1996) once wrote, “I have found little that is ‘good’ about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash.” (King, 2008) Freud’s psychoanalytic/ psychodynamic approach led to his most important ideas and theories which were the unconscious, id; ego; superego, defense mechanisms and psychosexual stages of personality development. Sigmund Freud, medical doctor, psychologist and father of psychoanalysis, is generally recognized as one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century.
References List Hill Higher Education. Straker, D. Changingminds.org. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from Freud's personality factors Web site: http://changingminds.org/explanations/personality/freud_personality.htm The psychodynamic approach. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from Freud and psychoanalysis...

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