Sigmund Freud was a very influential psychologist, especially when it came to examining peoples personalities and why they act the way they. Freud developed a structure of personality which consisted of three components: id, ego and superego. These three components interact as one most of the time creating our personality. Strengths in the different components of the structure explained differences in peoples personalities, Freud believed. Our overall personality as a whole was based off of how these three components effected one another.
The id is where are impulses take place. In the id our desires are the force that influences us and causes much of our behavior. Freud believed that the id was completely unconscious. This means we never actually knew that our desires were influencing our behavior and that our impulses happened due to our desires. The pleasure principle is what the id is governed by, which strives for quick gratification. This means that the id does not like the word no, the id would much rather always hear yes in order to obtain gratification.
The ego is the decision maker of the personality, acting as the boss of the other personalities. The ego interacts with the real world and determines how to make both the other personalities by making a compromise between the two. The reality principle is what the ego is operated by, which strives to not allow gratification to occur until it has found an acceptable and appropriate outlet for the gratification to happen.
The superego is the part of the personality that possesses our morality. It has our sense of right and wrong which we have developed from being in society settings. We particularly develop our morals from our parents and learn what they say is right and wrong.
I feel that Freud's structure of personality is important because it explains why people act the way they do and why people have different personalities from one another. Although Freud's outlook on personality isn't the only theory there is, it is sure the most popular one. I know I can apply Freud's three components of personality to my own personality. There are always things that I wish I could do but my ego stops me from doing them. I am still curious to know why Freud believe the id is completely unconscious? Can't it be conscious some of the time?
slate135: November 2011 Archives
Motor behaviors of infants begin to develop in the womb, even before the infant is born. Babies come born with initial reflexes that they don't need to learn. These reflexes, such as the sucking and rooting, are crucial for the survival of babies. If babies were expected to use trial and error in order to learn these reflexes some would die of starvation, having not learned how to eat. Right when infants are born, they start to learn how to move their bodies and develop their coordination. These developmental motor skills are learned through trial and error and aren't preprogrammed in the womb. The major motor skills and milestones that infants need to master while developing are sitting up, crawling, standing unsupported and walking. Although almost all babies master these major milestones, the speed and age at which they successfully reach these skills differs. Some children may master the skills at a much earlier age than other children. This difference in rate can be explained in different ways. One reason that a child may reach their milestones quicker than another child, when referring to their physical maturation, has to do with the infants weight. If a baby is heavier they tend to reach their milestone more gradually because they need to build their muscles in order to support their extra weight. Another reason why babies might reach their milestones at different times has to do with the parenting and culture of the baby. Parents in China and Peru wrap their babies tightly in blankets therefore preventing much movement of the arms and legs of the baby which can result in a baby developing their motor skills at a later age.
I believe these research findings are important because the overall development of babies is something a parent worries about. If a parent is worried that their child is not developing correctly they can look at the milestones and reasons why this might be. This may help a parent detect a problem in development and diagnose it earlier which could lead to more promising and positive results when it comes to fixing the problem. This was a worry even my own parents had because my sister walked much sooner than I did. If my parents had known this important developmental information they could have concluded that my sister developed faster because she was born premature, therefore being much lighter than I was as a child. I am still curious to know why some babies skip the crawling stage all together? And why the stages seem to be developed in the same order if the skills don't necessarily build on one another due to the fact that some babies skip crawling?
