8.1 The Psychoanalytic Approach to Personality

Question 1

personality

Answer 1

A person’s internally based characteristic ways of acting and thinking.

Question 2

conscious mind

Answer 2

freud’s term for what we are presently aware of.

Question 3

unconscious mind

Answer 3

freud’s term for the part of our mind that we cannot become aware of.

Question 3

preconscious mind

Answer 3

Freud’s term for content that is not currently in awareness but that could be accessed and brought to awareness.

Question 4

id

Answer 4

The part of the personality that a person is born with, where the biological instinctual drives reside, and that is located totally in the unconscious mind.

Question 5

pleasure principle

Answer 5

The principle of seeking immediate gratification for instinctual drives without concern for the consequences.

Question 6

ego

Answer 6

the part of the personality that starts developing in the first year or so of life in order to find realistic outlets for the id’s instinctual drives.

Question 7

superego

Answer 7

The part of the personality that represents one’s conscience and idealized standards of behavior.

Question 7

reality principle

Answer 7

The principle of finding gratification for instinctual drives within the constraints of reality (norms of society).

Question 8

defense mechanism

Answer 8

A process used by the ego to distort reality and protect a person from anxiety.

Question 9

erogenous zone

Answer 9

The area of the body where the id’s pleasure-seeking energies are focused during a particular stage of psychosexual development.

Question 10

fixation

Answer 10

Some of the id’s pleasure-seeking energies remaining stuck in a psychosexual stage due to excessive or insufficient gratification of instinctual needs.

Question 11

oral stage of psychosexual development

Answer 11

The first stage in Freud’s theory (from birth to 18 months), in which the erogenous zones are the mouth, lips, and tongue, and the child derives pleasure from oral activities such as sucking, biting, and chewing.

Question 12

anal stage of psychosexual development

Answer 12

The second stage in Freud’s theory (from 18 months to 3 years), in which the erogenous zone is the anus, and the child derives pleasure from stimulation of the anal region through having and withholding bowel movements.

Question 13

phallic stage of psychosexual development

Answer 13

The third stage in Freud’s theory (from 3 to 6 years), in which the erogenous zone is located at the genitals, and the child derives pleasure from genital stimulation.

Question 14

Oedipus conflict

Answer 14

A phallic stage conflict for a boy in which the boy becomes sexually attracted to his mother and fears his father will find out and castrate him.

Question 15

identification

Answer 15

The process by which children adopt the characteristics of the same-sex parent and learn their gender role and sense of morality.

Question 16

latency stage of psychosexual development

Answer 16

The fourth stage in Freud’s theory (from 6 years to puberty), in which there is no erogenous zone, sexual feelings are repressed, and the focus is on cognitive and social development.

Question 17

genital stage of psychosexual development

Answer 17

The fifth stage in Freud’s theory (from puberty through adulthood), in which the erogenous zone is at the genitals, and the child develops sexual relationships, moving toward intimate adult relationships.