Freud's personality theory

phallic

3-6 yr; pleasure zone is the genitals; coming with incestuous sexual feeling

latency

6-pub; a phase of dormant sexual feelings

projection

disguising one's own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

regression

retreating to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

sublimation

transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives

rationalization

offering self-justifying explanations in place of real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one's actions

genital

pub-on; maturation of sexual interests

denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities

7 Defense mechanisms

regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, displacement, sublimation and denial

oral

0-18 mo; pleasure centers on mouth - sucking, biting, chewing

anal

18-36 mo; pleasure focused on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that according to Freud strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle demanding immediate gratification

oedipus complex

according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

fixation

according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage in which conflicts were unresolved

unconscious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

superego

around 4-5; the part of personality, that according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations

psychoanalysis

freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

free association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing; allowed freud to retrace the line of thought leading into a patient's unconscious where memories, often from childhood could be retrieved and released

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from unconsciousness anxiety arousing thoughts, feelings and memories

defense mechanisms

in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

erogenous zones

is an area of the human body that has heightened sensitivity, which when stimulated, may create a sexual response such as relaxation, thoughts of sexual fantasies, sexual arousal and orgasm

displacement

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

reaction formation

switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate attention

identification

the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos