Теория и научный метод в возрастной психологии. Горчакова Е.П - 10 стр.

information is complementary rather than contradictory. Together they let us see
the total landscape of life-span development in all its richness.

Psychoanalytic Theories
       For psychoanalytic theorists, development is primarily unconscious – that
is, beyond awareness – and is heavily colored by emotion. Psychoanalytic
theorists believe that behavior is merely a surface characteristic and that to truly
understand development we have to analyze the symbolic meanings of behavior
and the deep inner workings of the mind. Psychoanalytic theorists also stress that
early experiences with parents extensively shape our development. These
characteristics are highlighted in the main psychoanalytic theory, that of Sigmund
Freud.
Freud's Theory
       Freud (1856–1939) developed his ideas about psychoanalytic theory from
work with mental patients. He was a medical doctor who specialized in
neurology. He spent most of his years in Vienna, though he moved to London
near the end of his career because of the Nazis' anti-Semitism.
       Freud (1917) believed that personality has three structures: the id, the ego,
and the superego. The id is the Freudian structure of personality that consists of
instincts, which are an individual's reservoir of psychic energy. In Freud's view,
the id is totally unconscious; it has no contact with reality. As children experience
the demands and constraints of reality, a new structure of personality emerges –
the ego, the Freudian structure of personality that deals with the demands of
reality. The ego is called the "executive branch" of personality, because it makes
rational decisions. The id and the ego have no morality. They do not take into
account whether something is right or wrong. The superego is the Freudian
structure of personality that is the moral branch of personality and does take into
account whether something is right or wrong. Think of the superego as what we
often refer to as our "conscience." You probably are beginning to sense that both
the id and the superego make life rough for the ego. Your ego might say, "I will
have sex only occasionally and be sure to take the proper precautions, because I
don't want the intrusion of a child in the development of my career." However,
your id is saying, "I want to be satisfied; sex is pleasurable." Your superego is at
work too: "I feel guilty about having sex."
       Remember that Freud considered personality to be like an iceberg; most of
personality exists below our level of awareness, just as the massive part of an
iceberg is beneath the surface of the water.
       Conscious and unconscious processes: The iceberg analogy. This rather
odd-looking diagram illustrates Freud's belief that most of the important
personality processes occur below the level of conscious awareness. In
examining people's conscious thoughts and their behaviors, we can see some
reflections of the ego and the superego. Whereas the ego and superego are partly

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