Psychology definitions ARG

Unconscious Mind: This is the part of the mind that contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are not accessible to conscious awareness but influence behaviour.

Id: The primitive and instinctual part of the personality that operates based on the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification of basic drives and desires.

Ego: The rational part of the personality that operates based on the reality principle, mediating between the desires of the id and the constraints of the external world.

Superego: The part of the personality that represents internalized societal and moral standards, acting as a kind of moral conscience.

Defense Mechanisms: These are unconscious strategies used by the ego to protect itself from anxiety and to maintain psychological equilibrium. Examples include repression, denial, projection, and sublimation.

Psychosexual Stages of Development: Freud proposed that personality develops through a series of stages during childhood, each focused on a different erogenous zone (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages).

Oedipus Complex: A concept in the phallic stage where a child feels a subconscious desire for the opposite-sex parent and jealousy toward the same-sex parent.

Electra Complex: A similar concept to the Oedipus complex, but involving a girl's psychosexual competition with her mother for her father's affection.

Fixation: A condition in which a person remains stuck in a particular psychosexual stage due to unresolved conflicts, which can influence adult behavior and personality.

Transference: A phenomenon where patients project feelings about significant people in their lives onto the therapist, which can provide insight into unresolved issues.

Countertransference: The therapist's emotional reaction to the patient, influenced by the therapist's own background and experiences.

Dream Analysis: Freud used dream interpretation as a way to uncover the unconscious mind’s workings, believing that dreams are a form of wish fulfillment and reveal hidden desires and conflicts.

Free Association: A therapeutic technique where patients are encouraged to speak freely and say whatever comes to mind, helping to uncover unconscious thoughts and feelings.