Freudian Psychology:

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the school of psychology. He proposed a theory about our how our psyche (mind) was divided and functioned. His theory is based on the ide that our personality is made up of three interacting parts: Id, Ego, and Superego.

Id: Instincts and Primitive Needs (0-2 yrs. old)

The “id” represents our primary process-thinking, our thoughts on our most primitive needs. These are often translated as our instincts or drives, which need immediate attention. It is present at birth and is part of our unconcious mind. We unconsciously work to satisfy these primitive needs.

A)  BASED ON 1 RULE = “the pleasure principle” – We seek pleasure and avoid pain.

B)  IF YOUR ID IS TOO STONG – You tend to be bound up in self-gratification and tend to act uncaring to others. You are hedonistic, living by an “I WANT” attitude and never worrying about how it will affect others.

Super-Ego: Socially-Induced Morals (2-7 yrs. old)

The “superego” represents our socially-induced morals and ethics, which come from outside sources. It is the record of: (1) rewards and strategies to complete things (ex. pride) and (2) the internalization of punishments and warnings in our mind (ex. shame). Your parents are probably the most influential objects in forming your superego, but society and the media also play major roles.

A)  This is you SOCIALIZED/DETERMINED SELF… the product of socialization.

B)  Your “inner voice” accepting responsibility and knowing right from wrong.

C)  IF YOUR SUPER-EGO IS TOO STONG – You tend to feel guilty all the time. You may even have an insufferably “saintly” personality. You would constantly strive for perfection even if this perfection ideal is far from reality, creating much anxiety.

Ego: Balancing our Ego & Super-Ego

The “ego” stands in between both the id and the superego. The ego has to decide between the demands of our id (our primitive needs) and balancing that with what our superego reinforces (our moral/ethical beliefs). The ego relates us to reality by means of our consciousness, and to an extent reasoning, to satisfy our needs as soon as a reasonalble solution is found. It is our conscious effort to think about the reality of a situation and the best way to handle it.

A)  Maturity: Balancing between good & bad choices. We can satisify basic needs while also considering long-term effects.

B)  Reality-Check!! You can’t always get what you want

C)  IF YOUR EGO IS TOO STRONG = You would tend to be extremely rational and efficient. However, at the same time, you would probably seem cold, boring and distant in that you would only consider rules/expectations, not necessarily the feelings of others.

Baby ------*1------*2------Adult ------(revert back to child-like)

*1- Child: demands instincts met

*2 – Teen:

Questions:

1.  Which of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs most directly applies to the situation that the boys are placed in? Be prepared to defend your answer(s).

2.  As the boys’ stay on the island lengthens and the savagery increases, how is Freud’s concept of behavior apparent?

3.  Consider the id, ego and superego for the following characters and describe an example from the novel for each character: Ralph, Piggy, Roger, Simon, and Robert.

Id: JACK – instinct for meat, ME stage

Superego: PIGGY – only cares about rules/morals

Ego: RALPH – tries to balance everything

Maslow’s Hiearchy of Needs:

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow is a humanistic psychologist. His theory contends that as humans meet “basic/primary needs,” they seek to satisfy successively “higher needs” in the area of creativity and wisdom. Once a person has reached the highest point in the hierarchy they can be labeled a "fully functioning person," or as Maslow calls this level, a "self-actualizing person."

1)  Biological and Physiological Needs: basic life needs – air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.

2)  Safety Needs: protection, security, order, law, limits, stability

3)  Belongingness and Love Needs: family, affection, relationships, work group, etc. (we don’t want to feel alienated or depressed)

4)  Esteem Needs: achievement, status, responsibility, reputation (makes us feel confident/valuable)

5)  Self-Actualization: personal growth and fulfillment (you need to do what you were born to do)

a.  Needs of Self-Actualizers: Truth, goodness, beauty, unity, aliveness, uniqueness, perfection, completion, justice and order, simplicity, richness, effortless, playfulness, self-sufficiency, meaningfulness

Education:

The hierarchic theory is often represented as a pyramid, with the larger, lower levels representing the lower needs, and the upper point representing the need for self-actualization. Maslow believes that the only reason that people would not move well in direction of self-actualization is because of hindrances placed in their way by society. He states that education is one of these hindrances. He recommends ways education can switch from its usual person-stunting tactics to person-growing approaches. Maslow states that educators should respond to the potential an individual has for growing into a self-actualizing person of his/her own kind.

Ten points that educators should address are listed:

  1. We should teach people to be authentic, to be aware of their inner selves and to hear their inner-feeling voices.
  2. We should teach people to transcend their cultural conditioning and become world citizens.
  3. We should help people discover their vocation in life, their calling, fate or destiny. This is especially focused on finding the right career and the right mate.
  4. We should teach people that life is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life, and if people are open to seeing the good and joyous in all kinds of situations, it makes life worth living.
  5. We must accept the person as he or she is and help the person learn their inner nature. From real knowledge of aptitudes and limitations we can know what to build upon, what potentials are really there.
  6. We must see that the person's basic needs are satisfied. This includes safety, belongingness, and esteem needs.
  7. We should refreshen consciousness, teaching the person to appreciate beauty and the other good things in nature and in living.
  8. We should teach people that controls are good, and complete abandon is bad. It takes control to improve the quality of life in all areas.
  9. We should teach people to transcend the trifling problems and grapple with the serious problems in life. These include the problems of injustice, of pain, suffering, and death.
  10. We must teach people to be good choosers. They must be given practice in making good choices.