The unconscious mind is a complex part of the brain as it contains all the automatic processes that occur without self examination, including memory, affect, and motivation. Although these course of actions are well buried underneath the conscious, they (arguably) still have an impact on the behaviour. This concept was further developed by the Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Driven from evidence, studies show that the whole “hidden mind” also contains “repressed feeling, automatic skills, subliminal perceptions, thoughts, habits, and automatic reaction”, even some further ulterior phobias and/or desires. (“The term psychoanalysis is used to refer to many aspects of Freud’s work and research, including Freudian therapy and the research methodology he used to develop his theories. Freud relied heavily upon his observations and case studies of his patients when he formed his theory of personality development.”) (Psychology About 1) According to psychoanalytic theory, the unconscious actions/processes are usually expressed in slips of the tongue and in symbolic forms expressed in dreams. Therefore, the unconscious can be placed as the source of dreams and natural thoughts (the ones that occur without discernable reason and/or cause), an archive of abandoned memories (ones that may be still pulled to consciousness at some later time), and the main location of understood knowledge (the things we have already learned and now do them without much thought). It is often argued that the consciousness itself is affected by other parts of the mind including the unconscious “personal habit, being unaware, and intuition” (Unconscious Mind Wikipedia 1). Some of the symptoms of the unconscious might consist of “awakening, im...
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...cident, but the mind indirectly viewing your behaviour. What people might think that their mind is at “freedom”, the actual reality is that the conscious is being highly influenced (some say controlled) by hidden mental processes that the mind is unaware of. The reason for this (by Freud’s words) is that the conscious could not possibly “cause neurotic or other neurotic behaviour”, there must be some other source for the insignificant processes that are happening. An example for this would be the obsessive behaviour, the mind can not just randomly have these thoughts, there must be some other deeper, inner thoughts triggering the repetitive feelings. Same goes for the Freudian slips, the mind could not just be messing up without cause, the hidden mind must have some thoughts that are causing the conscious to slip up. It’s like a cause and effect type of situation.
In fact, unconscious motivation is one the most popular, widely-studied topics in psychology as it formulates the primary basis for the pedagogies of the Freudian school of thought. Freud posits that most human behavior is the result of unconscious repressed memories, impulses, and desires that influence and drive many human behaviors (Freud, 1976).
The first basis of Freud 's belief system was found in the existence of the personal unconscious. The mind is a substance that incorporates much more than the simple conscious component. The unconscious component is the much larger than the
Sigmund Freud’s theories on the construction of the mind are simple, but fundamentally changed the field of psychology. He proposed, among other things, that the human mind is composed of three parts: the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. The preconscious consists of information, such as a telephone number, that is “accessible to consciousness without emotional resistance” (Schellenberg 21). In Freud’s estimation, the unconscious is the most important area of the mind. The information stored within it has “very strong resistances” to becoming conscious (Freud 32). Residing in the unconscious is the id, which “contains everything…that is present at birth… – above all, therefore, the instincts which originate from somatic organization” (14). From birth, all action is instinctual, from the id. The id recognizes and entertains no desires but its own and is impatient to have its needs met. This phase lasts until a part of the id changes “under the influence of the real external world” (14). This changed portion b...
The unconscious mind can be explained in various ways and can take on various attributes. Carl Jung the author of “The Archetype and the Collective Unconscious,” defines unconsciousness as the first reactions and interactions a person endeavors. Several Physicists believe that the unconscious mind acts separately from our voluntary thinking. Scientist believes that understanding the unconscious mind is key to determining what type of archetype a person may have or develop. Experiments such as, reaction to stimuli, have lead cognitive psychiatrist to determine the strength of the unaware and involuntary mind. In addition, many social physicists have also believed that the unconscious mind is unaware of it actions and that the unconscious part of our brain can sometimes be focused on several signs that our conscious self can’t see.
One of his influential theories is the conscious and unconscious mind. This psychoanalytic theory includes repression, denial, sublimation and projection. Sigmund Freud had his own view of how the mind was organized. The three levels were named the conscious mind, the preconscious mind and the unconscious mind. He believed that random outbursts and comments weren’t so random and that they were signs of the unconscious mind in action. Unlike the level of the unconscious mind, the conscious mind involved everything that we are aware of and able to speak of. He believed the preconscious mind was just given memory. Freud used an iceberg as a metaphor to describe the three levels of the mind. According to him, the top of the iceberg that is noticeable above the water is the conscious mind, the visible part of the iceberg that is slightly below the water is the preconscious mind and the iceberg that is unseen bel...
Sigmund Freud known to be the father of Psychoanalysis , contributed a large deal of this research on the construct of the unconscious mind. Freud valued the effect that the id, ego and superego had on a pe...
The psychoanalytic perspective was first discovered by Sigmund Freud which uncovers the nature of the mind and leads to the discovery of the unconscious. The unconscious is layered underneath as the proprietary element of the individuals mind, it is built over time and is only revealed through dreams, and slips. The development of the unconscious can be built at an early stage, as it shapes our personality. The individual does not have access to the unconscious as it’s deep in the mind and we find these events and feelings unacceptable for our conscious.
Freud (1960) said \"that very powerful mental processes of ideas exist which can produce all the effects of the mental life that ordinary ideas do, though they themselves do not become conscious\" (p. 4). This is an indication that there are other parts of the mind in which thoughts occur. According to Freud (1960), \"the state in which the ideas existed before being made conscious is called by us repression\" (p. 4). It is by the theory of repression that the concept of the unconscious is obtained.
Psychology, neuroscience try to explain them, 2012). He studied dreams to better understand aspects of personality as they relate to pathology. Freud believed that every action is motivated by the unconscious at a certain level. In order to be successful in a civilized society, the urges and desires of the unconscious mind must be repressed. Freud believed that dreams are manifestations of urges and desires that are suppressed in the unconscious. Freud categorized the mind into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. When one is awake, the impulses if the id are suppressed by the superego, but during dreams, one may get a glimpse into the unconscious mind, or the id. The unconscious has the opportunity to express hidden desires of the id during dreaming. Freud believed that the id can be so disturbing at times that the id’s content can be translated into a more acceptable form. This censor leads to a sometimes confusing and strange dream image. According to Freud, the reason one may struggle to remember a dream is because the superego protects the conscious mind from the disturbance of the unconscious mind (Dream Theories,
Carl Jung is best known for his exploration of the unconscious mind, developed through his education in Freudian theory, mythology, religion, and philosophy.
The psychodynamic theory focuses on the unconscious mind. Freud’s credence is that different mental forces operate in the mind. The unconscious mind can be described as being like an iceberg. The tip of the iceberg represents the part of the mind that is conscious, everyday thoughts. The iceberg just below the water’s surface represents the pre conscious, thoughts and information that can be retrieved easily. And finally the base of the iceberg is the unconscious part of the mind where fears, traumas and bad experiences are contained, almost impossible to retrieve.
According to him, Unconsciousness is created as humans repress their inner most desires and private thoughts. People become imprisoned through repression of their desires and thoughts.
In terms of the unconscious and conscious, Freud situates these conceptions in a topographic model of the mind. He divided it into two systems called the unconscious and the preconscious. Their knowledge in the unconscious system is repressed and unavailable to consciousness without overcoming resistances (e.g., defense mechanisms). Thereby, the repression does not allow unconscious knowledge to be completely aware; rather, it is construed by means of concealing and compromise, but only interpretable through its derivatives dream and parapraxes that overcome resistance by means of disguise and compromise. Within the preconscious system, the contents could be accessible, although only a small portion at any given moment. Unconscious thought is characterized by primary process thinking that lacks negation or logical connections and favors the over-inclusions and 'just-as' relationships evident in condensed dream images and displacements. Freud asserted that primary process of thinking was phylogenetically, and continues to be ontogenetically, prior to secondary process or logical thought, acquired later in childhood and familiar to us in our waking life (1900, 1915a).
Throughout the ages, humans have had an inherent interest in studying the complex area of human behaviour, even before psychology was established as a science. Because the study of behaviour is so broad and multifaceted, its scientific study poses particular challenges. Therefore, it can be beneficial to approach the scientific study of human behaviour from the perspective of cognitive psychology. This is the study of cognition, the mental processes that underlie human behaviour (Ling & Cattling, 2012).
Why is one man sad and another man happy? Why is one man fearful and anxious and another full of faith and confidence? Why is one man a great success and other an abject failure? Why is one man healed of so called disease and another isn’t?