Milestone 1 of Final Project
Overview: This assignment will be your first milestone as you begin to work on your final project, the theoretical analysis. In the previous module, you selected a theorist from the list of approved theorists for the theoretical analysis. Milestone One is an outline of Section I: Background of the final project. You do not need to complete a full draft of this section but an outline of the key points. This rubric will help you develop your outline for this assignment. Be sure to refer to the Final Project Guidelines and Rubric document to review the full assignment that you will submit in Module Nine and to see how your outline will be fleshed out later in the course. This will help you understand what needs to be included in your outline. Use the information you have been collecting in your research table to support you in this milestone.
Prompt: For this assignment, you will write an outline of Section I of the final project. The outline will list key points of the historical overview of your selected theorist. Next, list key points about the theory’s historical development and how the theory is used today.
I. Background: In this section, you will analyze the key concepts and background of your theory. Be sure to include any supporting research that you plan to use to make your point in each element of the outline.
A. Provide a list of key points on the historical overview of your selected theorist. List some additional information related to biographical information and historical events that influenced the theorist.
B. List key points of the historical development of the theory based on the context of the theorist who you have researched so far in the course. Note any relevant research for quick reference. List the major key points about how your chosen theory compares with the prevailing theory/theories in practice during this time period. How does the theory relate to the work of earlier theorists?
C. Organize a list of the key concepts of your chosen theory as conceived by the theorist. Reference any supporting research for quick retrieval.
D. Discuss how the theory is used today, identifying key points about how the concept is used today and how the theory has changed over time.
Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your outline must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins. Use an outline format for this assignment. Include a reference page with any sources cited in APA format.
Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (80%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Background: Historical Overview Provides a list of the major key historical events that influenced the theorist, including additional supporting relevant research Provides a list of the major key historical events that influenced the theorist, but outline does not reference supporting relevant research or historical context contains inaccuracies Does not provide a list of key historical events that influenced the theorist 25
Background: Historical Development Lists the key points of the historical development of the theory and includes supporting research Lists the key points of the historical development of the theory, but does not include supporting research or the key points contain inaccuracies Does not list any key points about the historical development of the theory 25
Background: Key Concepts Outlines the key concepts of theory, including supporting research Outlines a partial list of the key concepts of the theory, or does not include supporting research Does not outline the key concepts of theory 25
Background: How the Theory Is Used Today Identifies key points about the initial application of the theory and its current use Identifies an incomplete list of key points about the initial application of the theory and its current use Does not identify key points about the initial application of the theory and its current use 25
Total 100%
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Personality is a set of dynamic, organized characteristics that are possessed by a person that uniquely influences their cognitions, environment, emotions, and behaviors in various situations. Sigmund Freud is one of the theorists, who came up with a far-reaching personality psychology schema, the Freudian theory of personality. It has therefore been used to add, modify and interpret from its core points (Freud, 2015). He was influenced by his thinking that regards the human mind. He believed that during conscious mental activities, such as explaining behaviors, people don’t always show the truth of the accounts of their motivation. This meant that there were certain activities that existed within the mind within the conscious and unconscious level. Here, the conscious mind consisted of thoughts that need attention now, the preconscious contains anything that can be retrieved from the memory and finally the unconscious where processes that cause most behaviors existed (Ewen, 2014).
His work was hugely dominated by his trials of finding ways of penetrating the structures and processes of personality that were greatly hidden. He used psychoanalysis to describe the exact thing in the human mind. He emphasized that the unconscious mind controlled behaviors to greater margin that people suspect.
From his psychoanalytic theory of personality, he argued that most of the human behaviors are as an impact of the interaction among the id, ego, and superego. The id fight constantly to have a person’s way in everything done. The ego mediates a satisfactory outcome and finally the superego which serves as a screening center of things going on. This structural theory of personality, therefore, places great significance on how conflicts among various parts of the mind shape the personality and behaviors of individuals, where most of these conflicts are unconscious.
According to Sigmund, the most of the personality develops during childhood where it is critically shaped through a series of psychosexual stages, which he referred to as the psychosexual theory of development. He believed that most of suffering in human is determined during childhood development. As a child passes through the stages, there is a rise in unresolved conflicts between the physical drives and the social expectations. This, therefore, means that environmental and parental experiences at early life of a child influence a person’s personality in adulthood (Fromm, 2013).
Oral stage relates to fixation on oral things, and if they not met well, there is a likelihood of developing adverse oral behaviors. The anal stage mainly refers to developing healthy toilet habits. Phallic stage primarily relates to the relationships that both girls and boys create towards their parents and finally genital stage which consists of all the tasks of other stages placed into the mind to allow onset of sexual feelings and behaviors. According to Freud, during each stage, there is a conflict between biological drives and social expectations, and therefore if a child navigates through such conflicts successfully, it will result to mastery of each stage to fully mature personality (Schultz, 2016).
However, Frauds ideas have since been met with a lot of criticism, firstly because of mainly having a narrow focus of sexuality as the main driver of human personality development. Secondly, his ideas are not supported by any experimental data, and this makes the theory to be scientifically invalid. Finally, the theory is male dominated which is a purely social bias.
There are many of ways that show how this theory is still relevant today. Today it is seen that human beings cannot keep secrets. This is because they reveal their innermost selves with their clothes, twitches and unconscious mannerism. This means whatever a person does; he expresses it for people to see and hear. This was one of the fundamental orientations of Freud. Furthermore, Freud theory is still relevant today especially in dreaming context, where our dreams are driven by the conscious and the subconscious desires and fears (Benet-Martínez, 2015).
References
Benet-Martínez, V. D. (2015). Six visions for the future of personality psychology. APA handbook of personality and social psychology, , 665-689.
Ewen, R. (2014). An introduction to theories of personality. . Park Drive: Psychology Press.
Eysenck, H. J. (2013). The Experimental Study of Freudian Theories (Psychology Revivals). . Abingdon: Routledge.
Freud, S. (2015). The Freudian Theory of Personality. Journal Psyche, 20-50.
Fromm, E. (2013). Sigmund Freud’s Mission: An analysis of his personality and influence. New York City,: Open Road Media.
Schultz, D. P. (2016). Theories of personality. . Boston: Cengage Learning.
