The Concept of Personal Psychology by Alfred Alder - Essay Example

The Concept of Personal Psychology by Alfred AlderAlfred Alder introduced the concept of personal psychology. He suggested that this theory includes four features which are the growth of personality, endeavoring to become superior and our psychological well being. He also said that personality requires to be unified for this theory to work (Burke 34). During his studies, he also introduced the idea of inferiority difficulties and suggested that people should overcome these feelings in order to achieve superiority.

The psychologist argued that every person has an idea of what perfection is. He termed this concept as the notion of finalism being fictional (Burke 36). He suggested that this notion gives clear guidance as to decisions one makes concerning himself. Finally, the psychologist suggested that our unconscious and aware minds work together towards achieving this finalism. Sigmund Freud introduced a theory that is called the notion of psychoanalysis. He suggested that human psyche has three levels, namely the id, superego and ego levels (Burke 42).

The most vital among them according to Freud is the id. He suggested that we are unconscious of it, and its functions are uncontrollable. He additionally suggested that this feature is present and the same in all people, since it influences our urges. On the other hand, the psychologist suggested that we are not always wholly aware of our egos. He proposed they are a buffer between the features of id, our superego and the reality. They try to create a concession between our urges and wishes. He suggested that ego functions in line with the principles of reality (Burke 44).

According to Freud, the ego is created immediately a child is aware of the diverse wants and pressures in our lives. Finally, he referred to our conscience as the superego and suggested that it is not aware of an individual’s survival skills or tactics. Conversely, Horney introduced the concept of neurosis (Burke 61). She believed that the process is continuous and occurs in our lifetimes at least once. She contradicted those who believed that the concept relates to the stimuli from the external surroundings.

These stimuli include issues, such as bad influences from childhood and those acquired in maturity. She believed that only childhood experiences are vital for development. She suggested that a child’s views of the surrounding events are vital to comprehending neurosis. Finally, the psychologist presented a list of ten neurotic patterns that affect needs (Burke 67).1. The scientific approach to psychology implies that every feature of human behavior and consciousness is critically evaluated, while ignoring all other biases in research.

It helps us in drawing conclusions in the field of psychology (Burke 93). Naturalistic observation is an example of this process, because it involves the same processes as the scientific approach. It involves identifying problems, making hypothesis, testing them, analyzing and reaching conclusions. It also produces results which are verifiable, comprehendible and clear since they are visible for all. The scientific approach has the disadvantages of being time consuming and tedious. This is because it involves a series of sequential tests and analysis to ascertain the true results (Burke 102).2. There are two types of therapies that are commonly applied in psychology.

These are the group and the cognition and behavioral therapies (Burke 214). Group therapy involves giving guidance and help to groups of people for purposes of improving their performances and learning from others. Cognitive behavioral therapies, on the other hand, refer to the psychological approaches that are used for correcting behaviors gained over time which are problematic (Burke 217). Both forms of therapies enable the patients to acquire emotional and secure grounds to practice their new behaviors. 3. There are two types of eating problems which are obesity and malnutrition.

Malnutrition refers to the inadequacy of the necessary nutrients in our bodies while obesity occurs due to the excessive consumption of food. It results in the patient being overweight and having a high index of their ratio of body and mass. Malnutrition leads to fatal and chronic diseases that range from high pressures in our blood to heart diseases (Burke 302). The issue of malnutrition arises in our bodies due to the lack of appropriate nutrients and results in general body weakness for the patient.

Malnutrition makes a person thin, haggard looking and changes the color of the patient’s hair and skin. This issue results in death for the patient, along with other diseases due to the deficiencies the body is experiencing. 4. a. According to the field of psychology, personality is defined as comprising of the opinions, sensations and behaviors that make an individual to become unique (Burke 21). b. Sigmund Freud’s model suggests that the three levels of development have several different characteristics.

He suggested that the id level is present and the same among all the people. He also termed it as being unaware, and its functions as being controllable. The psychologist suggested that the ego is not completely unaware of its functions. He stated that it acts as a buffer between the levels of the id, reality and superego. The finally level which is the superego is described as acting mainly as our conscience (Burke 116). It helps us in determining what is right or wrong. S. Freud finally suggested that the superego level does not consider how a person survives.

It only cares if our egos remain within the boundaries of our morals (Burke 46).Work Cited.Burke, P. James. Contemporary Social Psychological Theories. 2006. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Print.