Psychology class on edge

which theorist was responsible for attempting to explain psychopathology by dividing personality into three components? a. carl jung b. albert bandura c. sigmund freud d. carl adler

The correct answer is letter C.

Freud developed a structural model of personality, organizing the psychic apparatus into three structures: ID, ego, and superego. Each is responsible for an aspect of the human personality, governing the interaction of the individual with other people.

ID: is the source of psychic energy and the aspect of personality related to instincts. It is totally unconscious, being formed by drives, instincts, organic impulses and unconscious desires.

Ego: is a rational aspect of the personality responsible for controlling instincts, serving as a mediator and facilitator of the interaction between ID and the circumstances of the external world.

Superego: moral aspect of personality, product of the internalization of values and standards received from parents and society.

as university of miami psychologists debra lieberman and adam smith pointed out in a recent article in the journal current directions in psychological science, humans have social and psychological mechanisms to deter incest. with very few exceptions, marriages between brothers and sisters and between parents and their children are verboten in every human culture. the primary psychological anti-incest mechanism is the yuck response. even the idea of sex with their mom or dad, bro or sis is upsetting to most people. the psychologist jonathan haidt has found that nearly everyone is repelled by the prospect of brother-sister sex, even in hypothetical situations in which there is no chance of pregnancy).

the biological cost of incest

this raises an interesting question: just what’s so bad about incest? sure, having sex with your dad or your sister seems gross — but why? some anthropologists have argued that incest taboos are learned social conventions. this explanation, however, doesn’t make sense to me as it does not explain the widespread existence of anti-incest mechanisms in creatures ranging from cockroaches to chimpanzees. second, the incest taboo is about as close to a universal law as human moral rules get.

why should mechanisms to avoid incest be so widespread both in nature and across human societies? the answer is simple. the problem with having sex close with relatives is that there is an astonishingly high chance that your offspring will be born with a serious birth defect.