 FREUD’S TABLE OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS

 DISCUSS THE THREE LEARNING PROCESSES

1. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
2. OPERANT CONDITIONING
3. IMITATION CONDITIONING
INTRODUCTION
Sigmund Freud’s Theory of the construction of the Mind.
Freud explained the workings of the mind using three constructs (Freud, 1940,
1923) —the id, the ego, and the superego.
The ID – is the portion of the mind in Freudian theory which serves as the
collection of wishes and desires.
The EGO – is the part of the mind in Freudian theory which mediates between the
real world and the desires of the id. The ego is responsible for satisfying desires in
a socially appropriate manner.
The SUPEREGO – is the part of the mind in Freudian theory which includes a set of
principles, violation of which leads to feelings of guilt.

(Kaplan, 1986, p. 127)

What is a Defense Mechanism?

The ego has a difficult job. Sometimes it is overwhelmed, and the
tension that results is experienced as anxiety. If the anxiety becomes
too great, the ego may defend itself by using a large number of
protective maneuvers called defense mechanisms.
(Kaplan, 1986, p. 128)
A defense mechanism is an automatic and unconscious process that
serves to relieve or reduce feelings of anxiety or emotional conflict.
(Laughlin,1970).
Freud’s Table of Common Defense Mechanisms
Defense Mechanism Description Example
A pregnant woman fails
to get prenatal care
because
Behaving as if a problem she convinces herself she
Denial
doesn’t exist can’t possibly be
pregnant even though
she has all the
symptoms.
A child “forgets” about a
troublesome bully on the
Intentionally forgetting bus
Repression
something unpleasant as soon as he gets safely
home from school every
day
A woman complains
about her boss to a co-
worker and comes away
Seeing one’s own from the conversation
behavior or beliefs in believing that the
Projection
others whether they are co-worker shares her
actually present or not dislike of the boss, even
though the co-worker
made no comment on
what she said.
A toilet-trained 3-year-
Behaving in a way that is old starts to babble and
Regression inappropriate for one’s wet his pants when a
age new baby arrives in the
home.
An elderly adult suffers a
stroke, becomes physically
Directing emotion to an
impaired, and expresses
Displacement object or person other
her frustration through
than the one provoking it verbal abuse of the
hospital staff.
 Defense Mechanism Description Example
A man stealing money
Creating an explanation
from his employer says
to justify an action or to
Rationalization to himself, “They won’t
deal with a
give me a raise. So what
disappointment
if I took $50?”
An non-athletic child
Making up for a real or
who feels physically
imaginary deficiency by
inferior may decide to
placing effort into a
start working out until he
similar area (direct
achieve his fitness goals
compensation)
(direct compensation)
Compensation
If in the example above,
Making up for the
the child places effort
deficiency by placing
into becoming an
effort into an unrelated
academic success, that
area (indirect
would be indirect
compensation)
compensation.
An individual A high school child
experiences feeling may display acts of
that he/she deem rudeness or violence
Reaction Formation
unacceptable and to a student he/she
reacts in the opposite likes, to hide his/her
manner. true feelings.
Unacceptable
An aggressive child
impulses are re-
Re-Channelization learns to express
channeled into
(Sublimation) himself through sport
socially acceptable
or music.
pursuits

(Boyd & Bee, 2014, p. 20)

(Kaplan, 1986, p. 129)
Learning Processes
Learning Processes are critical to enable a newborn to survive in the world.
Various theories have been developed to categorize exactly how such learning
may take place. These theories emphasize more on the way the environment
shapes the child than on how the child understands his experiences. Learning
theorists do not argue that genetics or built-in biases are unimportant, but they
see human behavior as enormously plastic, shaped by predictable processes of
learning. (Boyd & Bee, 2014, p. 23)
Three of the most popular theories are:
1. Classical Conditioning
2. Operant Conditioning
3. Imitation Conditioning

Classical Conditioning
A learning process by which a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus
that elicits a response, until the originally neutral stimulus now elicits
that response. (Kaplan, 1986, p. 149)
The general model is that other stimuli that are present just before or
at the same time as the unconditional (neutral) stimulus will eventually
trigger the same responses. (Boyd & Bee, 2014, p. 23)
Example:
If you touch a baby on the cheek, she will turn toward the touch and begin to
suck. In the technical terminology of classical conditioning, the touch on the
cheek is the neutral stimulus; the turning and sucking are unconditioned
responses. The baby is already programmed to do all that; these are automatic
reflexes.
In the typical home situation, for example, a number of stimuli occur at about the
same time as the touch on the baby’s cheek before feeding: example, the sound
of the mother’s footsteps approaching. This stimulus (footsteps approaching) may
eventually become conditional stimuli and may trigger the infant’s response of
turning and sucking, even without any touch on the cheek. (Boyd & Bee, 2014, p.
23)

Operant Conditioning
The process through which the frequency of a behavior increases or
decreases because of the consequences the behavior produces. When a
behavior increases, it is said to have been reinforced (rewarded); when
it decreases, the behavior is said to have been punished (ignored).
Psychologist B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) discovered the principles of
operant conditioning in a series of animal studies. He believed that
these principles strongly influence human development. These
techniques have been shown to be especially useful with toddlers.
(Charlesworth, 1983)
Since reinforcement occurs when a consequence increases the
frequency of a particular behavior. With positive reinforcement, an
added stimulus or consequence increases a behavior. Certain kinds of
pleasant stimuli—such as praise, a smile, food, a hug, or attention—
serve as positive reinforcement for most people most of the time. But
strictly speaking, reinforcement is defined by its effect; we don’t know
that something is reinforcing unless we see that its presence increases
the probability of some behavior. For example, if a parent gives a child
dessert as a reward for good table manners, and the child’s frequency
of good table manners increases, then the dessert is a reinforcement. If
the frequency does not increase, then the dessert is not a
reinforcement. (Boyd & Bee, 2014, p. 23)
Imitation (Observational) Conditioning
Much of a child’s learning is accomplished though observation and
imitation. These two modes of learning, working in tandem, are very
important in helping the develop the ‘self-concept’ or ‘self-identity’ in
the child.
A child may learn through imitation in two ways:
1. Children may act at the same time the adult does and receive an
immediate reward.
Example:
A child imitating a parent’s act of dressing or brushing the teeth
and being praised for doing a good job.

2. They may also learn when they see someone else (a model)
receiving a reward for a behaviour.
Example:
A child observing that students are complimented for sharing and
decides to share also.
(Charlesworth, 1983, p. 146)
A child may learn how to speak a language and tackle math
problems, as well as how to swear, snack between meals, and
smoke by imitating his parents. Unlike classical or operant
conditioning, new responses acquired by observation need not be
reinforced or even performed before they are learned. Instead,
this cognitive form of learning occurs as the observer attends
carefully to the model and constructs symbolic representations
(for example, images or verbal summaries) of the model’s
behavior. These mental symbols are then stored in memory and
retrieved later to guide the observer’s performance of what he or
she has observed. (Boyd & Bee, 2014, p. 159)
Boyd, D. G., & Bee, H. L. (2014). The Developing Child. Pearson New International Edition.

Charlesworth, R. (1983). Understanding Child Development.

Duane Shultz, S. S. (2009). Theories of Personality.

Kaplan. (1986). A Child's Odyssey- Child and adolescent developement.

Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2013). Developmental Pyschology - Childhood and Adolescence. Cengage
Learning.