Freud, Skinner, Erikson, and Piaget

A Look at How Their Theories Can Be Used in the Classroom

Freud

One of Sigmund Freud's most significant contributions is his psychosexual theory. The major components of this theory are centered on behavior, domains of consciousness, and the structures of personality. Freud believed that motivation played a major role in his theory as it related to behavior. He believed that behavior was something carried out with purpose and that it had meaning. Regarding the aspect of domains of consciousness, Freud believed that our minds are like icebergs. The three parts of this iceberg are the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. Our conscious thoughts make up the very tip of the iceberg that is floating out of the water. An example would be our thoughts are fleeting and these thoughts would only make up a small portion of our mind. The preconscious section of the iceberg would include thoughts that we could easily recall if we were asked about them. Basically, these thoughts are easily transferred from the preconscious to the conscious section of our minds if attention is drawn to these thoughts in any way. The final portion of the iceberg would be the unconscious. As it relates to the picture of the iceberg, our unconscious is completely hidden from view. Freud believed that thoughts within this section played a major role in our behavior despite the fact that we cannot clarify these associations consciously (B. Newman & P. Newman, 2007).