Week Six

Our memories are in fact like a “car” that disappears around a corner. Just because it is no longer visible it doesn’t mean that the car is no longer existent. It is the same with our thoughts and memories. Once we think or experience something it becomes stored in our minds. This is then what begins to dictate the way in which we carry out our lives. Our minds are continuously working and our personal unconscious allows us to store information and experiences that can either be retrieved or unconsciously applied. The personal unconscious, therefore, is distinguished by the fact that “the materials contained in this layer are of a personal nature in so far as they have the character partly of acquisitions derived from the individual’s life and partly of psychological factors which could just as well be conscious” (494). Not only is the personal unconscious different for each individual, it can easily be recalled or conscious. This is what separates the personal conscious from the collective unconscious.

The nature vs nurture issue has been a controversial argument among psychologist for decades. This argument exposes two different views. One of them emphasizes that our personality depends solely on genetics (nature). On the other hand, the second view suggests that humans “develop through experience” (Myers 2013, SG 6) (nurture).

The article was written by Sharon Begley, who is a science writer. It published on December 1, 2008, and it has been illustrated by Harry Campbell for Newsweek. We always think our personality is related to our genes, which is stable or cannot be changed. However, Begley assume we can change our personality as we grow up. It depends on environment and our parents. They both play a great role in shaping our personality.

In "The Cognitive Unconscious", John F. Kihlstrom attempts to persuade the audience that the unconscious mind is not only real, but a valuable component to a human’s psychological processing. He does this by using diction, imagery, and ethos to rationalize, familiarize, and actualize his argument.

The unconscious is one of the most powerful effects on behaviour and emotion. (Your Dictionary,2014)

The collective unconscious, refers to a segment of the deepest unconscious mind not shaped by personal experience. It's genetically inherited and common to all human beings. These collective unconscious was expressed through 'archetypes', universal thought forms or mental images that influenced an individual's feelings and action.

The collective unconscious - the collective unconscious is what the universe experiences and all the memories shared by people which is the blueprint of life allowing individuals to adapt and survive hence collective unconscious is further comprised of archetypes or modes in which belongs to all human.

Throughout time several personality trait theories have argued differently. Some state that traits are inherently part of our DNA and others state that they are solely based on the context or environment. My argument aligns with Costa and McRae’s theory in that personality traits are ‘situated in a comprehensive model of genetic and environmental causes and contexts (McCrae & Costa,1994).’

It can be said that psychology owes its lineage to depth psychologists who pioneered the field with bold assertions of an enigmatic influence in human behavior. Contemporary thought knows this force as the unconscious, and by contemporary we mean to say that the word itself is relatively new; to assume one can approach the unconscious only from the point of view that its concept is as new as the word itself ignores evidence to the contrary. Instead one must speak of the unconscious from the context of the totality of the human species and not from the confines of modern thought.

Though the nature-nurture debate has been a toss-up, showing that both genes and environment are key to establishing someone’s personality study’s has concluded that the genetic makeup of a child shows a stronger influence on personality, this study tested with identical twins raised in different families. A study given by the University of Minnesota showed that, “more than 350 pairs of twins have gone through six days of extensive testing that has included analysis of blood, brain waves, intelligence and allergies. For most of the traits measured, more than half the variation was found to be due to heredity, leaving less than half determined by the influence of parents, home environment and other experiences in life”. All together it is look at that though one doesn’t dominantly stick out as the primary reason, hereditary does have a slight edge over environment.

I completely disagree with the fact that we are oblivious to our unconscious behavior, as I believe that the unconscious mind is a mere shadow of the conscious and attentive mind. Like a young child, the unconscious mind likes to serve, and it needs very clear instructions. And just like a child it's based on certain ethics taught and accepted by one's self or their surroundings. So if someone once thought "blacks are dangerous", the unconscious mind would respond to that even after your conscious mind has later on rejected that thought. The two unconscious and conscious minds are two separate minds; however they both function in the same person with the same values and moral views. In conclusion, the unconscious mind cannot be used as a scapegoat

Psychoanalysis doesn’t stop there, there is something called the collective unconscious, a term used by Carl Jung. The collective analysis refers to the conscious mind. Per Jung, the human collective unconscious is populated by instincts and archetypes. Archetypes are characters, personalities that occur over and over like a pattern: anima, great mother, the wise old man, and the hero are just a few.

Studies of behavioural genetics implied that differences in personalities are result entirely of genes and non-shared environment. (Borkenau, Riemann, Angleitner, & Spinath, 2001)

Burkitt, I. (2010). Fragments of unconscious experience: Towards a dialogical, relational, and sociological analysis. Theory Psychology, 20(3), 322 – 341. doi: 10.1177/0959354310362827

Will be explained with reference to Sigmund Freud and his important theory which consists of the ego, superego, and id. How he thought humans have become civilized by repressing primitive drives. I will also look at how