Study Guide


Concept Map


Many students benefit from information that is presented visually. The concept map provides a study tool that allows you to organize information that may not be sequential. Unlike an outline, which is linear, the concept map presents information spatially. However, you still organize information from the general to the specific. You can then add details, examples, and information regarding "real life" application of the information.

Concept maps are useful for classes in any subject area.

Read the following edited excerpt from Personal Adjustment: The psychology of everyday life by Derlega and Janda and then refer to the concept map developed from the information:

We will examine three of the major psychological approaches to personality: the dynamic, humanistic, and social learning approaches.

The dynamic approach is also called the psychoanalytic view, based on the work of Sigmund Freud. One aspect of Freudian theory is that a person is continually in a state of conflict. Humans are caught between opposing forces, which results in thier being in conflict between those forces. the source of the opposing forces lies in the psychic apparatus, which can be divided into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id consists of the instinctual drives a person possesses at birth, such as hunger, thirst, sex, aggression. The ego provides the capacity for delayed gratification. The superego is thought of as the "conscience".

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