Do you want to check your work on the psychosexual development quiz? Below, you will find the answers to each of the ten questions on the quiz along with a brief explanation and links to further information.
1. According to Freud, personality is mostly established by what age?
Correct Answer: 5
Freud believed that early childhood experiences were largely responsible for shaping adult personality and that this process was mostly complete around the age of five. More Information
2. What energy did Freud believe was the driving force behind behavior?
Correct Answer: Libido
Freud described libido as a form energy that is part of the id and created by the survival and sexual instinct. According to Freud, this libidinal energy is what motivates all behavior. More Information
3. What is the period following the phallic stage called?
Correct Answer: The Latent Stage
In Freud's psychosexual theory of development, the latent stage is a period of time during which the energies of the libido are suppressed. The latent period occurs approximately between the ages of 6 to 12. More Information
4. As an adult, Cassandra is uptight and extremely rigid, often unwilling to make even small adjustments in her schedule. At which stage is she fixated?
Correct Answer: The Anal Stage
During the anal stage, the libido's energy is focused primarily on controlling bladder and bowel movements. Freud believed that adults who became fixated at this stage would grow up to become either extremely rigid and uptight or very messy and disorganized. More Information
5. Steve struggled for years to quit smoking, but he finally succeeded. Now, he chews several packs of gum a day. At which stage is he fixated?
Correct Answer: The Oral Stage
The oral stage takes place between the ages of birth and one year, during which time the libido's energies are centered mainly on the mouth. Adults who become fixated at the oral stage can develop problems with smoking, eating, nail-biting, or drinking. More Information
6. Which psychologist famously criticized Freud's concept of penis envy, instead suggesting that men experience womb envy?
Correct Answer: Karen Horney
Horney was a neo-Freudian psychoanalyst who disagreed with Freud's beliefs about female psychology. His concept of penis envy, she suggested, was both demeaning to women and highly inaccurate. Instead, Horney suggested that men suffer from feelings of inferiority because they are unable to bear children. More Information
7. A common criticism of Freud's theory of psychosexual development is:
Correct Answer: All of the Above
Freud's theories were criticized both by his peers and by contemporary psychologists for a variety of reasons. Some of the major criticisms include the fact that his work focused almost exclusively on male development, that his theories are very difficult to test scientifically, and that his own research methods were unscientific and non-empirical. More Information
8. Freud believed that the pleasure-seeking energies of the _______ becoming focused on different areas during development.
Correct Answer: The Id
The libido is a component of the id. Freud believed that the id was the part of personality made up of all the energy that works to satisfy basic survival and sexual needs. More Information
9. This term refers to Freud's idea that children have an unconscious desire to possess their opposite-sex parent.
Correct Answer: Oedipus complex
Freud used the term Oedipus complex to describe a boy's unconscious desire to replace his father and possess his mother. The term Electra complex is used to describe a girls feeling of desire for her father and jealousy of her mother. More Information
10. What did Freud call the process through which children come to identify with their same-sex parent?
Correct Answer: Identification
In order to resolve the Oedipus complex, the child must learn to identify with the same-sex parent. Freud believed that castration anxiety, or a fear of literal and figurative castration, is the result of the Oedipus complex. In order to eliminate this conflict, boys start to identify with their fathers while girls start to identify with their mothers. More Information
