The id is the platform for the unconscious mind since it includes all instincts and psychological functions inherited from birth. All of these process are developed and applied without knowledge of the individual. The 2 main motive that drive the Id are the pleasure principle and the primary process.
The pleasure principles function is merely to avoid pain and create pleasure. In order to obtain pleasure the Id utilizes the primary process which as a result attempts to reflect tension by creating a memory image of an object. For example, an infants strongest sense is satisfaction is most often achieve by eating. If a hunger infant is not immediately fed it will most likely cry and become frustrated. This frustration causes the onset of the primary process which allows the infant to visualized the food through memory easing the tension. Since this visual image of food will not sustain the infants life the ego must develop and step in.
The ego is the decision maker of the personality. Since the ego controls and selects which response can be made to satisfy certain pleasures, it becomes essential for survival. For example, the baby relies upon egos initiation proper transactions to insure that necessary food is received for survival. To achieved the proper decision the ego must integrate the opposing demands circulating between the Id, super-ego, and the rest of the world.
The super-ego is the perfection center of the mind. The purpose of the super-ego is to enforced the values and morals expected by society. Most often parents, in form of reward and punishment initiate these ideas. The super-ego is divided into 2 substructures, the conscious and the ego ideal. The conscious causes guilt when values and morals broken while the ego ideal creates pride when the ideals are accomplished. .
Once Freud had developed an understanding of the Id, ego and super ego, he began applying them to different concepts of human behavior.
