MAHARASHTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NAGPUR

B.A.LL.B.(Hons.) Year-I, Semester-II: Academic Year : 2021-2022

First Open Book Assessment, February-2022

Course Code and Name:

Name of Student: UID:

Question 1.

In what ways is the personality development explained by Sigmund Freud in terms of

the Id, Ego and the Superego.

Answer 1.

According to Sigmund Freud, human personality is complex and has more than a single
component. In his famous psychoanalytic theory, Freud states that personality is composed of
three elements known as the id, the ego, and the superego. These elements work together to
create complex human behaviors.

Each component adds its own unique contribution to personality and the three interact in ways
that have a powerful influence on an individual. Each element of personality emerges at
different points in life.

According to Freud's theory, certain aspects of your personality are more primal and might
pressure you to act upon your most basic urges. Other parts of your personality work to
counteract these urges and strive to make you conform to the demands of reality. 

Here's a closer look at each of these key parts of the personality, how they work individually,
and how they interact.
 
The Id

1
 According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary
component of personality.
 The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth.
 This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes instinctive and primitive
behaviors.

The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all
desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state
anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate
attempt to eat or drink.

The id is very important early in life because it ensures that an infant's needs are met. If the
infant is hungry or uncomfortable, they will cry until the demands of the id are satisfied.
Young infants are ruled entirely by the id, there is no reasoning with them when these needs
demand satisfaction.

Imagine trying to convince a baby to wait until lunchtime to eat their meal. The id requires
immediate satisfaction, and because the other components of personality are not yet present,
the infant will cry until these needs are fulfilled.

However, immediately fulfilling these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we
were ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing the things that
we want out of other people's hands to satisfy our own cravings.

This behavior would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable. According to Freud, the id
tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle through the use of primary
process thinking, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object as a way of
satisfying the need.

Although people eventually learn to control the id, this part of personality remains the same
infantile, primal force throughout life. It is the development of the ego and the superego that
allows people to control the id's basic instincts and act in ways that are both realistic and
socially acceptable.

2
The Ego

 According to Freud, The ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id
can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world.
 The ego functions in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind.
 The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality

The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in
realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of
an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses.

In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification—
the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place.

Freud compared the id to a horse and the ego to the horse's rider. The horse provides the
power and motion, while the rider provides direction and guidance. Without its rider, the
horse may simply wander wherever it wished and do whatever it pleased. The rider gives the
horse directions and commands to get it to go where the rider wants it to go.

The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through secondary

process thinking, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the
mental image created by the id's primary process.

The Superego

The last component of personality to develop is the superego.

 According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five.

 The superego holds the internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from our
parents and society (our sense of right and wrong).
 The superego provides guidelines for making judgments.

The superego has two parts:

3
1. The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and
society. These behaviors are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments,
or feelings of guilt and remorse.

2. The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for behaviors that the ego aspires to.

The superego tries to perfect and civilize our behavior. It works to suppress all unacceptable
urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather that upon
realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.

The Interaction of the Id, Ego, and Superego

When talking about the id, the ego, and the superego, it is important to remember that these
are not three separate entities with clearly defined boundaries. These aspects are dynamic and
always interacting to influence an individual's overall personality and behavior.

With many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego,
and superego. Freud used the term ego strength to refer to the ego's ability to function despite
these dueling forces.

A person who has good ego strength can effectively manage these pressures, while a person
with too much or too little ego strength can be unyielding or disruptive.

What Happens If There Is an Imbalance?

According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego, and
the superego. If the ego is able to adequately moderate between the demands of reality, the id,
and the superego, a healthy and well-adjusted personality emerges. Freud believed that an
imbalance between these elements would lead to a maladaptive personality.

For example, an individual with an overly dominant id might become impulsive,

uncontrollable, or even criminal. Such an individual acts upon their most basic urges with no
concern for whether their behavior is appropriate, acceptable, or legal.

4
On the other hand, an overly dominant superego might lead to a personality that is extremely
moralistic and judgmental. A person ruled by the superego might not be able to accept
anything or anyone that they perceive to be "bad" or "immoral."

Conclusion

Freud's theory provides one conceptualization of how personality is structured and how the
elements of personality function. In Freud's view, a balance in the dynamic interaction of the
id, ego, and superego is necessary for a healthy personality.

Question 3.

While cross questioning a witness you realize that the body language of the person is
getting tensed. He is sweating profusely and legs are a bit shaky. Will you conclude that
the person is lying or can there be any other reasons for it? What role does facial
expression or non verbalcues play?

Answer 3.

One or more than one emotion or position of the muscles that lie under the facial skin of an
individual together constitute a facial expression. According to theories of philosophy and
psychology the movement of the facial muscles that give out expression are directly linked to
the brain of that individual, sometimes expressions could be controlled by the individual but
mostly they act like a reflex action. The facial expressions convey the emotional state of that
particular individual and could be observed and read by the listener. Facial expressions are
also a part of non-verbal communication.

The signals, actions or anything other than the verbal form of communication that is used to
communicate with another person is known as non-verbal cues. Many a times non-verbal cues
replace the language as a form of communication especially it would be seen when a person
responds binarily like yes and no. And in other times when it is not the primary form of
communication that supplements the Communication that is taking place in the verbal form
by emphasising or supporting the meaning of the content that is being communicated.

5
Few major forms of non-verbal cues are facial expression, body movement and posture,
gestures, eye contact, touch, space and voice. The human face is able to express thoughts and
emotions very clearly without using any verbal form of communication, perceptions of a
person could be highly affected by the body movement and postures of a person, gestures are
said to something that has been deeply embedded in the daily life of a person, a person uses
multiple gestures throughout a day in order to convey things more clearly and mostly an
individual does so without putting proper thinking into it, eye contact says a lot about person,
it usually is able to express basic components of a conversation touch, space and voice of
person is very clearly observed by the listener and they are true indicators of various metrics
of a communication.

In the given case of cross examination the witness is found to in an uncomfortable position,
their body language is getting tensed, their body is sweating profusely and the legs are in
shaky condition, but it couldn’t be concluded just with these indicators that the witness is
being untruthful because such things could be result of many other things. It could be due to
some anxiety disorder or a panic attack, all these symptoms are common in these conditions
too. During a panic attack a person can have shaky legs, sweat profusely and be physically
tensed and at unease, during these attacks the person may show many cognitive symptoms
that may be overwhelming and uncontrollable, and during a cross examination a panic or
anxiety attack could be very normal outcome for a person who has had such experiences in
past.

The nonverbal cues definitely play an important role in any communications and the
symptoms shown by the witness is undoubtedly not normal and one of a truthful and
confident person. According to psychological studies and forensic colleges it could be
identified if someone is lying by their body language gestures and physical state and the
condition of the witness in the given case directly point towards one conclusion, that they are
lying but bottom line of every study suggests that these indicators are subjective and could
differ from person to person and no one should be concluded a liar only on the basis of these
indicators.

Within every social situation every person has a different position mentally as well as
physically, and the facial expression of that individual combined with other indicators could

6
be used to analyse or observe the emotion and intention of that individual in the given
condition. Facial expressions are extremely important in every scenario of communication,
social interaction between individuals. The processing and analysis of facial expressions
works both ways to communicate and to be communicated with these facial expressions helps
in important contextual understanding. In the given case of cross-examination the tensed
expression of the witness could be indicators of his and truthful and dishonest intentions but
these indicators have not enough to conclude or objectively decide whether it is true or not.

According to the forensic colleges the non-verbal cues could be used in various ways in order
to determine various information, the way one person listen to any information, the way one
looks at something, moves or reacts to a particular situation are the metrics that needs to be
analysed in order to know what’s really behind the verbal communication being made by that
person. By analysing all these nonverbal cues one could tell whether someone holds interest
in the communication, if that person is being truthful. When the actions and physical response
of the body match it increases the trust in the eyes of the listener and clarity and rapport of the
conversation is much higher. All these indicators could produce opposite message in the
contrasting cases, which had happened in the case of the witness, his physical response to the
whole scene of cross examination was not in alignment with the intention of the whole
process and it is normally assumed in such cases that the speaker is untruthful but the same
studies that give these information also states other reason for such response like the ones
earlier mentioned in this answer and hence his conditions could only be taken as a subtle
indication and no binary decision could be made on the basis of these alone.

Question 5.

Reema is a XII Standard student belonging to a middle class family. She was caught by
police after she was found shoplifting a mobile from a mall. Positive and negative
reinforcement can be used to deal with juvenile crimes. Comment.

Answer 5.

Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a method of

learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning,

7
an association is made between a behavior and a consequence (whether negative or positive)
for that behavior. For example, when lab rats press a lever when a green light is on, they
receive a food pellet as a reward. When they press the lever when a red light is on, they
receive a mild electric shock. As a result, they learn to press the lever when the green light is
on and avoid the red light. But operant conditioning is not just something that takes place in
experimental settings while training lab animals. It also plays a powerful role in everyday
learning. Reinforcement and punishment take place in natural settings all the time, as well as
in more structured settings such as classrooms or therapy sessions.

Operant conditioning was first described by behaviorist B.F. Skinner, which is why you may
occasionally hear it referred to as Skinnerian conditioning. As a behaviorist, Skinner believed
that it was not really necessary to look at internal thoughts and motivations in order to explain
behavior. Instead, he suggested, we should look only at the external, observable causes of
human behavior.

It is a type of learning in which a person learns, maintains, or changes their behaviour based
on the consequences of their actions. Reinforcers are the terms used to describe such
outcomes. Any stimulus or event that increases the likelihood of a desired response is referred
to as a reinforcer. When we talk about operant conditioning, we use specialised terms like
positive, negative, reinforcement, and punishment. Positive and negative do not imply good or
bad in operant conditioning. Instead, positive denotes the addition of something, while
negative denotes the removal of something. When you reinforce a behaviour, you are
increasing it, whereas when you punish a behaviour, you are decreasing it. Punishment can be
either positive or negative, and reinforcement can be either positive or negative. Positive and
negative reinforcers both increase the likelihood of a behavioural response.

Reinforcement that closely follows a behavior will encourage and strengthen that behavior.
There are two types of reinforcement:

Positive Reinforcement

In operant conditioning, positive reinforcement involves the addition of a reinforcing stimulus

following a behavior that makes it more likely that the behavior will occur again in the future.

8
When a favorable outcome, event, or reward occurs after an action, that particular response or
behavior will be strengthened.

One of the easiest ways to remember positive reinforcement is to think of it as something

being added.

Sometimes positive reinforcement occurs quite naturally. For example, when you hold the
door open for someone, you might receive praise and a thank you. That affirmation serves as
positive reinforcement and may make it more likely that you will hold the door open for
people again in the future.

In other cases, someone might choose to use positive reinforcement very deliberately in order
to train and maintain a specific behavior. An animal trainer, for example, might reward a dog
with a treat after the animal shakes the trainer's hand and pauses for a count of five. 

Negative Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement works to strengthen certain behaviors by removing some type of

aversive outcome. As a form of reinforcement, it strengthens the behavior that precedes it. In
the case of negative reinforcement, it is the action of removing the undesirable outcome or
stimulus that serves as the reward for performing the behavior.  Aversive stimuli tend to
involve some type of discomfort, either physical or psychological. Behaviors are negatively
reinforced when they allow you to escape from aversive stimuli that are already present or
allow you to completely avoid the aversive stimuli before they happen. Deciding to take an
antacid before indulging in a spicy meal is an example of negative reinforcement. You engage
in an action in order to avoid a negative result.

Where does the difference lie?

Positive reinforcement is a type of reinforcement that involves giving someone the desired
reward in response to a behavior. This might involve offering praise, money, or other
incentives.

9
Both positive and negative reinforcement work to increase the likelihood that a behavior will
occur again in the future. You can distinguish between the two by noticing whether something
is being taken away or added to the situation. If something desirable is being added, then it is
positive reinforcement. If something aversive is being taken away, then it is negative
reinforcement.

Application to the present facts

In the given scenario, Reema is a 12th standard girl, belonging to a middle-class family who
ended up shoplifting from a mall and was caught by the police. Reema is to be reformed
without being too harsh on her. Being a juvenile and the crime she has committed, she can’t
be trialed and punished like an adult. The only viable option that is left is that of
reinforcement. Reinforcement can be extremely useful in this situation because it rewards
positive behaviour while also reducing misconduct. It also establishes a favourable
relationship between the reinforcer and the reinforcee. Reema's parents and those around her
should use reinforcement rather than punishment to encourage her to do good things and stay
away from illegal and immoral activities that could lead to her being placed in the juvenile
system.

Positive reinforcement can be used to reward Reema's good behaviour so that she continues to
behave correctly in the future. For instance, whenever Reema does a good deed, she can be
praised and rewarded. As a result of this reinforcement, she will do the right thing every time
she is confronted with a similar situation. She'd know how to act properly. Positive
reinforcement can also be used to treat juvenile criminals in order to reform them without
using harsh punishments.

Stopping, removing, or avoiding a negative outcome or aversive stimulus strengthens a

response or behaviour. There could have been a variety of reasons for Reema's desire to steal
a phone from the mall in the first place. Negative reinforcement can be used in such a way
that the things that caused Reema to behave in this way are removed or quelled, and she no
longer feels compelled to do so. This is referred to as aversive stimulus removal. To begin,
her parents or a therapist could speak with her to determine what caused her to steal in the
first place and then eliminate that cause. One would think that Reema stole that mobile
because she didn’t have one in the first place. Her parents could buy her a new phone or lend

10
them theirs so that she doesn’t end up stealing once or resorts to some other way to get what
she wants.

Positive and negative reinforcement can be used to reduce juvenile crime in the ways
described above. It will assist juveniles in reforming themselves without the need for
punishment or reprimand. This is a peaceful and friendly method.

11