Child & Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles LET REVIEWER
Lesson 18: Topographical Model
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Professional Education (PROFED) Reviewer
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, proposed the Topographical Model of the Mind as a way to explain how human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by different layers of mental activity. He believed that much of what drives us is not fully visible or accessible to our conscious awareness. Instead, the mind works like a landscape with both surface and hidden areas. The model helps us understand why people sometimes act in ways they don’t fully understand, why repressed memories can shape behavior, and how unconscious desires can influence everyday decisions.
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| Conscious | Preconscious | Unconscious | Nonconscious |
The Unconscious
- Freud believes that most of what influences us is our unconscious.
- The Oedipus and Electra Complex are both buried down into the unconscious, out of our awareness due to the extreme anxiety they caused.
- But they still influence our thinking, feeling, and doing in perhaps dramatic ways.
In Freud’s view, the unconscious mind is the deepest and most powerful part of our mental life. He believed that most of what truly influences our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors lies hidden here, beyond our direct awareness. The unconscious stores repressed desires, fears, and memories, things too troubling or anxiety‑provoking to face consciously. For example, Freud argued that the Oedipus Complex in boys and the Electra Complex in girls are pushed down into the unconscious because of the intense conflict and anxiety they create. Even though we are not aware of these buried experiences, they continue to shape how we think, feel, and act, sometimes in dramatic or unexpected ways.
The Conscious
- All that we are aware of are stored in our conscious mind.
- However, our conscious mind only comprises a very small part of who we are so that, in our everyday life, we are only aware of a very small part of what makes up our personality.
- Most of what we are is hidden and out of reach.
The conscious mind is the part of our mental life that we are directly aware of. It includes our current thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and memories that we can easily access at any given moment. However, Freud emphasized that this conscious awareness makes up only a small portion of our total personality. In everyday life, we operate mostly with this limited awareness, while the majority of our motives, desires, and memories remain hidden in deeper layers of the mind. This means that much of who we are, our drives, fears, and unresolved conflicts, exists outside of conscious reach, yet still influences how we think and behave.
The Subconscious
- This is the part of us that we can reach if prompted but is not in our active conscious.
- It is right below the surface, but still “hidden” somewhat unless we search for it.
- Example: telephone number, childhood memories, name of your childhood friend.
The subconscious mind is the part of our mental life that lies just below our active awareness. It is not something we are constantly thinking about, but it can be accessed when needed. For example, you may not always recall a childhood friend’s name or a telephone number, but with a little effort, you can bring it into your awareness. In this way, the subconscious acts like a “storage area” for memories, knowledge, and experiences that are not currently in use but remain available. It is hidden compared to the conscious mind, yet much easier to reach than the unconscious, which contains deeply repressed thoughts and desires.
Nonconscious
- All that we are not aware of, have not experienced, and that have not been made part of our personalities.
The nonconscious mind refers to all the mental processes and experiences that lie completely outside of our awareness and have never been part of our personality. Unlike the subconscious, which stores memories we can recall if prompted, the nonconscious includes things we have not experienced or learned at all. For example, the detailed chemical processes happening in our body or information we have never encountered remain in the nonconscious. Since these elements are not part of our lived experience, they do not directly shape our personality or behavior, though they exist as background processes that support our functioning.
Topographical Quiz: click here
“If you truly understand, comment your reflection in at least 3-5 sentences or more about this lesson.”
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