Import: Ego Functions

Front 1

reality testing

Back 1

The accurate perception of the external environment, of one’s internal world, and of the differences between them, including ability to appraise and interpret stimuli accurately and understand cause-and-effect relationships. Severe manifestations in the form of delusion (false beliefs that are adhered to and cannot be validated) and hallucinations (false perceptions that are adhered to and cannot be validated). -Goldstein

Front 2

judgement

Back 2

The capacity to identity a possible course of action and to anticipate and weigh the consequences of behavior in order to engage in appropriate action. Good judgment dependent on accurate perception and testing of reality and is essential to problem-solving. Ability to control one's impulses essential to good judgment. Deficits in judgment may stem from deficiencies in innate cognitive equipment or from failures in the developmental process. -Goldstein

Front 3

sense of reality of the world and of the self (sense of identity)

Back 3

The need to feel or to be aware of the world and of one’s connection to it as real, to experience one’s own body as intact and belonging to oneself, to feel a sense of self, and to experience the separation or boundaries between oneself and others as distinct organisms. Depersonalization is the most common form or disturbance in the sense of reality. It is possible to perceive inner and outer reality accurately but to experience the world and the self in distorted ways. The combo of good reality testing and poor sense of reality is common among those thought to have borderline conditions. -Goldstein

Front 4

regulation and control of drives, affects and impulses

Back 4

The ability to modulate or delay the expression of impulses and control of drives, affects in accord with reality-hallmark of adaptive functioning and essential to living among others. Also the capacity to tolerate affects or feeling states. Ability affected by amount and intensity of impulses (id) and the nature of internalized constraints against the expression of impulse (superego) and the impact of life circumstances. These must be understood in order to evaluate this ego function. -Goldstein

Front 5

object relations

Back 5

The quality and patterning of an individual’s interpersonal relationships and internalized sense of self and others; the ability to form and maintain coherent representations of others and of the self

Front 6

thought processes

Back 6

An important development in the maturation of thought processes is the shift from primary process (which follows the pleasure principle, characterized by wish-fulfilling fantasies and need for immediate instinctual discharge irrespective of its appropriateness) to secondary process thinking--which follows the reality principle and is goal-directed, organized, and oriented to reality, and is characterized by the ability to postpone instinctual gratification or discharge until reality conditions are appropriate. -Goldstein

Front 7

adaptive regression in the service of the ego

Back 7

Ability to permit oneself to relax the hold on, and relationship to, reality; to experience aspects of the self that are ordinarily inaccessible when one is engaged in concentrated attention to reality; and toe emerge with increased adaptive capacity as a result of creative integrations. -Goldstein

Front 8

defensive functioning

Back 8

Unconscious, internal mechanisms used to ward off anxiety or fear inducing situation. Defenses can be adaptive or maladaptive, protecting the individual from anxiety, fostering optimal function in the former but not the latter. -Goldstein

Front 9

stimulus barrier

Back 9

Mechanism by which the amount of external and internal stimulation received is regulated. The degree to which an individual is able to maintain his level of functioning or comfort amid increases or decreases in the level of stimulation to which he or she is exposed. -Goldstein

Front 10

autonomous functions

Back 10

Attention, concentration, memory, learning, perception, motor functions, and intention have a primary autonomy from the drives and are conflict free (meaning they do not arise in response to conflict).These functions can lose their autonomy and become associated with conflict during early childhood development. -Goldstein

Front 11

mastery-competence

Back 11

The degree to which one feels competent originates early in childhood as a function of one’s innate abilities, the mastery of developmental tasks, and the appropriate feedback of significant others in the environment. The gradual accrual of a sense of mastery or competence becomes a crucial part of self-confidence with the world and thus becomes an important aspect of identity of sense of self. Coping is related to mastery but implies the individual’s capacity to use basic internal resources and available external resources to develop novel solutions. -Goldstein

Front 12

synthetic-integrative function

Back 12

This function is responsible for binding or fitting all the disparate aspects of the personality into a unified structure that acts upon the external world. The synthetic function is responsible for personality integration, resolution of splits, fragmentations, and conflicting tendencies within the personality. -Goldstein