Editing Id, ego and superego (section)

== Advantages of the structural model ==
[[File:Structural-Iceberg.svg|thumb|280px|The [[iceberg]] metaphor. It is often used to illustrate the spatial relationship between Freud's first model and his new structural model of the soul (id, ego, superego). Disadvantage: The 'iceberg' shows none of the libido as the energetic reservoir that underlie the drive economy aimed at satisfying all innate needs.]]

In his earlier "topographic model", Freud divided the psyche into three "regions" or "systems": "the Conscious", that which is present to awareness at the surface level of the psyche in any given moment, including information and stimuli from both internal and external sources; "the [[Preconscious]]", consisting of material that is merely latent, not present to consciousness but capable of becoming so; and "the Unconscious", consisting of ideas and impulses that are made completely inaccessible to consciousness by the act of [[Repression (psychoanalysis)|repression]]. By introducing the structural model, Freud was seeking to reduce his reliance on the term "unconscious" in its systematic and topographic sense—as the mental region that is foreign to the ego—by replacing it with the concept of the 'id'."<ref>Sigmund Freud (1933). p. 104.</ref> The partition of the psyche outlined in the structural model is thus one that cuts across the topographical model's partition of "conscious vs. unconscious".

Freud conceptualised the structural model because it allowed for a greater degree of precision and diversification. While the need contents of the id are initially unconscious (can become unconscious again as a result of an act of repression), the contents of the ego (such as thinking, perception) and the superego (memory; imprinting) can be both conscious and unconscious. Freud argued that his new model included the option of scientifically describing the structure and functions of the mentally healthy living being and therefore represented an effective diagnostic tool for clarifying the causes of mental disorders: {{blockquote|[[Transference neurosis|Transference neuroses]] correspond to a conflict between the ego and the id; [[narcissistic neurosis|narcissistic neuroses]], to a conflict between the ego and the superego; and [[psychosis|psychoses]], to one between the ego and the external world.<ref>Freud, ''[[Neurosis and Psychosis]]''</ref>}}

The three newly presented entities, however, remained closely connected to their previous conceptions, including those that went under different names – the systematic unconscious for the id, and the conscience/ego ideal for the superego.<ref>Angela Richards, "Editor's Introduction" in ''On Metapsychology'' p. 345.</ref> Freud never abandoned the topographical division of conscious, preconscious, and unconscious, though he noted that "the three qualities of consciousness and the three provinces of the mental apparatus do not fall together into three peaceful couples...we had no right to expect any such smooth arrangement."<ref>Sigmund Freud (1933). pp. 104–5.</ref>

The iceberg image is a visual metaphor, proposed by [[G. Stanley Hall]], depicting the relationship between the ego, id and superego agencies (structural model) and the conscious and unconscious psychic systems (topographic model). In the iceberg metaphor the entire id and part of both the superego and the ego are submerged in the underwater portion representing the unconscious region of the psyche. The remaining portions of the ego and superego are displayed above water in the conscious region.<ref name="Carlson"/>