AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -A young child forgets being bitten by a dog but develops a phobia of dogs as he gets older. An adult represses memories of an abusive childhood in order to maintain the illusion of a healthy, functional family.

Detailed explanation-2: -Examples of Repression An adult suffers a nasty spider bite as a child and develops an intense phobia of spiders later in life without any recollection of the experience as a child. Because the memory of the spider bite is repressed, he or she may not understand where the phobia originates.

Detailed explanation-3: -Example: Jacob cannot remember certain painful memories as a child. To protect himself, he unconsciously represses these memories from his consciousness. Instead, he displays anxious behaviors toward other items that he associates with these original painful memories.

Detailed explanation-4: -Or, in another example, you may have an impulse to tell your boss what you really think about him and his abysmal behavior, but you suppress this thought because you need the job. In both cases, the desire is conscious but is thwarted by the exercise of willpower resulting from a rational decision to avoid the action.

Detailed explanation-5: -Repression: Subconsciously blocking ideas or impulses that are undesirable. This defense mechanism may be present in someone who has no recollection of a traumatic event, even though they were conscious and aware during the event.