Structure and Function

Prepared By Manu Melwin JoyResearch Scholar

School of Management StudiesCUSAT, Kerala, India.Phone – 9744551114

Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com

Kindly restrict the use of slides for personal purpose. Please seek permission to reproduce the same in public

forms and presentations.

Introduction

• To use the ego state model

effectively, you need clear

understanding of the differences

between structure and function.

• Confusion between the two has

been a long standing problem in

the development of TA theory.

Introduction

• The functional model

classifies observed

behavior.

• The structural model

classifies stored

memories and strategies.

Introduction

• Berne was careful in his

presentations to

differentiate structural

and functional model

• He had a solid logical

basis of doing so.

Analogy• Many present day writers are

attempting to equate these

two modifying categories.

• This is like attempting to

equate a wheel with

revolving.

• The two categories refer to

different aspects of reality.

Analogy

In analyzing ego states,

structural refers to the

component parts of the

personality while functional

or descriptive refers to the

way in which the personality

is functioning at a given

point it time.

Analogy• An analogy would be the

different ways to look at a heat

pump used to heat and cool a

house.

• One could look at the heat

pump structurally and point to

its various components such as

the compressor, the air ducts,

the thermostats etc.

Analogy• One could also look at the heat

pump functionally or descriptively

and talk about it heating the

house, cooling the house,

transferring the air from one place

to another, using electricity etc.

• These are descriptions of how the

total system is functioning at a

given point in time.

Structure – What – Content

Function – How – Process

Difference• Any time we are talking about

the interaction between the

people, we must use the

functional model.

• The structural model fits

when we are considering

what goes on inside the

individual.

Difference

• Interpersonal aspects of

TA work require the

functional model.

• Intrapsychic matters

need to be studied in

terms of the structural

model.

Function• When I look at you and listen to you

and judge what ego state you are in, I

can make my judgments only in terms

of the functional model.

• Perhaps I see you put your head to one

side, crease your brow and put the end

of one finger in your mouth.

• From these behaviors, I judge that you

are in your Adapted Child functional

ego state.

Structure• There is no similar way I can observe

you and try to judge whether you are

in your little professor or coming from

your parent in the parent.

• These names define collections of

memories, not sets of behaviors.

• Only by listening to the content of

what you are saying can I begin to get

evidence about second order

structure.

Structure• If I need to know about the content

of your little professor or parent in

parent – the what rather than the

how – I need to do some detective

work.

• Principally, I need to ask you a lot of

questions.

• I may also use my general knowledge

about different kinds of personality

and about how children develop.

Relationship between function and structure

• It is possible for two things to be

different, yet to be related to

each other.

• This is true of structure and

function.

• Obviously, the way I behave at

any moment will depend partly

on the set of memories and

strategies I am contacting

internally.

Relationship between function and structure

• Suppose I am showing a set

of behaviors corresponding

to the negative Adapted Child

functional ego states division.

• If you look at me, what you

tell about the structural ego

state part I might be

contacting internally?

Relationship between function and structure

• You might reasonably guess I am

experiencing body sensations of

the sort which fit with the

definition of somatic child C1.

• But perhaps, I am also accessing

internal images of the scary orge

or witch parent figures I built for

myself at the age of three and

stored away to make up my P1.

Relationship between function and structure

• It is also possible that I am

replaying the way my father

used to scrunch up and go red

when he felt under treat as a

child.

• If so, I am accessing part of

my own parent ego state, the

Child in my Father Parent ( C3

of Father).

Relationship between function and structure

• For all you know, I may be

skillful actor and be setting up

the whole charade for some

grown up purpose which you

don’t know about yet.

• If so, the I am likely to be

switching internally between

the content of my Adult, A2

and Little professor, A1.

Relationship between function and structure

• When you look at

me and listen to

me, you can

observe function.

• But you can only

infer structure.

Thank You

Other TA topics available on slideshare1. Strokes - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/strokes-24081607.

2. Games People Play - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/psychological-games-people-play.

3. Structural Analysis - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/the-ego-state-model.4. What is TA? - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/what-ta-is5. Cycles of Development -

http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/cycles-of-developement-pamela-levin-transactional-analysis.

6. Stages of Cure - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/stages-of-cure.7. Transactions - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/transactions-33677298.8. Time Structuring - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/time-structuring.9. Life Position - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/life-position.10. Autonomy - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/autonomy-33690557. 11. Structural Pathology - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/structural-pathology.12. Game Analysis - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/game-analysis-33725636.13. Integrated Adult - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/integrated-adult.14. Stroke Economy - http://www.slideshare.net/manumjoy/stroke-economy-33826702.