secondary processes

noun Psychoanalysis.

1. the conscious mental activity and logical thinking controlled by the ego and influenced by environmental demands.

pl n

1. psychoanal the logical conscious type of mental functioning, guided by external realityCompare primary processes

n.

1. In psychoanalysis, the mental process directly related to the functions of the ego and characteristic of conscious and preconscious mental activities, marked by logical thinking and by the tendency to delay gratification by regulation of actions based on instinctual demands.