Final answer:
The statement is false; Freud's id operates on the pleasure principle, not the reality principle, which is the domain of the ego.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that Freud's id operates according to the reality principle is false. In Sigmund Freud's psychodynamic theory, the id is the component of personality that operates on the pleasure principle. The id is present from birth and houses the primal drives, such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire, seeking immediate gratification of these urges.
On the other hand, the ego is responsible for dealing with the real world and operates on the reality principle. The ego's job is to mediate between the desires of the id and the moral constraints of the superego, finding realistic ways to fulfill the id's demands without transgressing what is socially acceptable as dictated by the superego.
Freud's division of the mind into id, ego, and superego remains an influential concept despite its criticisms, mainly that these elements are not easily falsifiable. The importance of the unconscious mind, along with the internal conflicts that arise between the different parts of the psyche, form the core of Freudian theory.