Transactional analysis is a theory of communication that describes how people are structured psychologically using ego states. It was originated by Eric Berne who defined transactions as the fundamental unit of social interaction. According to transactional analysis, each person's personality is made up of parent, adult and child ego states. The parent ego state consists of thoughts and behaviors learned from caregivers. The adult ego state is oriented towards objective information gathering. The child ego state holds emotions and responses from childhood experiences. Understanding transactions between different ego states can help keep communication clear.