2. Freud Flashcards
Freud was the founder of ____analytic theory
Psychoanalytic theory
What is psychoanalytic theory?
The discipline of understanding the human
Many applications including psychopathology
Psychoanalysis
What are the main criticisms of Freud’s work?
Difficult to test/replicate
Very sexist ideas
Sexual motivation is overly stressed & therefore ignores a lot of social aspects
Most of his theory is based on case studies
Freud’s theory of personality is compromised of….
Nature of human beings and the source of human motivation
Structure of personality
Development of personality
Levels of consciousness
Describe Freud’s ideas of our two basic drives
We have 2 basic drives: Life instinct (eros) which is the drive for survival, pleasure and reproduction Death instinct (Thanatos) which is that we are self-destructive and have an unconscious drive to die
What are the 3 basic structures of personality according to Freud?
The id, ego and superego
Describe the characteristics of the id
Raw, uninhibited, instinctual energy and the source of all our cravings, impulses and drives
Guided by the pleasure principle
The other structure present at birth
Describe the characteristics of the ego
The executive part of personality interested in planning, thinking and organising
Acts as a mediator between the id and the outside world
Guided by the reality principle
Helps to achieve the id’s desire through long term planning
Describe the characteristics of the superego
The conscience
Makes judgements about right/wrong, internalised parental attitudes
Conflict of interactions between our personality structures can cause what?
Issues, such as, anxiety
What are the 5 stages of psychosexual development?
Oral stage Anal stage Phallic stage Latency stage Genital stage
Describe the oral stage
From birth - 1 year : pleasure from the mouth (e.g. breastfeeding) so we therefore desire comfort and warmth from this area
Describe the anal stage
18 months - 3 years : pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination n (e.g. potty training)
Describe the phallic stage
3 - 5 years : Pleasure is fixated around the genitals (oedipus/Electra complex)
Describe the latency stage
5 - 12 years : Plateau of development, lots of sexual suppression
Describe the genital stage
12 - 18 years: Maturation of sexual interests/experimentation
Freud suggested that those who do not becoming fixated in a certain stage will show what?
They will later show such behaviour in their adult personality
How did Freud explain our irrational behaviour?
He believed that our unconscious thoughts were stronger than our conscious thoughts which is what makes us irrational at times
What are the 3 areas of the mind?
Conscious, preconscious and unconscious
Describe the features of the conscious mind
Material that we are actively away of at any given time (e.g. thoughts/feelings/ideas)
Describe the features of the preconscious mind
Not active thoughts but thoughts that are stored and can be recalled at any time
Describe the features of the unconscious mind
Memories, urges, fantasies we are unaware of due to their ‘unacceptable’ nature (e.g. sexual or aggressive urges)
Freud said that we repress what?
Unacceptable urges
What is repression?
The process of keeping material unconscious
Under what circumstances did Freud believe that we could access repressed material?
At times of weakened repression (e.g. under the influence of alcohol/drugs)
Mental illness could also be where repressed material begins to resurface
Dreams have been described as the ‘royal road to ___’
The unconscious
How to dreams function to preserve sleep?
By representing wishes as fulfilled
What are the 2 elements of a dream?
Manifest: How you might recall your dream
Latent: The real meanings of dreams from the unconscious
How did REM sleep research discredit Freud’s dream theories?
Because REM sleep was correlated with dreaming
REM is autonomous and has association with parts of our brains linked to desires and motivations
How did Solms (1997) support Freud’s dream theories?
Solms showed activation of instinctual and emotional mechanisms in the brain are involved in dreaming
How did Panksepp (1999) support Freud’s dream theories?
Showed that the area of the brain that initiates goal-seeking behaviour involved in dreaming
Describe free association
The act of relaying thoughts as they come to your without self-censorship
What did Freud believe about free association?
That this method could help us tap into the unconscious mind as it can help us decode the meaning behind things
How did McGinnies (1949) support the theory of the unconscious?
P’s reported to recognise neutral words faster than taboo words
However, skin conductance showed that P’s had unconsciously recognised words at the same time
How did Bargh et al (2001) support the theory of the unconscious?
P’s were primed with words related to cooperation subsequently behaved more cooperatively with another P in a task
What is subliminal priming?
Stimuli that cannot be perceived by the conscious mind, but can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviours
Freud suggested that throughout the development of personality, people acquire defensive mechanisms, what is the purpose of defensive mechanisms?
They push disturbing, upsetting or socially unacceptable content in the unconscious and keep them there (to protect ourselves)
What did Fenichel (1945) suggest about defensive mechanisms?
That they are to protect our self-esteem and how we define ourselves
Who found evidence for defensive mechanisms?
Baumeister et al (1998)
Describe the process of reaction formation (defensive mechanisms)
Converting socially unacceptable impulses into the opposite (e.g. by calling someone prejudiced they will then behave in non-prejudiced ways)
Describe the process of projection (defensive mechanisms)
Perceiving others of having traits than one inaccurately believes oneself not to have
What is ironic suppression?
When we try to suppress thoughts it is successful at first but when it fades, the thoughts come back twice as fast
Describe the process of undoing (defensive mechanisms)
Desire to alter the past to make something not happen (we think about how could’ve done something differently)
Describe the process of isolation (defensive mechanisms) and give an example
Creating a mental barrier between a threatening cognition and other thoughts/feelings (e.g. criminals describe their crime as a closed, isolated incident that had no lasting impact)
Describe the process of sublimation (defensive mechanisms)
Channelling an unacceptable desire into something more socially acceptable (e.g. into sports)
Describe the process of denial (defensive mechanisms)
Refusal to accept certain facts that may be damaging to ones sense of self (e.g. smoker may refuse to admit that it is damaging to their health)
What is perceptual denial?
Denying that something exists (e.g. people deny things because of their views or political stance - climate change)
Describe Neo-Freudians development of Freud’s work
Disagreed with Freud’s highly sexualised view, but emphasised the importance of social environment/culture (humans innate need to belong)
Describe Eric Fromm’s development of Freud’s work
Introduced psychosocial stages of development (to try to understand people’s sense of self)
Describe Alfred Adler’s development of Freud’s work
We have a drive to compensate for feelings of inferiority
Describe Carl Jung’s development of Freud’s work
Personality types and thoughts of how the future can impact our behaviour
Describe Karen Horney’s development of Freud’s work
Women do not have penis envy, but jealousy is culturally based (e.g. male freedom, power and dominance)
