2 - Freud and Psychoanalysis Flashcards
1
Q
Why are we studying Freud?
A
- Freud and the tradition he initiated acknowledge ideas that are underemphasized or even ignored elsewhere
- psychoanalysis continues to profoundly influence psychology and modern conceptions of the mind
- Freud continues to influence the practice of psychotherapy
- many of Freud’s ideas have entered popular culture and provide a common part of how people think and talk about each other
2
Q
What is mental energy?
A
there is a fixed and - finite amount of psychic energy (libido)
- in current thinking, it is the mind’s capacity for processing information, rather than its energy, that is limited
3
Q
What is hedonism?
A
purpose of life and existence is to experience pleasure
our instincts guide us to these pleasurable circumstances
4
Q
What are Freud’s two instincts for motivation?
A
- originally, Freud only proposed Eros (sexuality) as a base instinct
- also has to do with the creation, protection, and enjoyment of life
- however, after WWI, he added Thanatos (aggression) as another one
- ordered systems tend towards disorder over time, and this trend is inevitable
5
Q
What is the id?
A
- the most primitive, develops at birth and initially contains all of the libido
- knows only images
- doesn’t see, feel, or hear
6
Q
What does the id do?
A
- translates need into drive (eg. need for food = hunger drive)
- has access to memories through images
- controls basic reflexes
- has no sense of consequences or cause and effect
- no sense of time (id never changes and time doesn’t pass)
- unconscious
7
Q
How does the id work?
A
- pleasure principle = if it feels good, it will do it and it will do it now
- primary process = when it feels drive, it searches through memory to find something that satisfies the drive
- cathects libido to internal memory images
- condensation can compress several ideas into one
- symbolization can have one thing stand in for another
- conscious thought of very young children operates according to primary process thinking
- predicate thinking = not good as distinguishing the differences between similar images
8
Q
What is the ego?
A
- very soon after birth, part of the id differentiates into the ego
- the ego is a mediator, whose function is to deal with the outside world
- most of the ego is in the unconscious mind (70-80%)
9
Q
How does the ego work?
A
- cathects libido through the reality principle = if it feels good it will do it, but only if it’s safe
- sense of cause and effect, time, and delayed gratification
- has the ability to learn
- secondary process = looks at the imges the id is cathecting, then tries to find that object in the real world
- the ego will then engage in behaviours to get to the thing
- ego takes libido from the id
- creates barriers (anti-cathexis)
10
Q
What is the superego?
A
- develops around 4 - 5 years of age
- differentiates from the id
- internal representation of parental values (morality and ethics)
- learns through punishment and reward
- mostly unconscious
- can also create barriers to
block immoral images
11
Q
What are the two sections of the superego?
A
- ego ideal = the positive aspects, things we are praised for (do’s)
- conscience = the negative aspects, things we were punished for (don’ts)
12
Q
Why is Freud the father of developmental psychology?
A
- at Freud’s time, it was not a universal belief that there were changes in personality
- they believed that children were the same as adults, just smaller
13
Q
What is Freud’s developmental theory?
A
- a child gains pleasure from parts of their own body
- early on, the child is narcissistic
- progression through the psychosexual stages is differentiated by the erogenous zone that gains primary sensory pleasures
14
Q
What is a summary of the oral stage?
A
- 0 - 1
- physical focus = mouth, lips, tongue
- relevant mental structure = id
- psychological theme = dependence, passivity
- adult character types = dependent or overly independent
15
Q
What is the early oral stage?
A
- oral incorporative stage
- actions = sucking, swallowing
16
Q
What is the late oral stage?
A
- oral aggressive stage
- this substage starts when the teeth start to develop (around 8 - 9 months)
- actions = biting, chewing
17
Q
What is a summary of the anal stage?
A
- physical focus = anus and organs of elimination
- relevant mental structure = ego
- psychological theme = obedience and self control
- adult character types = obedient and obsessed with order, or anti-authority and chaotic
18
Q
What is the early anal stage?
A
- anal expulsive
- pleasure from delivering feces
- this arises as it is the only thing of value that the child can create
19
Q
What is the late anal stage?
A
- the two substages are divided by toilet training
- anal retentive
- pleasure from withholding feces
- stimulation provided by bolus in anus
20
Q
What is a summary of the phallic stage?
A
- physical focus = sexual organs
- relevant mental structure = superego
- psychological theme = gender identity and sexuality
- types = over or under sexualized
21
Q
What happens in the phallic stage?
A
- typically, female enters the stage later than males
- beginnings of masturbation
- onset of the Oedipus complex
- resolution of the complex marks the end of the phallic stage
- most important stage for adult personality and sexuality
22
Q
How does the Oedipus complex work for boys?
A
- cathect sexual libido to primary caretaker (Mom)
- boy wants possession of Mom
- boy sees Dad as rival for Mom’s attention
- cathect aggressive libido to Dad
- castration anxiety
- decathect from Mom and Dad
- boy identifies with Dad (defensive identification) and some with Mom (positive identification)
- displace sexual libido to Mom-like
- displace aggressive libido to Dad-like
23
Q
How does the Oedipus complex work for girls?
A
- sexual libido cathected to Mom
- aggressive libido cathected to Dad
- penis envy, blames Mom
- decathect libido, leaving some behind
- cathect sexual libido to Dad, and aggressive to Mom
- decathect most libido, leaving some behind
- mostly identify with Mom, a little with Dad
- displacement of aggressive to Mom-like
- displacement of sexual to Dad-like
24
Q
How is the formation of the superego different between girls and boys?
A
- the girl’s identification with Mom is not very strong, as mother doesn’t seem as big of a threat
- superego is stronger in boys
- they are more concerned with the importance of unbreakable rules
- girls are more concerned by who’s going to get hurt (outcome)
25
What is the latency stage?
- sex and aggression are less overt
| - psychological theme = learning and cognitive development
26
What is the genital stage?
- begins roughly at puberty, and ends when we die
- physical focus = sexuality in the context of a mature relationship
- relevant mental structure = id, ego, and superego are well balanced
- psychological theme = creation and enhancement of life
- adult character types = a mature adult (psychologically well-adjusted and balanced)
27
What is a fixation?
- during development, some leave behind more libido than usual
- it remains invested in a particular area (fixation)
- this occurs because there was either not enough or too much time spent in a substage
- most common in the oral incorporative stage
28
What is the function of a fixation?
- when frustrated, retreat to sources of pleasure (regression)
- allows for an observance physical symptoms when there are psychological difficulties
- eg. eating more, vomiting (oral aggressive)
29
What does a fixation look like in the oral incorporative stage?
- engage in behaviours that are oral in sexual and symbolic terms (taking something into ourselves)
- eg. = reading, eating, cigarette smoking, drinking, movies, science etc.
- characteristics = trusting, open, gullible (“he’s a sucker”)
- jobs = book critic, movie critic, scientist
30
What does a fixation look like in the oral aggressive stage?
- get pleasure from biting/chewing
- eg. cigar/pipe smoking, food and eating
- personality = sarcastic (“biting wit”), critical (“got chewed out”), irony, etc.
- jobs = lawyers
31
Why is the anal stage associated with value?
- for infants, shit is the only thing of value they can give to others
- there is an excitement from parents, and a lot of activity afterwards
- shit is a measure of value = “gold was the shit of the devil”, “dirty money”
32
What does a fixation look like in the anal expulsive stage?
- characteristics = lack of cleanliness, organization (“doesn’t have his shit together”), structure; giving, emotionally supportive, gifting
- activities = dirk biking, dirty jokes, football player
- physical symptom = diarrhea
33
What does a fixation look like in the anal retentive stage?
- after toilet training
- “anal triad” characteristics
- organized, neat, and rigid (“tight ass”)
- stingy (with love, money, gifts, etc.)
- stubborn (not giving up what you believe in)
34
How does Freud talk about anxiety?
- anxiety = only the conscious ego experiences anxiety
- feeling that something bad will happen
- Freud was the first to talk about anxiety as a psychological disorder
- first feeling of anxiety is from birth
35
What are the three reasons to experience anxiety?
- outside world = reality anxiety (things happen in the outside world that cause stress)
- superego = moral anxiety (things we shouldn’t do and thoughts we shouldn’t have)
- id = neurotic anxiety (caused by fear that we will given in the the powerful id impulses)
36
What are the two ways to deal with neurotic anxiety?
- problem focused coping = think consciously, develop a plan to achieve id gratification without consequences (rational)
- emotion focused coping = unconscious ego fools the conscious ego by distorting reality through defense mechanisms (irrational)
- put in place by unconscious ego to fool conscious ego
- mechanisms don’t necessarily occur in isolation
37
What is repression?
- primarily against neurotic/moral anxiety
- most basic defense mechanism
- unconscious ego puts up a barrier to block the conscious ego to understand what is happening
- anticathexis between the id and the image of the dangerous activity
38
What are the problems with repression?
- requires libido to create and maintain the anticathexis (weakens the ego)
- not always successful, as the id can overwhelm the barrier, and bring the forbidden image past barrier
39
How can the id overwhelm the barrier?
- Freudian slip
| - dreams
40
What is a Freudian slip?
- release from repression
- parapraxis = doing something, but not quite right
- impulse is expressed, but it is distorted so the ego doesn’t recognize
- doesn’t have to be verbal, includes things like forgetting or breaking things
- Freud believed that all mistakes have meaning
41
How did Freud see dreams?
- “royal road to the unconscious”
- disguised expression of an id desire
- when you are asleep, the ego is weakened, so the barrier is weakened
- negotiation between the id and the unconscious ego
42
What is the process of dreams?
- latent dream
- visual representation (images from the day)
- dreamwork (symbolization, displacement, condensation)
- condensation = modify the symbolic representation to also represent other forbidden desires
- manifest dream
43
What are additional disguises for dreams?
- we forget our dreams
| - the symbol is not the center of the story
44
Why do bad dreams occur?
- not just id that can create dreams
| - the superego can also create dreams to punish you
45
What does Freud say about dream symbolism?
- “dream dictionaries” are not valid
- a few things are universal = sexual organs/activity, fire, cigars/telephone poles, etc.
- however, dreams are usually based on specific life experiences
46
What are the defense mechanisms?
- displacement
- sublimation
- projection
- rationalization
- reaction formation
- identification
- intellectualization
- denial
47
What is displacement?
act out your impulse against some other target that causes less anxiety
48
What is sublimation?
- subtype of displacement
- displacement towards an activity that is socially valued
- Freud believed that all culturally valued activities (art, literature, science, religion, etc.) are energized by displaced (sublimated) libido
49
What is projection?
- attribution of our anxiety-producing impulses to others, usually the target of the impulses
- eg. I hate Dad → Dad hates me
- it is therefore safe to have negative thoughts because it’s the target’s fault
- change from neurotic to reality anxiety
50
What is rationalization?
- engage in what would normally be anxiety-producing behaviour, but feel no anxiety
- the unconscious ego fills the conscious ego with reasons for our behaviour
51
What is reaction formation?
- unconscious ego prevents anxiety over our impulses by filling the conscious ego with the opposite feeling/impulse
- eg. I hate Dad → I love Dad
- however, you still can engage in behaviours that fulfill the original impulse
52
What is identification?
identify with other person and their beliefs and values
53
What is denial?
- most primitive and maladaptive of the defence mechanisms
- engage in the forbidden behaviour, but feel not anxiety because memories of that behaviour are prevented from entering consciousness
- cannot recall having done anything unacceptable, so honestly deny behaviour
54
What are the scientific criticisms of Freud's theory?
- biased sample (individuals with mental illness, young, Jewish, female)
- cannot replicate cases
- bias (demand characteristics - what did the patients think Freud wanted to hear)
- self-validating method
- terms vague; hard to quantify
- few unique predictions
- excessive complexity (Occam’s razor = all things being equal, the simplest explanation is the best)
55
What are the philosophical criticisms of Freud's theory?
- overemphasis on “base instincts” (sex and aggression)
- overemphasis on unconscious
- too little change after puberty
- pessimistic about human nature (built-in tendency to aggress, progress through life as a struggle)
56
What support is there for Freud's theory?
- acceptance of the unconscious
- subliminal influence
(presentation of stimuli below level of consciousness)
- implicit attitudes
studies
