5. Klein (Object Relations Theory)

Question 1

Basic Assumption

Answer 1

Nurturing parent-child relationship in first 4-6 months after birth most critical aspect of personality development

Infants view world through partial objects (e.g. breast, penis) and, through fantasy and reality, develop psychic representations of these objects, which they then introject into their psychic structure and project onto people

Question 2

Psychic Representations of External Objects

Answer 2

Objects experienced in fantasy and reality e.g. mother’s breast, father’s penis

Infants introject these psychic representations (remnants of early interpersonal experience) into own psychic structure –> project onto people, whether accurate or not

Question 3

Ego

Answer 3

Ego development and future interpersonal relations shaped by infant’s relation to first external object (breast)

Can sense both destructive (bad breast) and loving forces (good breast) –> must split to avoid disintegration

As infants mature, perceptions become more realistic and egos more integrated

Question 4

Paranoid-Schizoid Position

Answer 4

Position where infants split breast/objects/self in two to accommodate good/gratifying and bad/frustrating aspects

Prototype for later feelings of ambivalence towards people

Question 5

Depressive Position

Answer 5

Infants learn that good and bad can exist in same person as whole object

Infant feels anxiety and guilt for previous destructive urges (when infant could not tolerate internal destructive feelings and had to project outward) –> develops empathy for mother which carries over to future interpersonal relations

Resolved when child fantasizes they have made reparations for previous impulses and mother will not go away

Question 6

Superego

Answer 6

Emerges earlier than Freud’s and grows with Oedipal process, not a product of it

Question 7

Early Female Oedipus Complex

Answer 7

Girl adopts feminine position toward both parents and has positive feelings for mother’s breasts and father’s penis

Question 8

Mid to Late Female Oedipus Complex

Answer 8

Girl may develop hostility toward mother, who she fears will retaliate against her for wanting father’s babies

Question 9

Resolution of Female Oedipus Complex

Answer 9

In most cases, complex is resolved without any antagonism or jealousy toward mother

Question 10

Early Male Oedipus Complex

Answer 10

Boy adopts feminine position toward both parents

No fear of castration as punishment for sexual feelings for mother

Question 11

Mid-Late Male Oedipus Complex

Answer 11

Boy projects destructive drive onto father, who he fears will castrate him

Question 12

Resolution of Male Oedipus Complex

Answer 12

Boy establishes good relations with both parents and feels comfortable about his parents having sexual intercourse with each other

Question 13

Phantasies

Answer 13

Unconscious psychic representations of id drives/images

Question 14

Positions

Answer 14

Stages of development that are non-linear and alternate back and forth

Question 15

Psychic Defence Mechanisms

Answer 15

Used from early infancy to protect ego against anxiety of own destructive fantasies and include (i) introjection (ii) projection, (iii) splitting, (iv) projective identification

Question 16

Introjection

Answer 16

Fantasy of taking perceptions and experiences associated with external object into own body

Question 17

Projection

Answer 17

Fantasy that one’s own feelings and impulses reside in another person, not within own body –> to alleviate anxiety of being destroyed by them

Question 18

Splitting

Answer 18

Infants split good and bad aspects of ego and external objects to keep apart bad impulses

Question 19

Projective Identification

Answer 19

Split off unacceptable parts of self, project them into another object then back into self in distorted form

Question 20

Internalizations

Answer 20

Introjected aspects of external world organized into psychologically meaningful framework

Question 21

Mahler / Psychological Birth

Answer 21

In first 3 years, child surrenders desire for security with desire for autonomy –> develops sense of identity separate from primary caregiver

Question 22

Kohut / Selfobjects

Answer 22

Infants take in adults’ (selfobjects) attitudes through empathic interaction, which forms building blocks of self

Early self built on narcissistic needs to exhibit grandiose self and acquire idealized image of parent(s)

Question 23

Bowlby / Attachment Theory

Answer 23

Infants move through clear sequence when separated from mother: protest –> despair –> detachment

Children need a responsive and accessible caregiver to develop confidence and security in exploring world –> this relationship becomes internalized and serves as model for future relationships

Question 24

Ainsworth / Strange Situation

Answer 24

Developed technique for measuring type of attachment style between infant and caregiver –> attachment style based on how infant behaves when mother returns (secure, avoidant, anxious-ambivalent, disorganized)