Assessment In Freud's Theory Flashcards
Catharsis
Part of free association
The expression of emotions that is expected to lead to the reduction of disturbing symptoms
Free association
Josef Breuer is how Freud came up with it
Hypnotizing enable people to remember repressed memories. Freud stopped using this because because people revealed disturbing info that they couldn’t recall when questioned later. And he had trouble hypnotizing some people.
A technique where the patient says whatever comes to mind,
Daydreaming out loud.
Advised not to rearrange or reconstruct memories
Spoke while Freud sat out of their sight
Resistance
Free association
In free association, a blockage or refusal to disclose painful memories
Freud believed this was a sign that treatment was going in the right direction and that analysis should continue to probe in that area
Part of a psychoanalyst task is to break down or overcome resistances so the patient can confront the repressed experience.
Dream analysis
A technique involving the interpretation of dreams to uncover unconscious conflicts
Dreams have a manifest content (the actual events in the dream) and a latent content (the symbolic meaning of the dream events)
Freud believed that dreams represent repressed desires, fears, and conflicts. So strongly have these feelings been repressed that they can surface only in disguised fashion during sleep
Two aspects in dreams:
1) manifest content- actual events in the dream
2) latent content- hidden symbolic meaning of the dreams events
Steps, ladders, and staircases=sexual intercourse
Candles, snakes, and tree trunks= penis
Boxes, balconys, and doors=female body
Symbols have different meanings for different people
Dreams reveal conflicts in condensed, intended form
Rarely result from a single cause, any event in a dream can have many sources
May also have mundane origins
Physical stimuli, such as stimuli, temp in the bedroom or contact with ones partner, can induce a dream, and dreams can be triggered by internal stimuli, such as fever or an upset stomach
Dominant theme in Freud’s reported themes were about ambition, a characteristic he denied having.
In his book “the interpretation of dreams” out of more than 40 of his dreams only a few had sexual content.
Case study
Freud’s major research method
A detailed history of an individual that contains dats from a variety of sources
Freud made notes after patient sessions, not during
Didn’t believe in using experimental method because they were incompatible
Subliminal perception
Perception below the threshold of conscious awareness
Stimuli are presented to research participants below their level of conscious awareness
People can be influenced by stimuli where they aren’t consciously aware
Stimuli presented below the conscious awareness can influence behavior
Ego control
2 components of ego
Refers to the amount of control we are able to exert over our impulses and feelings
Ranges from under-controlled (unable to restrain any impulses and feelings) to over-controlled (we tightly inhibit the expression of our impulses)
Both considered maladaptive
Ego resiliency
2 components of ego
Refers to our flexibility in modulating, adjusting, or changing our typical level of ego control to meet daily changes in our environment
People with little ego resiliency are “ego brittle” meaning they are unable to alter their level of ego control to meet challenges or difficult life situations
High ego resiliency are flexible and adaptable, able to tighten or loosen their degree of ego control as the situation warrants
Mothers between the age of 21 and 27 who rated their mothering experiences as positive and satisfying were found to have increased, or remained high in, ego resiliency
Low rate= decreased ego resiliency
Difficult life situations = lower ego resiliency
Three levels of development:
Pre-conformist
Conformist
Post-conformist
Pre-conformist:
-the most primitive, allowing the least control over impulse expression
Conformist:
- moderates impulse expression in terms of our awareness of the expectations of others and of the cultures rules of appropriate social conduct
- at this stage of ego development we place a premium on being accepted by others
- we’re able to delay or redirect the manner, time, and place for expressing our impulses
Post-conformist:
- most mature stage of ego development
- people are highly conscientious and individuals and rely more on personal goals and standards of appropriate conduct than on the standards of others
Object relations theories
Outgrowths of psychoanalytic theory that focus more on relationships with the objects (such as the mother) that satisfy instinctual needs, rather than on the needs themselves.
Selfobjects
The people who play such a vital role in our lives that, as infants, we believe they are part of our selves
Typically, the mother is the infants primary selfobject
Kohut suggested that her role is to gratify the child’s physical and psychological needs
- to do this the mother must act as a mirror to the child, reflecting back on the child a sense of uniqueness, importance, and greatness
- by doing so the mom confirms the child’s sense of pride, which becomes part of the child’s nuclear self
- if the mom rejects her child, mirroring a sense of unimportance, the child may develop shame or guilt
In this way, all aspects of the adult self (positive and negative) are formed by the child’s initial relations with the primary selfobject
