Ch.10 - Basis of Psychoanalysis Flashcards
Freud
- Austrian neurologist who became fascinated with studying hysteria
- had a huge impact on psychology
- created the foundation for psychodynamic therapy
Free Association
• free flowing, uncensored talking that provides clues to unconscious material
Psychoanalysis
- suggests that psychological issues are the result of unconscious processes
- bringing unpleasant unconscious thoughts into the consciousness
- talking therapy - talking will help clarify things that bother us
Four Key Ideas of Psychodynamic Theory
- internal structure
- mental energy
- psychic conflict
- psychic determinism
Internal Structure
- Id: primitive drives and emotions, pleasure
- Ego: balanced Id and Superego, reality
- Superego: Internalized social norms, morality
Mental Energy
- referred to as libido
- amount of energy is fixed and finite
- motivated unconscious, material can leak into thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
Psychic Conflict
- mind can conflict with itself
* compromise formation: ego’s main purpose, conscious thought and behavior
Psychic Determinism
- argues that there are no accidents, there is a reason behind every act, thought, and feeling
- everything we do is an expression of the mind
Id
• primitive drives and emotions, pleasure
Ego
Balances the Id, Superego, and reality
Fixation
Persistence of sexual traits, attachments to people or things stemming from childhood
Libido
Instinctual physiological energy associated with sexual urges
Thanatos
- self destructive behavior linked to the death instinct
* implies that some part of humans desires death
Psychosexual Stages
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
Oral
- birth to 18 months
- focuses on the mouth, lips, and tongue
- Id develops
- dependency, passivity
- adult character: dependent or overly independent
Anal
- 18 months to 3.5 years
- anus and organs of elimination
- ego develops
- obedience and self control
- adult character: obedient and obsessed with order, or anti authority and chaotic
Phallic
- 3.5 - 7 years
- sexual organs
- superego develops
- gender identity and sexuality
- adult character: over or undersexualized
Latency
- 7 years to puberty
- learning and cognitive development
- little development, according to Freud
Genital
- puberty through adulthood
- sexuality in the context of a mature relationships
- Id, ego, and superego are balanced
- creation and enhancement of life
- adult character: a mature adult (rare)
Identification
A process where a person unconsciously tries to pattern themselves after another
• aids superego development
Primary Process Thinking
Without thinking about logical rules of conscious thought or anchor in reality
• part of the Id
Wish Fulfillment
Something unavailable is conjured up and the image of it is temporarily satisfying
• part of the Id
Secondary Process Thinking
Developing and devising of strategies for problem solving and obtaining satisfaction
• part of the ego
Pleasure Principle
Desire for immediate gratification
Reality Principle
Constrains the Id to reality, part of the ego
Topographic Model in Psychoanalysis
States that the human mind consists of 3 parts
• conscious
• preconscious
• unconscious
Conscious
Contains thoughts, feelings, and images about which you are presently aware
Preconscious
Contains information you are not presently thinking of, but can be easily retrieved
Unconscious
Largest part of the human mind, cannot be readily retrieved
Parapraxis
Slips that come from the unconscious mind, in the form of mistakes, accidents, omissions, or memory lapses
Objective Anxiety
Occurs in response to a real, external threat to a person
Neurotic Anxiety
Occurs when there is direct conflict between Id and Ego
Moral Anxiety
Conflict between ego and superego
Defense Mechanisms
- ego processes that distort reality to protect the individual from anxiety
- prevents threatening unconscious material from reaching consciousness
Repression
• pushes threatening thoughts and ideas into the unconscious
Denial
• refusal to acknowledge anxiety provoking stimuli
Reaction Formation
Claiming to feel strongly opposite of what one truly feels
Rationalization
• creating logical, socially acceptable explanations for behaviors which were actually driven by impulse
Intellectualization
Translates a threatening situation into cold, intellectual terms
Displacement
Shifting one’s unconscious negativity towards a safer target
Projection
Attributing anxiety provoking impulses or thoughts to others
Sublimation
Channeling Id desires into positive, socially acceptable outlets
Projective Techniques
- person is presented with a series of ambiguous stimuli
- Rorschach tests
- thematic apperception test (TAT)
Rorschach Inkblot
- patient is presented with an inkblot stimulus
* interpretation is supposed to reveal the unconscious
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
- an ambiguous image is shown
* patient’s interpretation reveals the subconscious mind
Catharsis
Bringing unpleasant unconscious thoughts into the consciousness
Freudian Slips
Mistakes of the tongue that we make in everyday speech, often embarrassing, and are thought to reflect unconscious thoughts or wishes
Dream Analysis
- technique of analyzing dreams, based on the assumption that dreams have hidden meanings
- symbols provide clues to unconscious thoughts and desires
- manifest content and latent content
Manifest Content
The obvious plot or story of a dream
Latent Content
Dream’s hidden or disguised meanings or symbols
Resistance
Opposition to therapist when uncovering threatening, anxiety provoking stimuli
Transference
People attaching feelings towards important people in their own lives on to their therapist
Countertransference
The conscious or unconscious views the therapist holds towards the client
Criticisms of Freud’s Theories
- excessive complexity and depth
- case study method isn’t generalizable
- high likelihood of bias
- concepts not defined in terms of operational definitions
- untestable
Psychic Conflict
- may not be conscious conflict
* causes anxiety in a person
