Chapter 10: Psychoanalytic Approaches; Contemporary Issues

Question 1

what is the neo-analytic movement

Answer 1

• contemporary revisions to classical psychoanalysis
• composed by Westen
• argues that id, superego, and repressed sexuality are out of date
• modern day focus should be on childhood relationships and adult conflicts with others (e.g. intimacy difficulties)

Question 2

what did Westen postulate were the five postulates of contemporary psychoanalysis (i.e. the neoanalytic movement)

Answer 2

• the unconscious plays a large role in life (but might not be the ubiquitous influence that Freud held it was)
• behaviour often reflects compromises in conflicts among mental processes (e.g. emotions, motivations, thoughts)
• childhood plays an important part in personality development (especially in shaping adult relationship styles)
• mental representations of the self and relationships guide interactions with others
• personality development involves moving from immature social dependency to mature independent relationship styles (not just about regulating sexual/aggressive impulses)

Question 3

what is Elizabeth Loftus’s research on

Answer 3

• authenticity of recovered memories, repressed memories
• looks at difference between repressed and recovered memories of sexual abuse

Question 4

what are false memories

Answer 4

recovered memories that are not true (as theorized by Loftus) –> we should be careful not to assume that ALL recovered memories are false though

Question 5

describe how popular press might contribute to the establishment of false memories

Answer 5

• books on the market have guides for survivors of abuse –> might provide suggestions that this abuse has happened, even if there is no memory of this
• e.g. by suggesting certain symptoms of past abuse, like low self-esteem, depression, sexual dysfunction, etc.

Question 6

describe how therapist’s behaviour might contribute to the establishment of false memories

Answer 6

• therapists might conclude a client’s behaviour is the result of sexual abuse in childhood –> suggesting the idea to clients
• e.g. hypnosis (to freely recall childhood experiences) –> this has not been shown to increase accuracy of memories, but rather might increase distortions
• suggestive interviewing or interpretations of symptoms, pressure to recall trauma, dream interpretation

Question 7

what is the imagination inflation effect

Answer 7

• therapists have individuals imagine various events –> makes them later more likely to rate these events are familiar, leading them to have more elaborate memory representation and rate these imagined events as likely to have happened
• confuse imagined event with events that actually happened

Question 8

what are two factors that contribute to the establishment of false memories

Answer 8

• popular culture (e.g. books suggesting symptoms of trauma, introducing the idea that they themselves might have experienced it)
• therapists’ behaviour (e.g. suggestive interviewing)

Question 9

why might therapists suggest false memories to patients (2 reasons) and why do they have this influence (1 reason)

Answer 9

• therapists often believe that effective treatment must result in patients overcoming repressed memories and reclaiming a traumatic past
• confirmatory bias –> tendency to look only for evidence that confirms their previous hunch (and avoid evidence that disconfirms their belief)
  –> have authority and thus can influence compliant and suggestible patients

Question 10

describe Bargh’s contemporary view on unconscious processes

Answer 10

• social psychology perspective
• people are often unaware of the reasons and causes of their own behaviour
• e.g. being exposed to words synonymous with rudeness = acting rude towards an experimenter

Question 11

what are the two different views on the unconscious

Answer 11

• motivated unconscious view
• cognitive unconscious view

Question 12

describe the perspective of the cognitive unconscious view

Answer 12

• readily acknowledges that information can get into our memories without our awareness
• e.g. subliminal perception (don’t consciously see words, but they influence our behaviour) and priming

Question 13

what is priming

Answer 13

makes associated material more accessible to conscious awareness (e.g. subliminal perception/messaging) –> debate over whether this can influence our behaviour and motivations (most research suggests it doesn’t)

Question 14

how does the unconscious mind operate, according to the cognitive view

Answer 14

• operates just like thoughts in consciousness
• thoughts are unconscious NOT because they have been repressed or because they represent unacceptable urges, but because they are not in conscious awareness
• can include acts like typing (if you are good at it)
• influence of the unconscious is rational and peaceful, rule governed, and specific –> not just erotic and violent like Freud suggested

Question 15

what is id psychology

Answer 15

• what we can characterize Freudian psychoanalysis as
• focus on id –> sex and aggression

Question 16

what is ego psychology

Answer 16

• what later psychoanalysts focused on –> e.g. Anna Freud, Erik Erikson
• ego is a powerful and independent part of personality –> mastering the environment, achieving goals, establishing identity

Question 17

describe the ego’s role in identity

Answer 17

• primary function of ego is establishing a secure identity
• identity is an inner sense of who we are, what makes us unique, etc.
• identity crisis –> term from Erikson’s work

Question 18

what is Erikson’s most lasting contribution to psychology

Answer 18

• work on notion of identity
• important developmental achievement in everyone’s personality
• identity is a thought of as a story that a person develops about themselves –> who am I, what is my place, what is the purpose of my existence, etc.

Question 19

what events might cause identity crisis, or changes in identity

Answer 19

• certain events cause large changes to identity –> e.g. graduation, marriage, childbirth, etc.
• unexpected events (e.g. death of partner, loss of job, etc.)
• once story has evolved to have coherent themes, people make few changes to their story

Question 20

describe what Erikson disagreed with Freud about

Answer 20

Freud argued that period age 6-puberty was a latency period, but Erikson believed this was when much of development occurred

Question 21

what did Erikson believe about the conflicts at each stage of development

Answer 21

• Freud believed conflicts were inherently sexual
• Erikson believed they were social
• e.g. first social relationships with parents
• “psychosocial conflicts” rather than “pscyhosocial conflicts”

Question 22

what are Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development

Answer 22

• infancy –> trust/mistrust
• toddlerhood –> shame & doubt/autonomy
• young childhood –> guilt/initiative
• elementary school –> inferiority/industry
• adolescence –> role confusion/identity
• adulthood –> stagnation/generativity
• old age –> despair/integrity

Question 23

what are the three main similarities between Erikson’s model and Freud’s

Answer 23

• both are stage models of development –> people go through stages in a certain order, and there is a specific issue at each stage
• each stage presented a developmental crisis that needed to be resolved
• both maintained idea of fixation –> if crisis was not successfully and adaptively resolved, personality development was arrested

Question 24

describe the trust/mistrust phase of Erikson’s model

Answer 24

• when children are first born they are completely dependent on those around them
• can you trust those around you to feed, care, comfort you when in need?
• basic needs met = trust established –> forms basis for future relationships
• basic needs to met = lifelong pattern of mistrust in others, suspiciousness, isolation, social discomfort

Question 25

describe the autonomy vs shame/doubt phase of Erikson’s model

Answer 25

• terrible two’s –> children experiment with new abilities
• trying to answer question of how much of the world they control
• feeling sense of control/mastery = self-confidence and autonomy –> encouraged to explore and learn
• inhibition of autonomy (strict, restrictive, punishing) = shame/doubt over goals
• overprotectiveness hinders child’s urge to explore

Question 26

describe the initiative vs guilt phase of Erikson’s model

Answer 26

• 3 years of age
• imitate adults –> first practice in adult tasks in play
• practice skills of working together, following leaders, resolving disputes
• practicing skills = sense of initiative, ambition, goal-seeking
• failure = resigned to failure, lack of initiative taken

Question 27

describe the industry vs inferiority phase of Erikson’s model

Answer 27

• 4 years
• children begin comparing themselves to others, competence, achievement, competitions
• success experiences = believe in strength and abilities, assume they can achieve by working hard (overall sense of industry, productive members of society)
• failure = sense of inferiority, lack feeling they have talent/ability to get ahead in life

Question 28

describe the identity vs role confusion stage of Erikson’s model

Answer 28

• adolescence –> going through drastic physical changes
• who am I, do others recognize me for who I am, etc.
• lots of experimentation in this stage in the search for identity

Question 29

what is identity confusion

Answer 29

not having a strong sense of who one really is

Question 30

what is a rite of passage ritual

Answer 30

some culture institute this around adolescence –> ceremony initiating a child into adulthood (e.g. Bat/Bar Mitzvah in Judaism)

Question 31

what is a negative identity

Answer 31

• sometimes established in resolving the identity crisis
• identity founded on undesirable social roles (e.g. being a gang member)

Question 32

describe the different types of identities that can be established in resolving identity crisis

Answer 32

• negative identity (founded on undesirable social roles)
• shallow/unchangeable identity —> founded on something handed to them (did not work for it)
• mature identity –> going through a crisis and emerging with a firm sense of commitment to values, relationships or career
• identity foreclosure (did not explore alternatives)

Question 33

what is identity foreclosure

Answer 33

• if a person does not have a crisis or forms identity without exploring alternatives (e.g. accepting values of parents)
• often moralistic and conventional –> no good rationale behind beliefs/opinions

Question 34

what is a moratorium

Answer 34

taking time to explore options before making a commitment to an identity

Question 35

describe the intimacy vs isolation stage of Erikson’s model

Answer 35

• connecting with others in friendships and intimate relationships
• latter half of teen years
• feel a need to develop relationships that are mutually satisfying and intimate –> helps them grow to be caring, nurturing and providing adults
• can be through marriage or other
• failure to find/maintain intimacy = isolation

Question 36

describe the generativity vs stagnation phase of Erikson’s model

Answer 36

• most of adult years
• have you generated something you really care about in life (usually career, family, hobby, volunteering, etc.)
• crisis = feeling like you have been spinning your wheels (stagnating)

Question 37

describe the integrity vs despair stage of Erikson’s model

Answer 37

• last stage of development in old age
• we let go of the generative role (e.g. retire, children leave home, no longer can do our hobbies)
• start process of withdrawing from life and prepare to face death
• Looking back on life –> did you accomplish what you wanted, did you feel satisfied with your life
• feel despair if think if wasn’t all worthwhile, regrets, etc.

Question 38

what did Nietzsche write about (which is similar to Erikson’s phase of integrity/despair)

Answer 38

• what do people think about an eternal return to their lives
• if you do not want to live your life over and over again, you should make some changes now
• you have achieved integrity if you do want to live life over and over again

Question 39

describe the research on Holocaust survivors’ outcomes in Erikson’s initiative vs guilt stage

Answer 39

• favourable outcome = extent to which purpose and direction, competitiveness and self-initiative were identified (e.g. inspired by a poster to move to Canada)
• unfavourable outcome = sense of feeling like a bad person, jealousy, guilt over death of a loved one

Question 40

what did overall results suggest in examining Holocaust survivors’ experience in Erikson’s stage model

Answer 40

• overall positive outcomes according to Erikson’s stages
• one exception was trust vs mistrust –> more unfavourable outcomes reported (in line with extreme betrayal faced by Jewish people)
• less guilt immediately after the end of the Holocaust –> inflated self-confidence and autonomy counterbalanced feelings of guilt
• high industry based on active roles taken in own survival
• strong identity based on strong family ties with Jewish families, and pride in survivorship
• high generativity –> desire to create postive experience for own children

Question 41

Describe Karen Horney’s arguments against Freud

Answer 41

• reacted against Freud’s theory of penis envy
• taught that the penis was a symbol of social power
• not an organ that women desired
• girls realize early on that they are denied social power because of their gender –> girls desired the social power and preferences given to boys in the culture at the time

Question 42

what is culture (Karen Horney)

Answer 42

• set of shared standards for many behaviours
• e.g. feeling shame about promiscuous behaviour
• holds different standards for males and females –> double standard

Question 43

describe the phrase fear of success (Karen Horney)

Answer 43

• highlights gender differences in response to competition and achievement situations
• women feel they will lose friends if they succeed –> harbour an unconscious fear of success
• men feel they would gain friends by being successful –> not afraid to pursue achievement

Question 44

describe Horney’s arguments about gender/sex

Answer 44

• stressed that cultural norms determine gender (though biology determines sex)
• masculine and feminine are terms referring to traits/roles typically associated with being male or female
• gender differences, not sex differences
• important to modern feminism

Question 45

what is self-serving bias

Answer 45

common tendency for people to take credit for successes yet to deny responsibility for failure

Question 46

what is present in healthy/normal personality functioning

Answer 46

• develop a stable and relatively high level of self-esteem –> pride in accomplishments, realistic ambitions for future, feel they are getting attention and affection they deserve
• engage in self-serving biases

Question 47

what happens when self-serving bias is taken too far

Answer 47

• people try to increase self-worth and demonstrate it to others in problematic ways
• narcissism, and even narcissistic personality disorder

Question 48

describe what normal ranges of narcissistic tendencies look like

Answer 48

• extreme self-focus
• sense of being special
• feelings of entitlement (deserve attention or admiration without earning it)
• search for others to serve as their private fan club –> lift selves up and make them feel superior
• striving for superiority (might belittle others)

Question 49

describe the narcissistic paradox

Answer 49

• although people high in narcissism appear to be high in self-esteem, they actually have doubts about their value and worth as individuals
• this drives the need to make others unhappy
• appear confident, but need constant praise, reassurance and attention from others
• appear to have a sense of self-importance, but are very vulnerable to blows to self-esteem and dislike criticism

Question 50

what is a common problem with narcissists

Answer 50

• if they are criticized or challenged, they behave aggressively
• belittle or attack critics to achieve respect

Question 51

what is positively correlated with narcissism scores

Answer 51

• number of first-person pronouns used in an essay
• choice to watch a tape of self instead of others
• higher ratings of their performance on a tape compared to others

Question 52

what is narcissism not the same as

Answer 52

having high self-esteem –> they actually have fragile and vulnerable self-esteem, and respond aggressively when they are criticized

Question 53

what is object relations theory

Answer 53

emphasizes social relationships and their origins in childhood (in contrast to Freud’s focus on sexuality)

Question 54

what is the core set of assumptions of object relations theory (2 assumptions)

Answer 54

• internal wishes/desires/urges are not as important as the development of relationships with significant external others (especially parents)
• others (especially mother) become internalized by chid in the form of mental objects –> unconscious mental representation of mother that they form a relationships with, even in the absence of the real mother

Question 55

describe a child’s internalization (according to object relations theory)

Answer 55

• healthy relationship between mother and infant = internalization of a caring, nurturant and trustworthy mother object –> forms fundamentals for how children view others in subsequent relationships
• unhealthy relationship = untrustworthy mother is internalized –> often develop distinct personality problems
• first social relationships established form templates for all meaningful relationships in the future

Question 56

who did the first research on early childhood attachment

Answer 56

Harry Harlow –> wire/cloth mothers study with monkeys

Question 57

describe the findings of Harlow’s experiment on childhood attachment

Answer 57

• monkeys prefer real mother to fake mother
• monkeys prefer cloth mother to wire mother
• infant monkeys raised by fake mothers developed problems (e.g. social insecurity, anxiousness)

Question 58

describe Harlow’s definition of attachment

Answer 58

• attachment between infant and primary caregiver requires physical contact with a warm and responsive mother
• vital to psychological development of infant (especially attachment in first 6 months)

Question 59

describe how attachment develops in infancy

Answer 59

• begins when develop preference for people over objects
• then child prefers to see familiar individuals
• finally, they prefer primary caregiver over anyone else

Question 60

describe Bowlby’s theory of attachment

Answer 60

• studied what happened when attachment relationship was temporarily broken (mother left infant alone)
• when mother leaves infant alone, some trust that the mother will return and provide care –> happy when mother returns
• others react negatively to separation and become agitated/distressed when mother leaves, but calmed upon their return –> “separation anxiety”
• some become depressed when mothers leave, and remain angry when parents return

Question 61

describe Mary Ainsworth’s work on attachment

Answer 61

• strange situation paradigm
• found essentially the three same patterns of behaviour noted by Bowlby: secure, avoidant and ambivalent attachments
• note a version of this study was replicated in adult married couples who were temporarily separated –> resembled results sen in earliest separations with primary caregiver

Question 62

describe secure attachment (Ainsworth)

Answer 62

• endured separation with minimal anxiety and explored room (waited for mother, or approached stranger wanting to be held by them)
• infants happy to see caregiver, and interact with them for a bit before going back to exploring environment
• most fell into this category

Question 63

describe avoidant attachment (Ainsworth)

Answer 63

• avoided mothers upon return
• unfazed when mothers left and did not give attention when they returned
• 20% in this category

Question 64

describe ambivalent attachment (Ainsworth)

Answer 64

• very anxious about mother leaving
• crying and protesting vigorously before parent even got out of room
• difficult to calm when mother left
• ambivalent upon return –> anger and desire to be close to mother

Question 65

describe how mothers of different child attachment styles behave

Answer 65

• secure attachment = affection and stimulation to babies, more responsive –> less crying from baby, more harmonious relationships later in life
• ambivalent & avoidant = less attentive to children, less responsive to needs –> associated with lower social and academic skills later in life

Question 66

describe Bowlby’s theory of “working models” of attachment

Answer 66

• early experiences and reaction of infant to parent are working models for later adult relationships
• internalized unconsciously (in expectations about relationships)
• e.g. forming unconscious expectation that you aren’t wanted in infancy carries on to adulthood

Question 67

describe what adult secure, avoidant and ambivalent relationship styles look like

Answer 67

• secure = few problems in developing satisfying friendships and relationships, trust people and develop bonds with them
• avoidant = difficulty in learning to trust others, suspicious of other’s motives, afraid to make commitments and depending on others (don’t want to be disappointed or abandoned)
• ambivalent = vulnerability and uncertainty about relationships, overly dependent and demanding of partners/friends, neediness in relationships, reassurance and attention needed

note: positive relationship between parent-infant attachment style and later relationship style in adulthood

Question 68

describe the approach to relationships that people with avoidant attachment styles take

Answer 68

shun romance, don’t believe in real love (or at least that it doesn’t last), fear intimacy, rarely develop deep emotional commitments, not emotionally supportive of partners

Question 69

describe the approach to relationships that people with ambivalent attachment styles take

Answer 69

• frequent but short-lived romantic relationships –> fall in and out of love easily, rarely say they are happy with relationships, fear of losing partners, focus on keeping the other happy (avoid conflict, change self for them)
• report being very afraid of losing partner

Question 70

describe the approach to relationships that people with secure attachment styles take

Answer 70

can be separated from partners without stress –> more warm and supportive, report more satisfaction, give emotional support to partners, seek support when needed, problem-solve, etc. –> these effects strengthen the longer you are with the person

Question 71

describe the study done by Simpson on adult attachment styles with their partners

Answer 71

• couple was told male would undergo a stressful and unpleasant experience as part of experiment
• male had to wait a few moments before the “stress phase” –> couple left in room to wait together (were taped for 5 minutes)
• looking at how females would support partners, and how men would ask for support; took measure of childhood experiences with parents to assess attachment styles
• women with avoidant attachment were less likely to offer support/encouragement to partners (even if male asked for it)
• securely attached women provided support if partner asked for it (but less support if did not ask)
• attachment style did not impact how men asked for help

Question 72

what have studies shown on the effects of chronic stress on help seeking

Answer 72

• secure men and women seek support from others when distressed
• avoidantly attached men and women try to distance themselves from others –> want to spend time along when under stress and distract self from stressors

Question 73

what is avoidant/fearful attachment in men related to

Answer 73

abusiveness toward women

Question 74

can attachment style change over the lifespan?

Answer 74

• subsequent positive experiences can compensate for earlier negative relationships –> exposure to a loving, nurturant relationship in adulthood can revise their working models of object relations
• if positive and supportive enough, can internalize new mental version of relationships (more secure and trusting, positive expectations of others)

Question 75

what are some outcomes attachment style is implicated in

Answer 75

• relationships with twins, pets, God
• satisfaction with work, family, social role, stressful life events
• secure attachment = best adjustment
• avoidant/fearful = difficulties in domains of life