Chapter 2 Flashcards
Sigmund Freud: Key Points
Born: 1856 in Freiberg, Moravia.
Family: Favored by his mother; had a complicated relationship with siblings.
Medical Career: Studied medicine, worked in Vienna’s General Hospital, and experimented with cocaine.
Major Contributions
Psychoanalysis: Focused on the unconscious, sex, and aggression.
Therapeutic Techniques:
Catharsis: Talking out symptoms (with Breuer).
Free Association: Replaced hypnosis.
Theories:
The unconscious mind shapes behavior.
Childhood experiences influence adult personality.
Developed Oedipus Complex and Dream Interpretation.
Notable Events
Cocaine Experiment (1884): Initially thought cocaine had therapeutic benefits.
Studied Under Charcot (1885): Learned hypnosis and psychogenic origin of hysteria.
Studies on Hysteria (1895): Introduced psycho-analysis.
Struggles & Midlife Crisis
Abandoned Seduction Theory (1897): Realized it wasn’t effective in treating patients.
Self-analysis: Began analyzing his own dreams and psyche, leading to depression and isolation.
Major Works
Interpretation of Dreams (1900): Focused on dream analysis and the unconscious.
Professional Struggles
Broke with Breuer: Over professional disagreements.
Strained Relationships: Conflicts with followers like Adler and Jung.
Freud’s Legacy
Influence: Psychoanalysis shaped modern psychotherapy, though criticized for lack of empirical data.
Cultural Impact: His ideas influenced art, literature, and psychology.
Freud’s Work & Influence:
Interpretation of Dreams (1900) made Freud famous.
Key works include On Dreams (1901), Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901), and Three Essays on Sexuality (1905).
In 1902, Freud founded the Wednesday Psychological Society, which became the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society.
Personal Traits:
Freud had complex relationships, needing both close friends and enemies.
Despite his focus on sex, he had a limited sexual life.
He had strong intellectual curiosity and a dislike for America after a frustrating 1909 visit.
Levels of Mental Life:
Unconscious: Hidden drives and memories influencing behavior.
Preconscious: Thoughts just below awareness.
Conscious: Active awareness.
