Chapter 3 Psychodynamic Theory

Question 1

Anal stage

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Answer 1

In the second stage of development, the anal stage (ages 2 and 3), there is excitation in the anus and in the movement of feces through the anal passageway. The pleasure related to this erogenous zone involves the organism in conflict. There is conflict between elimination and retention, between the pleasure in release and the pleasure in retention, and between the wish for pleasure in evacuation and the demands of the external world for delay. This last‐named conflict rep- resents the first crucial conflict between the individual and society. Here, the environment requires the child to violate the pleasure principle or be punished.

Question 2

Anxiety

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Answer 2

In psychoanalytic theory, anxiety is a painful emotional experience representing a threat or danger to the person. In a state of “free‐floating” anxiety, individuals are unable to relate their state of tension to a specific danger; in contrast, in a state of fear, the source of threat is known. According to the theory, anxiety represents a painful emotion that acts as a signal of impending danger to the ego; that is, anxiety, an ego function, alerts the ego to danger so that it can act.
The psychoanalytic theory of anxiety states that at some point, the person experiences a trauma, an incident of harm or injury.

Question 3

Castration anxiety

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Answer 3

In the phallic stage (ages 4 and 5), excitation and tension are focused on the genitals. The biological differentiation between the sexes leads to psycho- logical differentiation. The male child develops erections, and the new excitations in this area lead to increased interest in the genitals and the realization that the female lacks the penis. This leads to the fear that he may lose his penis—castration anxiety.

Question 4

Catharsis

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Answer 4

Catharsis refers to a release and freeing of emotions by talking about one’s problems.

Question 5

Conscious

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Answer 5

According to psychoanalytic theory, there are substantial variations in the degree to which we are aware of mental phenomena. Freud proposed three levels of awareness. The conscious level, as noted, includes thoughts of which we are aware at any given moment.

Question 6

Death instinct

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Answer 6

The death instinct is the very opposite of the life instinct. It involves the aim of the organism to die or return to an inorganic state. The death instinct remains one of the most controversial and least accepted parts of psychoanalytic theory.

Question 7

Defence mechanisms

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Answer 7

People develop defense mechanisms against anxiety. We develop ways to distort reality and exclude feelings from awareness so that we do not feel anxious.

Question 8

Denial

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Answer 8

Freud distinguished among a number of distinct defense mechanisms. Some of them are relatively simple, or psychologically primitive, whereas oth- ers are more complex. A particularly simple defense mechanism is denial. People may, in their conscious thoughts, deny the existence of a traumatic or otherwise socially unacceptable fact; the fact is so “terrible” that they deny that it is “true,”

Question 9

Ego

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Answer 9

The third psychoanalytic structure is the ego. The ego seeks reality. The ego’s function is to express and satisfy the desires of the id in accordance with two things: opportunities and constraints that exist in the real world and the demands of the superego.

Question 10

Energy system

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Answer 10

As we noted, to Freud, the body is a mechanistic energy system. It follows, then, that the mind, being part of the body, also is a mechanistic energy system. The mind gets mental energies from the overall physical energies of the body.

Question 11

Erogenous zones

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Answer 11

Once again, Freud’s answer is thoroughly biological. He theorized, first, that instinctual drives tend to center on particular regions of the body, which he called erogenous zones. He then suggested that the particular erogenous zone that is most important to biological gratification at a given point in time changes systematically across the course of development.

Question 12

Free association

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Answer 12

In the free‐association technique, the person being analyzed allows all of his or her thoughts to come forth without inhibition or falsification of any kind. By letting thoughts flow freely, one may discover hidden associations among ideas. For Freud, the free‐ association technique was both a therapy and a scientific method; it provided the primary evidence for his theory of personality.

Question 13

Genital stage

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Answer 13

The onset of puberty, with the reawakening of the sexual urges and Oedipal feelings, marks the beginning of the genital stage. Dependency feelings and Oedipal strivings that were not fully resolved during the pregenital stages of development now come back to rear their ugly heads.

Question 14

Id

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Answer 14

The id is the original source of all drive energy—the “great reservoir”of mental energies. The psychological functions toward which the id directs these energies are very simple. The id seeks the release of excitation or tension. It carries out a mental function described previously: the reduction of tension in order to return to a quiet internal state.

Question 15

Identification

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Answer 15

As part of the resolution of the Oedipus complex, the child identifies with the parent of the same sex. The child now gains the parent of the opposite sex through identification with, rather than defeat of, the parent of the same sex. The development of an identification with the parent of the same sex is a criti- cal issue during the phallic stage and, more generally, is a critical concept in developmental psychology. In identification, individuals take on themselves the qualities of another person and integrate them into their functioning. In identifying with their parents, children assume many of the same values and morals.

Question 16

Isolation

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Answer 16

In addition to denial and projection, another way to deal with anxiety and threat is to isolate events in memory or to isolate emotion from the content of a memory or impulse. In isolation, the impulse, thought, or act is not denied access to consciousness, but it is denied the normal accompanying emotion. For example, a woman may experience the thought or fantasy of strangling her child without any associated feelings of anger.

Question 17

Latency stage

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Answer 17

After the phallic stage, the child enters a latency stage during which, according to Freud, the child experiences a decrease in sexual urges and interest.

Question 18

Libido

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Answer 18

Freud gave a name to the energy of the life instinct: libido.

Question 19

Life instinct

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Answer 19

The life instinct includes drives associated previously with both the earlier ego and sexual instincts; in other words, the life instinct impels people toward the preservation and reproduction of the organism.

Question 20

Mechanism

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Answer 20

The mechanist movement addressed questions about the nature and possibilities of the science of biology. Mechanists argued that the principles of natural science could, in fact, provide comprehensive explanation. Basic physical and chemical factors could fully explain the functioning of organisms, including life itself. The mechanist position, which is taken for granted today, opened the door for a complete natural science of persons.

Question 21

Oedipus complex

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Answer 21

The father becomes a rival for the affections of the mother, as suggested in the song “I Want a Girl Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad.” The boy’s hostility toward the father is projected onto the father, with the consequent fear of retaliation. This leads to what is known as the Oedipus complex. According to the Oedipus complex, every boy is fated in fantasy to kill his father and marry his mother.

Question 22

Oral stage

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Answer 22

Freud proposed that the first stage of development is one in which sensual gratification centers on the mouth. He called this the oral stage of develop- ment. Early oral gratification occurs in feeding, thumb‐sucking, and other mouth movements characteristic of infants. In adult life, traces of orality are seen in chewing gum, eating, smoking, and kissing. In the early oral stage, the child is passive and receptive. In the late oral stage, with the development of teeth, there can be a fusion of sexual and aggressive pleasures.

Question 23

Penis envy

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Answer 23

Developmental processes during the phallic stage differ for females versus males. According to Freud, females realize they lack a penis and blame the mother, the original love object. In developing penis envy, the female child chooses the father as the love object and imagines that the lost organ will be restored by having a child by the father.

Question 24

Perception without awareness

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Answer 24

In the 1960s and 1970s, experimental research focused on unconscious perception or what was called perception without awareness. Can the person “know” something without knowing that he or she knows it? For example, can the person hear or perceive stimuli, and be influenced by these perceptions, without being aware of these perceptions? Currently, this is known as subliminal perception, or the registration of stimuli at a level below that required for awareness.

Question 25

Perceptual defense | p70

Answer 25

Perceptual defense, involves a process by which the individual defends against the anxiety that accompanies actual recognition of a threatening stimulus.

Question 26

Phallic stage | p87

Answer 26

In the phallic stage (ages 4 and 5), excitation and tension are focused on the genitals. The biological differentiation between the sexes leads to psycho- logical differentiation. The male child develops erections, and the new excitations in this area lead to increased interest in the genitals and leads to the Oedipus Complex.

Question 27

Pleasure principle | p75

Answer 27

In carrying out this function, the id operates according to the pleasure principle, which is particularly simple to define: The id pursues pleasure and avoids pain. The point is that the id does not do anything else. It does not devise plans and strategies for obtaining pleasure or wait patiently for a particularly pleasing object to appear. It does not concern itself with social norms and rules; “it is totally non‐moral” (Freud, 1923, p. 40). The id seeks immediate release of tension, no matter what.

Question 28

Preconscious | p67

Answer 28

The preconscious level contains mental contents of which we easily could become aware if we attended to them. For example, before reading the present sentence, you probably were not thinking about your phone number; it was not part of your consciousness. But you easily could think of your phone number (indeed, you may be doing so right now!); it is a simple matter to attend to information that is in the preconscious and to bring it to consciousness.

Question 29

Secondary process | p95

Answer 29

Secondary process thinking is the language of consciousness, reality testing, and logic. It develops only after the child first has the capacity for primary process thought and thus is secondary. The development of this capacity parallels the development of the ego. With the development of the ego, the individual becomes more differentiated, as a self, from the rest of the world, and self‐preoccupation decreases.

Question 30

Sublimation | p83

Answer 30

Another device used to express an impulse of the id in a manner that is free of anxiety is sublimation. In this relatively complex defense mechanism, the original object of gratification is replaced by a higher cultural goal that is far removed from a direct expression of the instinct. Whereas the other defense mechanisms meet the instincts head on and, by and large, prevent discharge, in sublimation, the instinct is turned into a new and useful channel.

Question 31

Subliminal psychodynamic activation | p70

Answer 31

Another line of research has examined a phenomenon called subliminal psychodynamic activation. In this work, researchers attempt to stimulate unconscious wishes without making them conscious. This generally is done by presenting material that is related to either threatening or anxiety‐alleviating unconscious wishes and then observing participants’ subsequent reactions.

Question 32

Superego | p76

Answer 32

In marked contrast to the id is the superego. The functions of the superego involve the moral aspects of social behavior. The superego contains ideals for which we strive, as well as ethical standards that will cause us to feel guilt if we violate them. The superego, then, is an internal representation of the moral rules of the external, social world. It functions to control behavior in accord with these rules, offering rewards (pride, self‐love) for “good” behavior and punishments (guilt, feelings of inferiority) for “bad” behavior.

Question 33

Unconscious | p67

Answer 33

According to psychoanalytic theory, there are substantial variations in the degree to which we are aware of mental phenomena. Freud proposed three levels of awareness. The third level is the unconscious. Unconscious mental contents are parts of the mind of which we are unaware and cannot become aware except under special circumstances. Why not? According to Freud, it is because they are anxiety provoking. We possess thoughts and desires that are so traumatic or socially unacceptable that consciously thinking about them provokes anxiety.

Question 34

Undoing | p83

Answer 34

People who use the defense mechanism of isolation also often use the mechanism of undoing. Here, the individual magically undoes one act or wish with another. “It is a kind of negative magic in which the individual’s second act abrogates or nullifies the first, in such a manner that it is as though neither had taken place, whereas in reality both have done so”. This mechanism is seen in compulsions in which the person has an irresistible impulse to perform some act (e.g., the person undoes a suicide or homicide fantasy by compulsively turning off the gas jets at home), in religious rituals, and in children’s sayings such as “Don’t step on the crack or you’ll break your mother’s back.”

Question 35

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Answer 35

Psychoanalytic theory illustrates a psychodynamic, clinical approach to personality. The psychodynamic emphasis is expressed in the interpretation of behavior as a result of the interplay among motives or drives. The clinical approach is expressed in the emphasis on mate- rial observed during intensive treatment of individuals.

Question 36

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Answer 36

Freud posited a mechanistic, deterministic, energy‐based model of the mind. This model directly reflected the 19th‐century scientific and medical training Freud received.

Question 37

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Answer 37

Freud built his theory on case study evidence. In his view, the in‐depth analysis of clinical cases was the only valid method for uncovering the dynamics of the conscious and unconscious mind.

Question 38

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Answer 38

The core of Freud’s theory is an integrated analysis of both personality structures and personality processes. The structures are three mental systems—the id, ego, and superego—which function according to different operating principles that inherently conflict with one another. The processes involve mental energy whose ori- gin is in the id but whose expression is channeled, blocked, or distorted by the actions of the ego, working within constraints represented in the superego.

Question 39

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Answer 39

Personality dynamics in psychoanalytic theory involve conflict. Impulsive drives in the id seek immediate expression, which conflicts with both the ego’s desire to delay impulses to meet the constraints of reality and the superego’s desire for actions that adhere to moral stand- ards. Any given action, then, is a compromise among these competing desires of the different psychic agencies. Defense mechanisms are strat- egies employed by the ego to defend against the anxiety aroused by the unacceptable drives and desires of the id.

Question 40

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Answer 40

In the psychoanalytic theory of personality development, the individual progresses through a series of developmental stages. Each stage involves a distinct region of the body that serves as a primary focus of sensual gratification. These stages of development occur early in life, in childhood. To a greater extent than any other theory, Freud’s psychoanalytic theory suggests that the experiences of early childhood have an enduring, immutable influence on the personality characteristics of the individual.

Question 41

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Answer 41

The psychoanalyst Erik Erikson attempted to broaden and extend psychoanalytic theory through an emphasis on the psychosocial stages of development.