Chapter 9 Flashcards
Psychic Energy
A well-spring of motivation, working under the law of conservation of energy.
Law of Conservation of Energy
Amount of psychic energy an individual possessed remained constant throughout his or her lifetime.
Instincts
Strong, innate forces that provided all the energy in the psychic system.
Eros (Libido)
Life instinct.
Thanatos (Destrudo)
Death instinct.
Conscious
Part that contains all the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that you are presently aware of.
Preconscious
Any piece of information that you are not presently thinking about, but that could easily be retrieved and made conscious, if found in the preconscious mind.
Unconscious
Part of thinking, etc. that is not viewed, or is hidden.
Motivated Unconscious
Information that is unconscious can actually motivate or influence subsequent behavior.
Blindsight
People who suffer cortical blindness often display an interesting capacity to make judgments about objects that they truly cannot see.
Deliberation-Without-Awareness
If a person confronted with a difficult decision can put it out of their mind for a period of time, then the unconscious mind will continue to deliberate on it outside of the person’s awareness, helping them to arrive at a sudden and often correct decision sometime later.
Pleasure Principle
Desire for immediate gratification.
Primary Process Thinking
Thinking without logical rules of conscious thought or an anchor in reality.
Wish Fulfillment
Something unavailable is conjured up and the image of it is temporarily satisfying.
Ego
Part of the mind that constrains the id to reality.
Reality Principle
Counterpart of the pleasure principle. Refers to guiding behavior according to the demands of reality and relies on the strengths of the ego to provide such guidance.
Secondary Process Thinking
Development of strategies for solving problems and obtaining satisfaction.
Superego
Part of the mind that internalizes the values, morals, and ideals of society.
Ego Depletion
When exertion of self-control results in a decrease of psychic energy.
Id
Something we are born with and as the source of all drives and urges.
Defense Mechanisms
Efforts to defend oneself from anxiety.
Objective Anxiety
Fear. Occurs in response to a real, external threat to the person.
Neurotic Anxiety
Occurs when there is a direct conflict between the id and the ego.
Moral Anxiety
Caused by a conflict between the ego and the superego.
Repression
Process of preventing unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or urges from reaching conscious awareness.
Denial
When reality of anxiety is extremely provoking, a person may resort to the defense mechanism of denial. Refuse to see facts or deny what is taking place.
Fundamental Attribution Error
Tendency to blame events outside one’s control for failure but to accept responsibility for success.
Displacement
Threatening or an unacceptable impulse is channeled or redirected from its original source to a nonthreatening target.
Rationalization
Involves generating acceptable reasons for outcomes that might otherwise appear socially unacceptable.
Reaction Formation
In an attempt to stifle the expression of an unacceptable urge, a persona may continually display a flurry of behavior that indicates the opposite impulse.
Projection
Sometimes we see in others the traits and desires we find most upsetting in ourselves.
False Consensus Effect
Tendency many people have to assume that others are similar to them.
Sublimation
Channeling of unacceptable sexual or aggressive instincts into socially desired activities.
Psychosexual Stage Theory
Children seek sexual gratification at each stage by investing libidinal energy in a specific body part.
Fixation
If a child fails to fully resolve a conflict at a stage of development, they may get stuck in that stage.
Oral Stage
Occurs during initial 18 months after birth. Main sources of pleasure come from mouth, lips, and tongue.
Anal Stage
Occurs between ages of 18 months-3 years. The anal sphincter is the source of sexual pleasure.
Phallic Stage
Occurs between 3-5 years of age. Child discovers that he has a penis, or discovery of their own genitals
Oedipal Conflict
Unconscious wish to have his mother all to himself by eliminating the father.
Castration Anxiety
Drives the boy into giving up his sexual desire for Mommy.
Identification
Marks the beginning of the Oedipal conflict and the successful resolution of the phallic stage.
Penis Envy
Little girl desires father and at the same time envies him for his penis.
Electra Complex
Female counterpart of the Oedipal conflict; both refer to the phallic stage of development.
Latency Stage
Occurs from age 6 until puberty. Low sexual stage, where child is learning, etc.
Genital Stage
Occurs around puberty and lasts throughout one’s life. Focus is on the genitals of the opposite sex.
Psychoanalysis
Technique for helping individuals who are experiencing a mental disorder or even relatively minor problems with living.
Free Association
Patients relax, let their mind wander, and say whatever comes into their minds.
Dream Analysis
Technique taught for uncovering the unconscious material in a dream by interpreting the dream’s content.
Manifest Content
What the dream actually contains.
Latent Content
What the elements of the dream represent.
Symbols
Psychoanalysts interpret dreams by deciphering how unacceptable impulses and urges are transformed by the unconscious into symbols in the dream.
Projective Hypothesis
Idea that what a person sees in an ambiguous figure, such as an inkblot, reflects their personality.
Interpretations
Therapist offers interpretations for the patient of their dreams, thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms.
Insight
Intense emotional experience that accompanies the release of the person experiences the emotions associated with that previously repressed material, then we say that some degree of insight has been achieved.
Resistance
Forces that have worked to repress the disturbing impulse or trauma now work to resist the psychoanalytic process.
Transference
The patient begins reacting to the analyst as if they were an important figure from the patient’s own life.
Repetition Compulsion
Where the person reenacts their interpersonal problems with new people, including the psychoanalyst.
Catharsis
Release of pinned-up emotions.
Erogenous Zone
Area of body with most pleasure, and low anxiety.
