Chapter 9 - Person Psychology: Psychoanalytic and humanistic perspectives

Question 1

Subjectivity

Answer 1

The inner world of subjective experience, thoughts and feelings.

Question 2

Free association

Answer 2

A technique in psychoanalysis in which patients are encouraged to express freely everything that comes into mind.

Question 3

Dream analysis

Answer 3

Interpreting the latent content from the manifest content of a dream (e.g. by ‘working through’ the distortions created by condensation, displacement, dramatization/ symbolization and secondary elaboration).

Question 4

Freudian slip

Answer 4

An accidental action or utterance which expresses unconscious motivation (in Freud’s original German fehlleistung, literally ‘faulty achievement’, but translated as ‘parapraxis’ in the standard edition of Freud).

Question 5

Libido

Answer 5

Psychosexual energy.

Question 6

Oral stage

Answer 6

First stage of psychosexual development where the focus is on the mouth and pleasure from sucking and/or biting.

Question 7

Anal stage

Answer 7

Second main stage of psychosexual development where the focus is on the anal area and the primary source of pleasure is the retention and elimination of faeces.

Question 8

Phallic stage

Answer 8

Third stage of psychosexual development where the focus is on the genitals and pleasure from stimulating the genital area.

Question 9

Oedipal conflict

Answer 9

Oedipal conflict arises during the phallic phase when a boy comes unconsciously to regard his father as rival for his mother’s affection.

Question 10

Penis envy

Answer 10

Freud’s controversial and contested notion that the crucial issue in the psychosexual development of a girl is the realization that she has no penis.

Question 11

Transference

Answer 11

The psychoanalytic idea that the emotional feelings aroused in our early relationships can be unconsciously ‘transferred’ into relationships in adult life.

Question 12

Fixation

Answer 12

Refers to an overemphasis in later life on the characteristics or satisfactions associated with a particular phase of psychosexual development.

Question 13

Seduction theory

Answer 13

Freud’s initial belief (later changed) that the origins of repressed conflict lay in early sexual experiences.

Question 14

Id

Answer 14

The aspect of the psyche Freud called the ‘It’ (das Es) focused on pleasure from the satisfaction (in reality or fantasy) of biological needs.

Question 15

Ego

Answer 15

The reality-testing, perceptual aspect of the self which Freud called the ‘I’ (das Ich) which is also focused on integrating the different aspects of self.

Question 16

Superego (or conscience)

Answer 16

This is based on the introjection of ‘moral’ attitudes through identification with significant others (especially the father). Designated by Freud the ‘Above-I’ (das Uber-Ich).

Question 17

Psychodynamics

Answer 17

Internal psychic conflict between different forces or aspects of the self and the defences and distortions this may involve.

Question 18

Angst

Answer 18

Anxiety and anguish resulting from inner conflict.

Question 19

Repression

Answer 19

A much-used defence mechanism where disturbing feelings are shut out of consciousness.

Question 20

Displacement

Answer 20

A defence mechanism whereby an unconscious motivation is redirected towards a more acceptable or less threatening target.

Question 21

Sublimation

Answer 21

A form of displacement of libido to non-sexual and personally or culturally valued goals.

Question 22

Projection

Answer 22

A defence mechanism whereby repressed feelings such as aggression or sexuality are projected onto (and are thus seen as characteristics of) other persons.

Question 23

Reaction formation

Answer 23

A defence whereby a repressed impulse is held in check by exaggerating the opposite tendency.

Question 24

Defence mechanisms

Answer 24

Largely unconscious processes for avoiding inner conflict and the anxiety this creates.

Question 25

Object relations

Answer 25

A British approach to psychoanalysis which emphasizes the need for contact with others rather than instinctual needs as the driving force in human behaviour.

Question 26

Neo-Freudians

Answer 26

A group of analysts who emigrated from Europe to the USA and who emphasize the significance of social- cultural contexts in understanding the individual.

Question 27

Psychic determinism

Answer 27

The notion that our actions and experiences are determined by unconscious residues
of early experience.

Question 28

Existential

Answer 28

Relating to the experience of being and existing and all that this implies (e.g. being conscious, finite and having the capacity for choice).

Question 29

Autonomy

Answer 29

A person’s power to initiate the thoughts and actions they choose.

Question 30

Personal growth

Answer 30

Psychological development, particularly where a person him or herself takes responsibility and an active role in the process.

Question 31

Peak experience

Answer 31

A specific state of consciousness characterized by a sense of delight, wholeness, meaningfulness and abundant energy.

Question 32

Flow experience

Answer 32

Term used by Csikszentmihalyi to refer to the experience of total involvement in an activity enjoyed for its own sake.

Question 33

Personal constructs

Answer 33

Term used by Kelly to refer to the bipolar discriminations underlying the ways in which a person makes sense of his/her world.

Question 34

Repertory grid

Answer 34

A method devised by Kelly for eliciting and plotting the relationships between the constructs used by a person.

Question 35

Constructive alternativism

Answer 35

Term used by Kelly to signify that any event or experience can be construed in an infinite variety of ways.

Question 36

Situated freedom

Answer 36

The idea that we have freedom but that it is constrained by factors (both physical and social) not of our choosing.

Question 37

Authentic

Answer 37

Existentialist term for conscious awareness
of the reality of our existence (e.g. that existence is impermanent and individuals have both responsibility and freedom to choose).

Question 38

Will to meaning

Answer 38

Frankl’s term for the need to find meaning and purpose in life.

Question 39

Self-actualization

Answer 39

The human desire for self-fulfilment and developing one’s potential.

Question 40

Sense of self

Answer 40

Our self concept which, in Rogers’ view, originates in both our own actual experiences and evaluations of the self by others.

Question 41

Person-centred counselling

Answer 41

A psychotherapeutic approach, originated by Rogers, involving unconditional regard but no interpretations, aimed at encouraging clients to explore and become aware of their feelings.

Question 42

Unconditional regard

Answer 42

A non-judgemental attitude of warmth and respect.

Question 43

Transpersonal

Answer 43

A study of experiences in which the sense of identity of self extends beyond the individual or personal to encompass spiritual aspects of being.

Question 44

Positive psychology

Answer 44

An approach to psychology (initiated by Csikszentmihalyi and Seligman) which aims to use psychology to enhance the well-being of both persons and communities.