Dr. Sigmund Freud Flashcards
Psychic structure
Core assumptions of psychoanalytic theory and technique.
Id, ego, and superego.
Id
Unorganized reservoir of energy. Instincts and reflexes you have at birth. Libido and aggression drives. Governed by pleasure. These are unconscious, must be interpreted from dreams, free associations, slips of the tongue, daydreams, and neurotic synaptic formation (pruning).
Neurosis
Form of psychological stress that is intense but not severe.
Ie. mild depression
No longer in the dsm
Ego
Modified by it’s interaction of the external world. Reality principle. Postpones the discharge of energy until an appropriate situation occurs. It doesn’t challenge the id’s pleasure seeking motivation, just temporarily suspends it for the sake of reality. Ego is the logical, ordered aspect of personality. Reason and judgement.
Superego
Internal representation of parental and societal values. Strives for ideal rather than real. Structure evolves as child is developed. It has two levels.
Conscience: fosters morally right behavior by inhibiting pleasure impulses, and persuading the ego to attend moral rather than realistic goals.
Ego ideal: promotes idealistic and perfectionistic goals.
Defense mechanisms
Ego is in conflict conflict with the id, superego, and reality. Guilt happens from the ego allowing the id to get satisfaction, and the superego is punishing it. If id is not satisfied, person experiences pressure until other outlet is found. Conflict was a basic component of personality in early psychoanalytic theory. To relieve pressure…FIND IT
Repression
Unacceptable or unpleasant impulses are pushed back into the unconscious
Ie. a woman is unable to recall that she was raped
Denial
Refusal to accept of acknowledge an anxiety producing piece of information
Reaction formation
Thinking or behaving in a way that is the extreme opposite of unacceptable urges or impulses
Ie. adolescent boys go out of their way to annoy and tease girls because of their attraction to them
Rationalization
A distortion of reality in which a person justifies what happened.
Ie. saying you didn’t really want the award that you were passed over for
Displacement
The expression of an unwanted feeling or thought is redirected from a more threatening powerful person to a weaker one
Ie.brother yells at his younger sister after a teacher gives him a bad grade
Sublimation
Diversion of unwanted impulses into socially approved thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.
Ie. a person with strong feelings of aggression becomes a soldier
Projection
Attributing unwanted impulses and feelings to someone else.
Ie. a man who is angry at his father acts lovingly to his father but complains that his father is angry with him
Undoing
A form of unconscious repentance that involves neutralizing or atoning for an unacceptable action or thought with a second action or thought.
Ie. a woman who gets a tax refund by cheating on her taxes makes a larger than usual donation to the church collection the following Sunday
Regression
People behave as if they were at an earlier stage of development.
Ie. a boss has a temper tantrum when an employee makes a mistake.