Exam 1: Freud And Erikson Flashcards
Creative Illusionism
Turning your own observations, fantasies, or ideas into a theory and subsequently sharing your theory with others to validate it.
Public and Private Selves
Public self is an awareness of self as it is viewed by others
Private self is more introspective and hides certain thoughts/ feelings from others
Paradigms, Models, and Theories
A Psychological theory that has three key components:
1) it must describe the mechanisms of a behavior
2) be able to make predictions about future behaviors
3) possess significant empirical support but not be proven
Personality
The natural instincts and innate parts of a person that remain fairly consistent, some are predictable and others are more random
Character
The traits of a person that reveal themselves in specific circumstances, like honestly, virtue, or kindliness. Malleable, but only with great effort
Nomothetic
Aspects of a theory which can be applied on a general level to most people
(Aristotle)
Idiographic
Aspects of a theory which can only be applied individually, how you experience things on a personal level
(Galileo)
Psychic Determinism
Freud’s theory that all our actions and thoughts are caused by the unconscious. Strong responses are caused by traumas people have experienced
Parapraxis
Slips of the tongue, misplacement of objects, or other errors in thought that reveal unconscious wishes or attitudes
Associations
When you think about something and related idea or thoughts come to mind.
Topographical Theory
The theory that the mind has multiple levels
Conscious: what you’re aware of
Preconscious: what is on easy access storage
Unconscious: not immediately accessible info, where anxiety, conflict and pain reside
Unacceptable impulse
An impulse to do an action which is taboo or misplaced
Reaction formation
A defense mechanism for turning unacceptable impulses and anxiety causing feelings into its over emphasized opposite
Projection
A defense mechanism which maps unacceptable urges onto others to dissociate them from the self
Rationalization
A defense mechanism which activates when repressed thoughts are uncovered. The mind reinterprets and creates reasonable reasons for unacceptable thoughts.
Displacement
A defense mechanism for venting unacceptable impulses upon easier, more acceptable targets.
Denial
A defense mechanism which protects the ego from things it cannot cope with, rejecting or minimizing the importance if facts or reality.
Seduction theory
The repressed memories of early childhood sexual abuse or molestation were essential preconditions for hysterical or obsessive symptoms.
Manifest content
The imagery you see in a dream
Latent conten
The hidden meaning of the images in your dreams
Secondary elaboration
A dreamer’s tendency to fill in the gaps of a dream to explain the mysteries of a dream, often leading to misunderstandings of the latent content
Mourning
Normal grieving which involves SIGECAP but not SH
Melancholia
Depression which involves SIGECAPSH
Pleasure principal
Our fundamental striving toward pleasure and away from pain
Primary process
Works to resolve tension created by pleasure principal by producing a mental image of an object needed for gratification to reduce the stress and frustration of not yet having been gratified
Imagining pizza when hungry opposed to getting it
Morality Principal
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Oedipus and Electra complexes
Boy’s tendency to want to replace their father in his mothers affections, fearing castration from their father. Leads to the development of a Superego. Opposite but otherwise same for girls
Penis Envy
When girls believe they were castrated and seek to gain a penis through pregnancy and childbirth
Fixation
When part of your personality becomes stuck at a certain stage of development if it is not complete successfully, leading to mental abnormalities
Regression
A temporary or chronic return to an earlier level of psychological development
Repetition Compulsion and Mastery
The urge to do or seek out the same thing over and over, such as repetitive actions or similar relationship partners.
Repetition of these activities is an attempt at mastering their feelings/experience with a minimal negative outcome
Treatment Issues
…
Criticism of the Freudian Theory
Lacks scientific proof, role of environment overlooked, case study method, over emphasis on sexual drives, concepts like psychic energy poorly designed, pessimism of psychic determinism (no fee will?), low cure rate, time consuming and expensive
Free association and resistance
Candid responses to what an image or dream brings to mind to find associations
Resistance is the mind’s effort to remain unconscious of what has been repressed by employing defense mechanisms and refusing to free associate
Economic theory
The concept of psychic energy, which is directed towards instinctual goals to try and achieve catharsis
Dynamic theory
All instincts can be traced back to aggressive and sexual drives
Freud’s Four Periods
1895: topographical
1911: fantasy and instinct
1923: structural period (period of revision-Id, ego, superego)
1937: object relations-impact of real relationships
Conscious
A person’s individual awareness of the current situation, which is related to rationality
Preconscious
The part of people’s minds referring to immediately retrievable memory. We are not always consciously aware of the preconscious or it’s memories
Unconscious
The minds reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories outside our conscious awareness, including the pain, anxiety, and unacceptable urges we repress. It influences our behavior secretly
Conflict theory
Also referred to as a psychological crisis, a conflict is a turning point from which an individual struggles to attain a certain psychological quality
???
Censorship
Defense mechanisms that censor memories or associations
Repression
The ego eliminates unacceptable desires and ideas by funneling them into the unconscious
Dreams
The “road” to the unconscious mind, where it’s defenses are lowered so that repressed material can come to awareness in distorted forms
Wish Fulfillment
When dreams reveal the hidden desires of a person by serving to fulfill them
Dream-work
The process of turning latent wishes into manifest content in a less threatening form. Dream-work includes condensation, displacement, and secondary elaboration.
Instinct theory (Eros and Thanatos)
Eros represents the life instinct to ensure survival, like breathing, eating, and sex. It’s energy is libido, stronger than Thanatos
Thanatos represents the death instinct, such as aggression and violence
Structural Theory: Id, Ego, and Superego
Id: operates upon the pleasure principal and the two instincts, Eros and Thanatos
Ego: seeks to accomplish the id’s desires in a safe+acceptable way. Follows reality principal and operates in both un/conscious mind. Employs defense mechanisms and mediates the other two
Superego: responsible for maintaining moral standards, motivates us to act responsibly.
Reality Principal
The ego’s sense of realistic and rational expectations, weighing the costs and benefits of our impulses before we act
Psychosexual development
Freud’s idea that libido invests it’s energy into various zones as people grow, ie oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital, leading to the development of their character
Castration Anxiety
Fear of castration from your father forces boys to repress their sexual desire for their mother and identify with their father, leading to the development of a superego
Childhood sexual issues
???
Object Relations
???
Something to do with how the relationship between a child and a mother affects their developing
Transference and Counter-transference
A process in which early conflicts with parents are mapped onto their therapist. Counter transference is when the therapist maps their old familial conflicts on their patient.
Erikson’s 8 Psychological Stages
Trust vs Mistrust (birth-1.5) Autonomy vs Shame (1.5-3.5) Initiative vs Guilt (4-6) Industry vs Inferiority (7-11) Identity vs Role Confusion/Diffusion (12+) Intimacy vs Isolation (early adulthood) Generativity vs Stagnation (mid adult) Integrity vs Despair (late stage adult)
