Freud Flashcards
What are conscious thoughts?
Those that we are aware of
What are preconscious thoughts?
Thoughts that we can become aware of
What are unconscious thoughts?
Wishes and desires that we cannot access directly but can influence our behaviour, they use up our energy by repression
Why is early experience important?
The first 5 years of childhood define our personality: id/ego/superego, anxiety can be created from conflict with parents, unresolved conflicts lead to fixation and defence mechanisms
What are our two urges and what do they do?
Life - Eros and Death - Thanatos, basic instincts that drive our behaviour
What is the ID?
it represents our pleasure principal, wishes and desires
What is the Ego?
It makes decisions based on the demands of the id and restrictions of the superego - reality principal
What happens if the ego is not developed?
Aggression could be caused
What is the super ego?
The morality principal, learnt from our parents and society
What happens if the superego is underdeveloped and the id is strong?
It may make you aggressive
What are the defense mechanisms and why do they exist?
They are designed to help the Ego keep peace between the superego and the id >repression >displacement >projection >sublimation
What is repression?
Involves keeping unwanted thoughts into the unconscious and not allowing them to surface into the conscious
What is displacement?
Taking out anger on something else
What is projection?
The superego’s hostility is directed towards other people who seem to be acting on those same feelings; often involves “blaming the victim”
What is sublimation?
The id’s urges are acted upon, but are transformed into something that is socially acceptable - e.g sport may be a disguise for aggression or art
How is thanatos related to defense mechanisms?
Defense mechanisms often project thanatos outwards, so that we harm other people and not ourselves
Methods of psychoanalysis?
> Dream analysis
Symbol analysis
Free association
Slips of the tongue
Who did Freud use for his psychoanalysis?
Middle aged, Vienes women suffering from neurosis and people with phobias like Little Hans
What is Catharsis?
Talking therapy, an emotional way to vent aggression - e.g watching a boxing match
What did Hokanson (1974) find that supports catharsis?
He found that behaving in an aggressive way reduced tension in the individual as shown by biological measures
What did Verona and Sullivan (2008) find that supports catharsis?
People who reacted in an aggressive way to being made frustrated in a task had a reduced heart rate compared with those who did not react aggressively
What did Hokanson (1974) find that refutes catharsis?
Reduction in tension after behaving aggressively seemed to increase the likelihood of later aggression
What did Bushman et al (1999) find against catharsis?
That those who read an article about violence, were more likely to be violent
What reduced the reliability of Freud’s theory?
> Cannot be tested scientifically - unconscious??
>Qualitative data is hard to replicate
Is there validity for Freud’s theory?
> Qualitative data is rich in validity as it is personal and has a lot of detail
But, Little Hans’s dreams and emotions were reported through his father so very subjective
Although, psychoanalysis has been successful
Why is the thoery subjective?
Qualitative data always has an element of bias because the researcher will affect the way it can be interpreted, it isn’t falsifiable
Is it generalisable?
Qualitative data involves info from unique individuals which means findings are unique and cannot be generalised, e.g Middle Aged Vienes Women
Does it have credibility?
Case studies are credible in that they are personal nad are rich in detail, but no evidence for what is really in the unconscious so lacking
A strength of the theory?
He was the first person to think that childhood experiences shape us as adultss
