Freud and Dreams

Question 1

Sigmund Freud

Answer 1

• the founder of psychoanalysis
• proposed complex theory to explain why and how dreams are produced

Question 2

Freud and Dreams

Answer 2

• he beleived that dreams are expressions of unconscious desires, thoughts and conflicts that are typically repressed or suppressed during waking life
• according to him, the primary purpose of dreams is wish fulfillment.
• though dreams can serve other functions such as processing emotions and providing insight into the unconscious mind

Question 3

freud distinguished between the manifest content of dreams

Answer 3

• the actual narrative or imagery experienced during dreaming
• often distorted and distinguished through symbolism

Question 4

psychical determinism

Answer 4

• means that even small, unmotivated actions and mistakes are caused by our conscious and unconscious motivations

Question 5

the latent content

Answer 5

• represents the underlying, hidden meaning of the dream
• reflects unconscious wishes and conflicts

Question 6

dreams originate from the unconscious mind

Answer 6

• where repressed desires, fears and unresolved conflicts reside
• these unconscious impulses are censored by the ego to protect against anxiety and maintain psychological stability
• however, during sleep, when the egos defenses are lowered, repressed material can surface in the form of dreams

Question 7

Freuds mechanisms - through which the unconscious material is transformed into the manifest content of dreams

Answer 7

• condensation
• displacement
• symbolization
• secondary elaboration

Question 8

condensation

Answer 8

multiple unconscious thoughts and wishes are combined into a single dream element

Question 9

displacement

Answer 9

emotionally charged content is shifted from its original source to a less threatening or more acceptable form in the dream

Question 10

symbolization

Answer 10

unconscious desires and conflicts are represented symbolically in the dream, often through abstract imagery

Question 11

secondary elaboration

Answer 11

the unconscious material is woven into a coherent narrative during the dream

Question 12

dreams provide information about the unconscious, Freud stated…

Answer 12

“the interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind”.

Question 13

dream content analysis

Answer 13

• if it is applied to children’s dreams, it seems they often have very simple wishes, whereas adults dreams have disguised wishes
• Freud said that dreams are the guardians of sleep because they represent a wish that would otherwise wake us

Question 14

oedipus complex

Answer 14

• Freud thought many dreams are influenced by this
• a central concept in Freudian psychoanalysis
• according to this, children experience unconscious desires for their opposite sex parent and hostility toward their same-sex parent
• these repressed feelings may manifest in dreams as symbolic representations of familial relationships and sexual desires

Question 15

dis-confirming Freud account - Kleitman 1953

Answer 15

• provided a foundation for alter crisis to declare that Freud’s wish-fulfilling dream theory was wrong
• if anything dreams tend to be emotionally transparent

Question 16

dis-confirming Freud’s theory - Hobson 2013

Answer 16

concludes that Freudian dream theory is entirely replaceable’

Question 17

1977 - Allan Hobson challenged Freud’s theory

Answer 17

• presented a neurobiological theory
• challenged some aspects of freud’s
• did not directly aim to dis confirm Freud, it offered a different perspective on the nature and function of dreams

Question 18

the activation-synthesis theory - Hobson and McCarley

Answer 18

• in this theory, brain stem generates random signals that activate various areas of the brain, leading to dreams
• argued dreams lack meaning and are a result of the brains attempt to construct a narrative
• his theory challenges the notion that dreams are meaningful reflections of unconscious desires