Lecture 18 - McDougall and S. Freud Flashcards
William McDougall: Instinct theories
Pushed or pulled?
Pavlov and behaviorism focus on reactive behaviors.
Instinct theories emphasize proactive, purposive,
goal-directed and preprogrammed behavior.
Why was it unpopular in the USA?
- a society without inheritance-based social stratification
- a pragmatic belief in individual effort rather than inborn predispositions
Debate between William McDougall and John Watson
J. Watson:
- External stimuli trigger
actions.
- Instincts are important for
developing new habits only
in childhood.
- They are minor factors
influencing adult behavior.
W. McDougall:
- Internal instincts trigger actions.
- Instincts are important for the
entire lifespan.
- They are major factors influencing
adult behavior.
Theory of instincts in psychology - The hormic psychology
Basic instincts (in animals and humans) include:
- escape, submission
- combat, repulsion, assertion
- curiosity,
- food seeking, hoarding
- construction
- mating, and parenting.
British-American psychologist Raymond Cattell (1905 - 1998) identified
these instincts as ‘ergs’ in his factor-analysis theory of personality traits.
His personality test is known as the 16 PF.
Instinct is an inborn predisposition that has three aspects:
1) Attending to certain objects (cognitive)
2) Feeling excitement towards those objects (emotive)
3) Acting in a preprogrammed pattern (behavioral)
In humans, aspects one and three can be modified through
social learning and appear as desires, preferences, wishes,
sentiments, and habits.
W. McDougall and S. Freud agreed on the role of instincts:
- McDougall: “Habits are formed in the service of instincts.”
- Freud: “Biology is our destiny.”
SIGMUND FREUD
1856 - 1939
PSYCHOANALYSIS
: Biography
- Medical Studies at the University of Vienna
- Privatdozent at the University of Vienna (Neuropathology)
- Fellowship at Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris: Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot
demonstrated that the neurotic symptoms of conversion hysteria
temporarily disappear due to a trance (a shift from the sensory frame
of orientation to that suggested by the hypnotist) or the
time regression technique applied (see the Textbook) - After returning to Vienna, Freud worked as a family doctor,
experimenting with electric massages, hypnosis and catharsis. - He analyzed his own free association and dreams.
- Ten years later, Freud began psychoanalysis with his patients.
- He translated some works of J. M. Charcot into German;
- Without talent as a hypnotist, he focused on non-hypnotic rapport.
- Helping Dr. Joseph Breuer to deal with the patient suffering from
conversion hysteria (Ms.Bertha Pappenheim = “Freulein Anna”)
graviditas imaginaria.
S. Freud and Joseph Breuer, “Studies in Hysteria” in 1895
on the use of catharsis and curative talk.
S. Freud, “The Interpretation of Dreams” in 1900.
The Psychoanalytical Society
with Freud, Jung, Adler, Jones, and Ferenczi.
. - Publishing extensively
- Buccal Cancer: 33 surgeries, pain, and pessimism
Rise of Nazism and antisemitism in Europe.
1938 The German Reich annexes Austria.
1938 After paying the “fugitive taxes,” Dr. Freud was
permitted to emigrate to Great Britain.
He could also relocate his private office and library
by train from Vienna to London.
1939 He died in London
His daughter, Anna Freud, transformed his London office into
Freud’s Museum.
Freud’s sources of inspiration
Medicine: Is biology our destiny?
Philosophy of existentialism: What is the meaning of life?
Anthropology and ancient mythologies: Is the past our destiny?
The complexity of human being…
The union of the immortal and the mortal, the
divine and the human, sacred and profane,
spiritual and physical, love and life, Eros and
Psyche.
Eros
the god of love and
desire
Psyche is a woman
who transformed into
an immortal goddess
through selfless love.
Goddess of life, love
and fulfilment
The divine sacrum
asserts its existence
by entering the
physical realm,
while the profanum
confirms the
meaning of its
existence through
spiritual
sublimation.
Spirit and matter (mind and body) need each other to
fully realize their existence (to feel and be aware of it).
The dual nature of humans:
* Profanum refers to the physical aspects of the
human body driven by biological instincts.
* Sacrum refers to the sublime aspects of the
human mind fulfilling the socio-cultural and
spiritual values.
Freud major concepts
The body is a source of mental energy. Bodily and
mental energy are mutually transformable.
The Id is the most primitive, unconscious part of the
psyche; it contains the biological instincts
and the energy necessary to fulfil them.
Inborn instincts are unconscious mechanisms of
orientation and action aimed at survival
- Life instincts:
* Self-preservation: Supporting the survival of the organism:
nutrition, attachment, escape to security,
defensive aggression
* Sex instincts: Supporting the survival of the species:
mating, child protection - Death instincts:
* Self-destruction
* Destruction of others
Libido – a mental energy
employed in physical and mental activities
* Cathexis is an investment of libido in objects, actions, or mental
preoccupations (thinking, dreaming, feeling, desiring)
- Normal cathexis: An investment of libido in dealing with
specific objects, persons or actions.
- False cathexis: An investment inadequate for age and situation
(no longer needed).
- Anti-cathexis: An investment of libido in dealing with
distracting objects or actions, such as
compulsively washing hands instead of
addressing the neurotic sense of guilt towards
a specific person.
Libidinal energy a vital energy Élan vital
Invested in:
* - Thoughts, images, fantasies, desires, actions (normal cathexes)
* - False cathexes
* - Defense mechanisms
* - Anti-cathexes and other neurotic symptoms
The goal of psychoanalysis is to strengthen the ego through:
- Detecting incorrect investments of libido
- Releasing available libido
- Redistributing and reinvesting it in normal activities
Freud: The tripartite structure of the human psyche
The Id: Inborn mental representation of
biological requirements
Hedonistic and unconscious;
The primary processes include reflexes,
instinctive urges, and images.
The Superego: Learned mental representation of
societal requirements
Perfectionistic and partially unconscious.
A self-monitoring system of rewards & punishments
The Ego: Learned mental representation of
oneself ( self-awareness, self-image, unique identity,
history, roots, achievements, and plans)
Realistic and mostly conscious,
is rational and seeks compromise.
The secondary processes include thinking,
evaluating, and decision-making.
If the EGO is weaker than the ID
EGO < ID
A weak EGO struggles to meet
the strong demands of the ID.
Neurotic anxiety is a chronic, unconscious fear of failing to fulfill
biological needs, which can result in an imagined sense of
physical weakness, incapacity, illness, or even death.
The manifestations of neurotic anxiety include
- Neurasthenia: A chronic mental and physical fatigue and
irritability.
- Hypochondriasis: A persistent worry about having a serious
illness.
- Conversion hysteria: A physical dysfunction that serves as
a signal of underlying psychological conflict
A smoke - a symptom, a sign or a signal ?
.SYMPTOM: A natural
accompaniment to a fire
(for common observers)
SIGN: Commonly understood to
represent burnt wood
(for firefighters)
SIGNAL: Used to express or
communicate something
(for Indigenous people)
A bodily dysfunction, such as muscle pain or
paralysis, might be a symptom, a sign, or a signal.
Muscle pain or paralysis: a symptom, a sign or a signal
A symbolic signal expressing
unhappiness, fear, guilt, or anger (as
interpreted by the coach or psychologist)
a sign
representing a muscle injury
(as understood by his physician)
a symptom
accompanying a muscle injury
(as felt by the athlete after an accident)
EGO < SUPEREGO
A chronic, unconscious fear of being unable
to meet societal expectations can lead to
a fantasized rejection or “moral death.’
The moral anxiety may manifest as:
- Extreme perfectionism
- Obsessions and compulsions
- Psychasthenia and OCD.
The role of child-parent relationships in ego formation.
1. 1. Parents know how to survive. Therefore, following them
increases the chances of survival and growth, while opposing
them risks rejection and abandonment.
2. Parents provide primary feedback in the process of ego
formation.
3. Chronically disturbed parent-child relationships result in
deficits in ego formation, which manifest as certain character
types.
Why has society controlled sexual instincts since ancient times?
1. To prevent developmental physical and mental
disorders resulting from incest.
2. To prevent emotional trauma and confusion in ego
formation (self-definition) caused by pedophilia or
other forms of premature sexual initiation or
“education.”
3. To maintain the human population by promoting
heterosexual relationships during times of plagues,
cataclysms, and wars.
Freud: The formation of the ego
The formation of the ego
Bodily sensations in interactions with parents: my body versus your
body; me versus not me.
Oral, anal, and phallic zones involved in selfhood formation.
The discovery of oneself as a distinctive person capable of
- demanding, requesting, receiving, and giving
- controlling bodily functions
- managing interactions with others
- identifying oneself as a unique individual
The stages of ego formation:
Oral: 0 - 1 Focal issue: ”Demanding & Receiving”
Anal: 2 - 3 Focal issue: “Controlling Oneself & Others”
Phallic: 3 - 5 Focal issue: “Identifying Oneself”
Latency: 6 - 10 Focal issue: Performance & Perfection
Genital: 11 + Focal issue: Preparing for Work, Love, and
Procreation
Normal, non-stop transition from one stage to another.
Fixation and pathological blockage in the
transition between pregenital stages
- Excessive pleasure or excessive frustration related to focal issues
during one of the pregenital stages can lead to a pathological fixation
on those issues.
- Much libidinal energy is mistakenly invested in issues that are no
longer essential at that age, leaving little libido available to focus on
the next stage of mental development.
- Although physical maturation continues, mental growth halts,
causing an arrest in development at a specific stage.
- Later in adulthood, this may manifest as personality deficits or
disorders known as character types: oral, anal, or phallic.
Oral stage (1st year) to oral character type (adult):
Stage-related focal issues include passively receiving (being fed,
caressed) and actively demanding or taking (sucking, biting, crying
“Give me”).
If fixated, a passive-dependent or passive-hostile oral character type
emerges:
- Passively or actively exploits others
* - Is vindictive and manipulative
* - Is preoccupied with the idea that others are always doing
something to him or for him.
This type is prone to immature, dependent, or schizoid personality disorders
Anal stage → Anal Character Type
(2nd and 3rd year) ( adult )
Stage-related focal issues include controlling anal expulsion and
retention, as well as managing oneself and others.
“I should (I can) control myself and others.” If fixated, this may lead to
* Obsessive-Compulsive Anal Character Type: obsessed with
perfection, order, power, and control, or
* Erratic-Impulsive Anal Character Type, obsessed with the belief
that “Nobody and nothing will control me”. Ostensibly chaotic,
messy, and rebellious.
These Individuals may be prone to obsessive-compulsive
personality disorder or OCD.
Phallic stage → Phallic Character Type
( 3 - 5 year ) adult
Stage-related focal issues: exploring gender identity and heterosexual roles in
marriage and parenthood.
“I have this and that; therefore, I am a boy (or a girl).”
The Oedipus complex is a childish fantasy of jealousy and competition with the
same-sex parent. It resolves itself by identifying with that parent.
If unresolved, fixation on unconscious hostility and rivalry towards the same-
sex parent may continue, leading to the development of the Phallic Character
Type characterized as:
- sexually immature
- infantile
- ambivalent
- unstable
- promiscuous without intimacy.
This type is prone to hysteria, borderline personality disorder, or sexual
perversions.
Oeadipus and Electra complex
Freud uses this myth to explain the Oedipus complex in adult men, who, during their
phallic stage of development, fixated on their childish, unconscious fantasies of
exclusive love for their mother and rivalry with their father.
Psychoanalysts termed this the Electra complex in adult women, who, during their
phallic stage of development, fixated on their childish, unconscious fantasies of
exclusive love for their father and rivalry with their mother.
Normally, Oedipus or Electra fantasies dissolve through identifying
with the same-sex parent. If they do not, fixation starts…
* Fixation leads individuals to maintain behaviours from the phallic
stage of childhood by hiding their unconscious forbidden fantasies
and fearing severe punishment if their “secrets” are revealed.
* Men with unresolved Oedipus complex often experience ambivalent
feelings toward their fathers and father-like figures, such as their
bosses. Women with unresolved Electra complex often experience
ambivalent feelings toward mothers and mother-like figures.
* These complex individuals may alternate between aggressively
challenging same-sex figures and seeking to please them through a
defence mechanism known as reaction formation.
Potential mechanisms underlying psychopathology
1. Troubled ego formation:
- Confusion of selfhood (identity)
- False cathexes, i.e. investment of libido resulting in its deficit
- Weakness of the ego resulting in neurotic anxiety or moral anxiety
- Fixation on one of the pre-genital stages, leading to character disorder
2. Chronic use of defence mechanisms instead of coping strategies,
leading to troubles in orientation in oneself and others.
3. Unconscious shift from verbal direct communication of suffering
to indirect, bodily or behavioural symptoms as a means of expression
Features of a mature person who reached the genital stage
* Socially engaged without being dependent, as seen in the Oral
Character Type.
* Courageous but not overly focused on control or rebellion, unlike the
Anal Character Type.
* Self-assured and content with the body, gender, and social roles,
without displaying narcissism or histrionics like the Phallic Character
Type.
* Responsible and prepared for healthy heterosexual relationships,
demonstrating care, love, altruism, and generosity.
* Productive in both their studies and their work.
* An ideal individual - able to love and give.
Ego defence mechanisms, self-deceptive “mental pain killers”
Libido absorbing, unconscious strategies of
repression, distortion and re-definition
to avoid feelings, desires or actions challenging to self-image.
Repression - removing from the consciousness
Projection - attributing own unacceptable feelings to others
Rationalization - justifying an unacceptable feeling or action
Reaction formation - attitude or action in contrast to genuine motive
Retroflexion - hatred redirected from beloved person to oneself
Anna Freud 1936 “The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence”.
Freud psychoanalytical therapy
Permissive, anxiety-free exploration of repressed feelings,
attitudes, memories & defenses by:
- catharsis,
- dream analysis,
- free associations,
- transference,
- insight and “rewriting the script form the past”
The goals:
* liberate the libidinal energy from old useless cathexes and
defenses and re-distribute it for non-neurotic functioning
* strengthen the ego
