Lecture 5 Flashcards
what is the psyche
- totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious
- psyche comes from the Greek ‘psykhe’ = soul, mind or spirit
what were some early questions about the psyche that were asked
- what determines behaviour? are we in control?
- what is the nature of the psyche/mind?
- how do people manage threats and anxiety?
- what contributes to the development of a healthy personality?
who was Freud
- Austrian neurologist & professor, later became a psychotherapist
- hypnosis/symptom relief, worked with patients with hysteria
- founded psychoanalysis
- focused on the unconscious mind, libido defence mechanisms and early childhood experiences
what is hysteria known as today
conversion disorder
what were Freud’s four main interests
- unconscious mind
- libido
- defence mechanisms
- early childhood experiences
what are the three main critiques of Freud’s theories
- did not believe in value of experimentation or hypothesis testing in establishing the validity of psychoanalysis – usually did case studies on wealthy white people
- some psychologists (e.g. neo-Freudians) take issue with Freud’s negative view of human nature (he saw it as “animalistic”)
- theories are sexist and heteronormative in nature (but we have to consider the times in which they were proposed)
–> despite this, still made some lasting contributions
who was Carl Jung
- Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist
- worked with Freud in early 1900s –> eventually went separate ways because their thinking was diverging
- founded analytic psychology
- focused on symbolism, mysticism, occultism, the collective unconscious and archetypes
what were Jung’s five main research interests
- symbolism
- mysticism
- occultism
- the collective unconscious
- archetypes
how did Trump describe his childhood
he said he “liked to stir things up” and recognized his behaviour as aggressive –> seems to be consistent with his present behaviour
how would we describe Trump’s personality according to the HEXACO model
- Trump is low on honesty/humility and agreeableness and emotionality
- Trump is pretty low on conscientiousness and openness
- Extremely high in extraversion
- low in sincerity, fairness, greed avoidance and modesty (all facets of honesty/humility)
describe psychic determinism (Freud)
- nothing happens by accident
- everything we think, feel, do and say is an expression of our mind (conscious, preconscious or unconscious)
- “accidents” of daily life often reflect the unconscious –> can reveal reasons via psychoanalysis
describe Freud’s “basic instincts”
- strong innate forces that supply all psychic energy
- primary motives of behaviour
- can conflict within and between persons
- influenced by Darwin’s writing on instincts
- present at birth
what were the two main “basic instincts” outlined by Freud
- life instinct (Eros)
- death instinct (Thanatos)
describe the life instinct (eros)
- energy/impulse: libido
- in everyday life, it looks like self-care, love, sex, creativity
- seems to overlap with communion (vs agency)
describe the death instinct (thanatos)
- energy/impulse: destrudo
- in everyday life, it looks like aggression, destruction, violence, self-sabotaging
- seems to overlap with agency (vs communion)
which of Freud’s basic instincts dominates Trump’s personality
- low in communion and high in agency
- thanatos (death instinct) seems to dominate his personality
describe Jung’s theory of free will
- Jung argued that goal-directedness and free will largely determine human behaviour NOT unconscious processes
- de-emphasized the role of the unconscious mind and negative drives
- believed people could set goals and work towards them
describe contemporary views on the unconscious and free will
- the influence of the unconscious is debated
- whether or not we have free will depends on the definition, the behaviour/outcome in question, and interpretation of research
- e.g. people seem to commit to certain decisions before being aware of making them
describe Freud’s topographical model/organization of the mind
- conscious: current thoughts, feelings and images
- preconscious: information that can be easily retrieved
- unconscious: part of the mind containing instincts, urges, and thoughts/memories of which a person is unaware
describe the three parts of Freud’s structural model of personality
- Id: urges and impulses
- Ego: self-control
- Superego: morals & ideals
Id
primitive part of mind, drives/urges, seeking of immediate gratification, acts of pleasure principle, basic instincts
Ego
executive of personality, constrains id to reality and acts on reality principle, understands urges often conflict with physical/social realities
Superego
- internalized ideals, values and morals of parents (1st) society/culture/authority (2nd)
- includes conscience (sense of morality)
- includes ego ideal (ideal image of self)
- felt as guilt, shame and pride
what is conscience
sense of morality
what is ego-ideal
ideal image of self
describe the iceberg metaphor for Freud’s theory of consciousness
- the conscious is above the water while the unconscious is below the water
- the ego is fully above water while the id is fully below water
- the superego is halfway between conscious and unconscious
describe an example of the interplay of the id ego and superego
- the id might say “i want it now”
- the ego would ask “what are the consequences”
- the superego would say “its wrong to do this”
describe en example of the id/ego/superego conflict with regards to Trump
- the id might say “I want to tweet and call this person a loser”
- the ego might say “Will there be consequences, is there a more reasonable way I can deal with this”
- the superego would say either “presidents should show restraint” OR “i’m a winner, I can do what I want and always come out on top”
compare how the ego vs superego deal with the id
- the ego will respond by letting the id be expressed to a degree (or expressed differently)
- the superego may produce shame/guilt (either before or after)
is Trump’s ego or superego more dominant
less ego (self-control) and more superego (conscience)
describe Jung’s model of the Psyche
believed the psyche contains both conscious and unconscious elements
what are the five parts of Jung’s model of the psyche
- Ego “I” - conscious mind
- Persona - character we display
- Shadow - dark side of psyche
- Anima - feminine in men
- Animus - masculine in women
describe Jung’s notion of the shadow
- the dark side of one’s personality that one does not want to face –> relegated to the unconscious
- contains instincts and desires
- the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker/denser it is
- one becomes enlightened by making the darkness conscious
describe Jung’s notion of the collective unconcious
- separate from the personal unconscious
- collective, universal and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals
- does not develop individually –> it is inherited
what is the modern explanation of Jung’s collective unconscious
- collective unconscious may represent innate (genetically-determined) psychological concepts and mechanisms
- these may allow us to respond to universal phenomena (similar to instincts)