lecture 5 Flashcards
lecture 5 material
Why even study freud?
Despite criticisms, Freud’s ideas have significantly influenced psychology, offering
foundational insights into the mind and human motivation.
● Psychoanalysis inspired the development of various therapeutic techniques and theories in psychology.
● Freud introduced key concepts such as the unconscious, defense mechanisms, and the idea of developmental stages, which continue to shape psychological research and practice
Freud’s background
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), a medical doctor, practiced in Vienna, Austria, from the 1890s to the 1930s.
● He fled to London due to the Nazi occupation of Austria as he was Jewish.
● Freud’s theories emphasized the aggressive, destructive urges within humans, reflecting on the impacts of war.
What were freuds influences?
- Darwins theory of evolution
- Herman Helmholtz conservation of energy (libido)
- Jean Charcots hypnosis and hysteria
- Joesef Bruer worked with him after returning from France; used cathartic method and co-authored studies in hysteria in which introduced Anna O
How did the ‘talking cure’ become a theraputic device?
after freud won a scholarship to france and met Anna O
- upper middle class woman who developed hysteria
- went into a trance like state; freud wrote words down, turns out the words brought back bad memories
- talk-therapy began
- talking about painful memories improved symptoms
- thus began the talking cure
- Core to Freud’s psychotherapeutic contribution, becoming central to many schools of psychotherapy.
● Freud believed discussing problems helped by rationalizing them and providing
emotional support during self-discovery.
What is psychic determinisim?
- agencies of personality are unconscious
- everything that happens in a persons mind (thinking and doing) has a cause; everything happens for a reason
- This principle implies that behaviors and thoughts are not accidental and can reveal underlying unconscious motivations.
○ Example: Forgetting someone’s name might reveal underlying feelings about that person.
basically free will does not exist
What is your minds internal structure?
Id, ego, and super ego
Id
- irrational and emotional; pleasure
- unconscious
Ego
- rational, reality
- moderates between id and superego
- makes sure you are socially acceptable
- conscious, preconscious, unconscious
superego
- morality principle; produces guilt
- will not allow you to be morally wrong
- following morals = satisfaction
- conscious, preconscious, unconscious
preconscious is something you are not aware of, but are able to recall
What is psychic conflict?
- internal structures of mind are constantly at conflict with each other which requires compromises
- the mind conflicts with itself
- ego
- conflict of mind, struggles, battles shape personality, and determines thoughts, feelings and actions; basically making compromises=builds personality
What is mental energy?
- psychological part of the mind requires energy to function
- libido mental or psychic energy
- fixed and finite; cannot be created nor destroyed
- if used on one activity, less available for others
- when invested in intra-psychic conflicts; not available for creative pursuits
- ego depletion
- is the active self a limited resource
- people who spend more mental energy on something twice depletes it faster; being told not to eat a cookie gave up on solving a puzzle faster (wasted energy trying to not eat the cookie)
- if its all used by ego and superego
- is the active self a limited resource
What is the dual instinct theory?
Freud’s concept of life and death instincts (Eros and Thanatos):
- Eros (Life Instinct): Drives love, creativity, and survival.
- Thanatos (Death Instinct): Drives aggression, risky behavior, and an
unconscious desire to return to an inanimate state.
These opposing forces are believed to influence human behavior, creativity, and
destruction.
What is freuds theory of psychosexual development?
- personality development and neurosis
- earlier writing libido, known as sexual energy
- later, energy with all constructive human activity; more like eros
- how libido gets invested and directed at each developmental stage
- psychological issues not resolves, or ened are not met, at each estage leads to fixation
oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
OAPLG
What is the oral stage of psychosexual development?
0-18 months
Erogenous zone
- mouths, lips, tongue
Psychological theme
- dependency; babies are dependent on parents to survive
- id
Possible problems
- babies needs are either ignored (mistrust) , indulged, or over indulged (unable to become independent)
Adult charcter type
- oral
- very independent; dont want help from anyone
- or
- cant help themselves; are surprised when things go wrong when they didnt try to prevent it
What is the anal stage of psychosexual development?
18- 3 years
Erogenous zone
- Anus/ elimination organs
Psychological theme
- self control; potty training
- ego
Possible problems
- overly lax training, or overly harsh training
Adult charcter type
- anal
- overly submissive to authority; control freak
- or
- overly defiant to authority; disorganized and chaotic
What is the phallic stage of psychosexual development?
3- 7 years
Erogenous zone
- sex organs
Psychological theme
- Development of morality, conscience, gender roles, sexuality.
- superego
Possible problems
- Unresolved oedipus, electra complex, and penis envy
Adult charcter type
- Phallic:
- asexual vs promiscuous
What is the latency stage of psychosexual development?
7 years - puberty
Erogenous zone
- none ig
Psychological theme
- Psychological respite, learning and cognitive development
Possible problems
- none ig
Adult charcter type
- none ig
What is the genital stage of psychosexual development?
puberty through adulthood
Erogenous zone
- genitals; reproduction/giving life
Psychological theme
- Maturity, enhancement of life, contributing
to society
Possible problems
- if earlier stages resolved, easy to
develop in this stage.
- Infrequent fixations may cause sexual perversions
Adult charcter type
- ability to love and work as a mature adult
Explain moving through psychosexual development stages
army analogy, fixation, regression
army analogy
- army passing through hostile territory; intense battle at first
- fixation
- fixation on either stage = that personality type
- fixation on oral stage; oral personality
- regression back to that specific stage
Freud believed that unresolved conflicts at any stage could lead to fixation, impacting
personality and behavior in adulthood.
- Successful navigation through stages leads to a healthy personality and
well-balanced mental functioning.
What is the primary process of thinking?
- unconscious, illogical, and irrational thinking (id)
- fantasies, dreams, and slips of the tongue
displacement
- telling someone else off when you want to tell a teacher off
- condenstation; 2 or more displacements get combined (dreams, and someone you hate)
- symolization; dreams symbolize something else
What is the secondary process of thinking?
- Rational, conscious thought linked to the ego. It is responsible for problem-solving and logical thinking.
- conscious, rational practical, delay gratification
- develops when ego starts to develop
- less important
How do intra-psychic conflict, anxiety, and defence mechanisms interact?
central features of human psychological functioning
- shapes personality
- ego used defence mechanisms to protect from anxiety produced by intrapsychic conflicts
- denials or distortions of reality
- operate unconsciously
- maturity and growth use of healthy defence mechanisms, necessary for mental health
- abnormalities in use of defence mechanisms result in psychopathology
Anxiety arises from conflicts between the id, ego, and superego.
- Defense Mechanisms (originally proposed by Anna Freud) are unconscious strategies to protect the ego from anxiety and maintain self-image.
Name and summarize all defence mechanisms
Repression
- Burying distressing thoughts into the unconscious
- ego can run out of energy
- cause depression
- “anosognosic” patients, damage to the right parietal region of these people’s brains makes them unaware of gross physical defects, such as paralysis of a limb (Ramachandran, 1994)
Reaction formation
- behaving the opposite of how you feel
- for example: if you hate your boss you may treat them overly nice
- high score on sex guilt and arousal (Morokoff)
Denial
- Refusing to acknowledge reality
- effective short term; deal with shock
- long term leads to lack of contact with reality
- denial when diagnoes with fatal illness
Projections
- Attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings to others
- accusing someone of being angry when you are angry
- bogus feedback
Rationalization
- Creating logical explanations for actions to avoid guilt.
- trivialization
- i failed my test because of my teacher, not because i didnt study
- modern research
- cognitive dissonance
Displacement
- redirecting emotions to a safer target whom usually resembles the real target
- boss yells at worker, worker gets home and gets mad at partner
Intellectualization
- avoid thinking about the stressful, emotional aspect of the situation and instead focus on only the intellectual component
- endlessly researches the details of a significant illness to avoid the anxiety, fear, and sadness of receiving a diagnosis.
Regression
- reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adaptive way
- child may begin to sucj thumb or wet bed when starts kindergarten
- regress back to the fixation stage
- orally fixated: smoke, drink
Sublimation
- Transforming unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable
actions.
- supreme products in arts and science are a result of sublimation of instincts
- creativity
- occupational choice; becoming a surgeon because you have an impulse to hurt others
Humour
- form of sublimation
What are parapraxes and what are some examples?
leakages from the unconscious mind that manifest as mistakes, accidents, omissions, or memory lapses
Freudian slips
- an unintentional error regarded as revealing subconscious feelings
- typically caused by stress, fatigue, or repressed thoughts
- often occurs in politics
Slips
- ego becomes more relaxed
- in speech and in action
- more often when someone is tired, not paying attention, in a hurry, or excited
- does not cause, merely facilitates
What is psychoanalysis?
- Psychoanalysis aims to uncover and work through unconscious conflicts, helping patients achieve insight and emotional relief
- unconscious conflicts make people anxious and unhappy
What is the psychoanalysis form of therapy?
- resolve prblems by bringing unconscious conflicts to the surface so the ego can deal with them
- dream analysis
- analysis of slips and memory lapses
- free association
- catharsis
- voicing problems so the conscious mind can deal with them
- catharsis
- theraputic alliance
- emotional bond with patient
- transference
- counter transference
- emotional bond with patient
What are the main critiques of psychoanalysis?
Excessive Complexity: Freud’s ideas are seen as overly intricate, with complex
theories for seemingly simple behaviors.
Case Study Method: Freud’s theories were based on a limited number of cases, making it difficult to generalize findings.
Vague Definitions: Many concepts, such as the id, ego, and superego, lack clear operational definitions, making them hard to test.
Untestability: Psychoanalytic theory is often criticized for being unfalsifiable; many of Freud’s hypotheses cannot be empirically tested. It is often subjective per therapist
Sexism: Freud’s views on women and gender roles have been criticized as outdated and biased. Thought females spent most of their lives being envious of males. Males considered the norm
Low cure rate and long length of treatment
