Lecture 75: Models of the Mind

Question 1

High yield sentence about models of the mind:

Answer 1

Everything you say and do is filtered through your unique prior experiences, which themselves are constructed of conscious and unconscious templates and schemas that are accrued over a lifetime

Question 2

Freud believed the adult mind is controlled by (2)

Answer 2

Unconscious life and childhood experiences

Question 3

Id

Answer 3

It –> drives, pleasure principle, unconscious

Question 4

Ego

Answer 4

I, me –> executive moderator, unconscious + conscious

Question 5

Supergo

Answer 5

Above me –> morals, conscience, self-criticism, unconscious + conscious

Question 6

Conflicting needs breaks down to…What do we need to do?

Answer 6

Approach (desire) vs avoidance (of pain); make choices/balance

Question 7

Describe self homeostasis

Answer 7

What we do to avoid dissonance/emotional overload

Question 8

Transference (def)

Answer 8

Transfer of past relationships onto someone/something in the present

Question 9

Effects of transference on treatment (2)

Answer 9

Restrict patient’s responses/choice; alter judgement and insight of patient and doctor

Question 10

T/F: Transference to medications exists

Answer 10

True! Placebo/nocebo effect

Question 11

Countertransference

Answer 11

Pt’s affective/emotional cues activate associational networks in the doctor

Question 12

Countertransference: Empathy

Answer 12

Doctor experiences patient’s feelings

Question 13

Countertransference: Role responsiveness

Answer 13

Doctor experiences feeling similar to what other people in the patient’s life have felt in response to the patient

Question 14

Defense mechanisms: psychodynamic model and definition

Answer 14

Self homeostasis; one’s mind unconsciously distorts or avoids certain perceptions/thoughts/feelings to preserve the self

Question 15

Are defenses pathological?

Answer 15

Not necessarily, pathology is related to rigid use of limited defenses AND/OR immaturity of defenses

Question 16

Repression (def: how it works)

Answer 16

Distressing mental contents may cause problem –> blocked from entering awareness –> reduced distress

Question 17

Health markers of repression (2, broad)

Answer 17

Stress heart and immune system

Question 18

Altruism as a defense…

Answer 18

To avoid guilty/distressing feelings of awareness of own satisfaction

Question 19

T/F: Humor can be a defense

Answer 19

True

Question 20

Suppression is unique in that…Definition:

Answer 20

It is the only CONSCIOUS defense mechanism; conscious pushing away a thought or feeling

Question 21

Sublimation (definition and example)

Answer 21

Expressing unacceptable feeling or thought in an acceptable way (example: man with murderous impulse enters military)

Question 22

Displacement (def)

Answer 22

Directing one’s feelings to a safer object/person (taking out)

Question 23

Rationalization (def)

Answer 23

Offering acceptable reasons for why you do what you do or feel what you feel

Question 24

Intellectualization (def)

Answer 24

Focus on abstract logic/thinking to minimize distressing feelings about an event

Question 25

Isolation of an affect (definition and example)

Answer 25

Remaining aware of descriptive details of an event but losing connection with feelings about the event (example: trauma surgeon cutting off a leg)

Question 26

Identification with the aggressor (definition and example)

Answer 26

Reversing the power roles so that you are not the object of the threat, end up making the threat (example: throwing away stuffed animals when Daddy doesn’t come home)

Question 27

Reaction formation (definition and example)

Answer 27

Behaviors, thoughts, feelings are the complete opposite of your unconscious desires (example: being very nice to someone you don’t like)

Question 28

Somatization (def)

Answer 28

Locating intolerable thoughts/feelings in the body

Question 29

Immature defenses (7 and brief description)

Answer 29

Acting out (action not reflection), splitting (all-good, all-bad), projection (projecting feelings onto another person), projective identification (target of projection begins to take on what is projected), denial (dismissing obvious, difficult realities), withdrawal (retreating into one’s own world), dissociation (temporary changes in personality, memory, consciousness)

Question 30

Characteristics of immature defenses

Answer 30

Distort reality and are global: all this or that, no mixed feelings

Question 31

What is the extreme of splitting

Answer 31

Dissociation

Question 32

Who uses defenses?

Answer 32

Everyone!