Problem 1 - Freud

Question 1

what are the 2 key assumptions that underline Freud’s conception?

Answer 1

1. principle of motivational determinism – proposes that behaviour is never accidental: it is psychologically determined by mental motivational causes.
2. these causes are outside of the person’s complete consciousness or awareness.

Question 2

How is the model of the mind organised? (3 parts DESCRIBE each)

Answer 2

Conscious: what you are now aware of

Preconscious: ordinary memory (can be brought to awareness easily)
ex: when you recall your phone number (from preconscious to conscious)

Unconscious: source of desires and a repository for urges, feelings and ideas that are tied to anxiety, conflict or pain
despite being stored in the unconscious (so you are not aware), they exert a contining influence on later actions and conscious experience

Question 3

how do these 3 parts relate?

Answer 3

(a) material can pass easily back and forth between conscious and preconscious
(b) material can also move from conscious and preconscious into the unconscious. But once the material is in the unconscious, the person is prevented from having conscious access to it because
(c) a mental gate prevents retrieval

Question 4

describe the structural model and (the 3 aspects that form the psychodynamic structure)

Answer 4

The id:

The ego:

The superego

Question 5

what is the id?
what is the principle that the id follows, and through which process does it satisfy needs?

Answer 5

0-18 m
all the inherited, instinctive, primitive aspects of personality - No social rules or norms.
closely tied to basic biological processes, which underlie life
psychic energy comes from it → id is the engine of personality

follows the pleasure principle:
all needs should be satisfied immediately – unsatsified needs create aversive tension states that a person seeks to reduce as soon as they begin to arise
Eg. the devil on your shoulder.

id satisfies needs through the primary process:
forming an unconscious mental image of an object or event that would satisfy the need → having such image is called wish fulfillment

Question 6

what is the ego? what is the principle that the ego follows, and through which process does it satisfy needs?

Answer 6

evolves from the id and harnesses part of the id’s energy for its own use
tries to make sure the id’s impulses are expressed effectively, taking in account the external world
balancing, compromising between the other parts. It focuses on your own safety and reality. Works through secondary process by matching the unconscious image with something which is real.

follows the reality principle:
takes into account external reality along with internal needs and urges, orients you toward the world → weights the risks of action before acting (if risks are too high yoou think of another way to meet the need)
delay the discharge of the id’s tension until an approriate object or context is found

ego uses secondary process:
matching the unconscious image of a tension-reducing object to a real object; until the object can be found the ego keeps the tension in check → its called reality testing

Question 7

what are according to freud the 3 main tasks of the ego?

Answer 7

In Freud’s view, they concern three continuous tasks of the ego:
(1) the control of unacceptable impulses from the id;
(2) the avoidance of pain produced by internal conflict in the efforts to control and master those unacceptable impulses;
(3) the attainment of a harmo- nious integration among the diverse components of personality in conflict.

Question 8

how would you define psychodynamics?

Answer 8

Psychodynamics: the processes through which personality works.

Question 9

what is the superego?

Answer 9

represents the internalized moral standards, values, and ideals of society as conveyed by the parents.
embodiment of parental and societal values
mostly parental values, child does what parents find right to obtain their love and avoids what is wrong to avoid punishment and rejection
introjection→ incorporating the values of the parents
divided in 2 subsystems
ego ideal: comprises rules for good behaviour and standards of excellence
conscience: comprises rules about what behaviours parents disapprove of and punish, doing these things causes the conscience to punish you with feelings of guilt.
the ego reflects things you strive for, the conscience reflects things to avoid

Question 10

what are, according to Freud, the 3 main goals of the superego?

Answer 10

1. tries to prevent any id impulse that would be frowned on by one’s parents
2. tries to force the ego to act morally, rather than rationally
3. tries to guide the person toward perfection in thought, word, and deed → “civilizing” influence on the person, but its perfectionism is quite removed from realit

Question 11

in what levels of consciousness do the id, ego and superego function?

Answer 11

id: functions entirely on the unconscious
ego: functions mostly in the conscious and preconscious
superego: functions at all 3 levels of consciousness

Question 12

at what age gaps do these 3 aspects develop?

Answer 12

id: from birth to 18 months old
ego: from 18 months old to 3 years old
superego: from 3 years old to 5 years old

Question 13

following Freud’s structural model, what would the id, ego and superego say when you see someone dropping a 10€ note on the floor?

Answer 13

id: take it
ego: take it without anyone seeing
superego: don’t take it, it’s morally wrong

Question 14

what are Freudian slips, and how do they happen?

Answer 14

Parapraxes: Slips in conversation, there are a lot of slips which have different names and happen in everyday life.

why do they happen? → The unconscious that we have no control of, tries to get out. It happens because we try to suppress our thoughts.

Question 15

why do people have different coping mechanisms (fixations) and how are they formed?

Answer 15

Drives: your psychological representation of your biological needs.

Question 16

what was the body to Freud? and the mind?

Answer 16

To Freud, the body is a mechanistic energy system, and the mind, being part of the body, also is a mechanistic energy system. The mind gets mental energies from the overall physical energies of the body.

Question 17

in what did Freud’s model of human nature rely on?

Answer 17

Psychic energy

Question 18

what is Psychic energy according to Freud? How does it operate? How do changes in personality relate to psychic energy? What forces provided the energy?

Answer 18

Psychic energy: what passes through the vessels. source of energy that is within each person, a wellspring of motivation

he believed the psychic energy operated according to the law of conservation of energy: the amount of psychic energy an individual possessed remained constant throught his/her lifetime.

personality change was viewed as a redirection of a person’s psychic energy.

Freud believed that there were strong innate forces that provided all the energy in the psychic system. He called these forces instincts.(influenced by Darwin)

Question 19

what were the 2 INITIAL main categories of instincts?

Answer 19

2 main categories of instincts:
sexual instincts (Darwin: selection by reproduction)
self-preservation instincts (Darwin: selection by survival)

Question 20

later Freud combines these 2 instincts into one and develops a new one, what are their names? (2)

Answer 20

later Freud combines these 2 instincts into the life instinct (Libido/Eros) and due to the WWI he developed the idea of death instinct (Thanatos)

Question 21

describe the 2 classes of personality drives

Answer 21

Eros: life or sexual instincts → set of drives that deal with survival, reproduction and pleasure (ex: hunger, pain avoidance, sex)
libido: energy of life instincts

Thanatos: death instincts → “the goal of all life is death” → life leads naturally to death and people desire to return to nothingness
apoptosis in biology: defence against cancer → programmed cell death

Question 22

how do the 2 drives relate, interact with each other? What is the result of this interaction?

Answer 22

the expression of death instincts is usually held back by the life instincts → so these effects are not always visible

if eros blocks the expression of the death drive → tension remains → energy is unspent → leads to acts of aggresion towards others (in this view these acts express self-destructive urges but turned outward onto others. )

Question 23

if tension of a drive grows and it is not released the pressure grows, leads to…

Answer 23

Catharsis, the release and freeing of emotion through talking about one’s problems. – impulse is unleashed

Question 24

The relationship between catharsis and defence mechanisms?

Answer 24

one can perceive catharsis as a situation in which the defence mechanism fails.

Question 25

Catharsis has been studied mostly with respect to aggression, which leads to 2 predictions:

Answer 25

1. engaging in aggression should reduce tension, because the aggressive urge is no longer being bottled up.
2. because this act dissipates the urge’s energy, the person should be less likely to be aggressive again in the near future.

Question 26

How can catharsis come up in therapy and what is the result?

Answer 26

It could come up during a therapy session which can lead to relief. → By the patient’s recalling the traumatic incident (e.g., her father’s death), emotional catharsis or release can be achieved by having her or him express any feelings associated with that memory. This then removes the cause of the symptom and hence the symptom disappears.

Question 27

Freud identified 3 types of anxiety… (name, describe and give an example for each)

Answer 27

Objective/Realistic anxiety: fear, worrying about something can happen in reality, occurs in response to a real external threat to the person. In this case, the control of the ego is being threatened by an external factor rather than by an internal conflict.
ex: being confronted by a scary man with knife

Neurotic anxiety: The fear of doing things and then have consequences. There is a direct internal conflict between ID and Ego, the danger is that the ego may lose control over an unacceptable desire of the id.
ex: woman gets naxious when she thinks about sex

Moral anxiety: There is an internal conflict between ego and superego (from an overly powerful superego, which constantly challenges the person to live up to higher and higher expectations). The fear of self-punishment. It is related to your own moral code.
ex: guilt // people who punish themselves, who have low self­ esteem, or who feel worthless and ashamed most of the time

Question 28

When and how are Neurosis developed? How is it revealed?

Answer 28

Neurosis are a product of early childhood trauma combined with innate predispositions.
When defences fail, the conflicts may build up into neurotic anxiety, revealed indirectly through symbolic behavior.

Question 29

What are defence mechanisms? Why do we use them?

Answer 29

psychological strategies unconsciously used to protect us or help us cope with (the anxiety related to) unwanted/unaccepted thoughts and emotions. to protect our sense of self.
used to deal with anxiety?

Question 30

What are Freud’s defence mechanisms? (11)

Answer 30

Repression, Denial, Projection, Rationalisation, Intellectualization, Reaction formation, Regression, Displacement, Sublimation, Isolation, Undoing.

Question 31

what is repression?

Answer 31

Subconsciously blocking ideas or impulses that are undesirable.
ex: someone who has no recollection of a traumatic event, even though they were conscious and aware during the event.

Question 32

what is denial?

Answer 32

Dismissing external reality and instead focusing on internal explanations or fallacies and thereby avoiding the uncomfortable reality of a situation.
ex: someone who continues to shop for expensive designer clothes despite being in serious financial debt.

Question 33

what is projection?

Answer 33

Attributing one’s own maladaptive inner impulses to someone else.
ex: someone who commits an episode of infidelity in their marriage may then accuse their partner of infidelity or may become more suspicious of their partner.

Question 34

what is rationalization?

Answer 34

The justification of one’s behavior through attempts at a rational explanation.
ex: someone who steals money but feels justified in doing so because they needed the money more than the person from whom they stole.

Question 35

what is intellectualisation?

Answer 35

The development of patterns of excessive thinking or over-analyzing, which may increase the distance from one’s emotions.
ex: someone diagnosed with a terminal illness does not show emotion after the diagnosis is given but instead starts to research every source they can find about the illness.

Question 36

What is Reaction formation?

Answer 36

Replacing one’s initial impulse toward a situation or idea with the opposite impulse.
ex: This defense mechanism may be present in someone who teases or insults a romantic interest whom they like. Conversely, reaction formation may be present in someone who is overly kind to someone whom they dislike.

Question 37

what is regression?

Answer 37

Adapting one’s behavior to earlier levels of psychosocial development.
ex: a stressful event may cause an individual to regress to bed-wetting after they have already outgrown this behavior.

Question 38

what is displacement?

Answer 38

Transferring one’s emotional burden or emotional reaction from one entity to another.
ex: someone who has a stressful day at work and then lashes out against their family at home.

Question 39

what is sublimation?

Answer 39

Transforming one’s anxiety or emotions into pursuits considered by societal or cultural norms to be more useful.
ex: someone who channels their aggression and energy into playing sports.

Question 40

what is Isolation?

Answer 40

Avoiding the experience of an emotion associated with a person, idea, or situation.
ex: someone who describes the day their house burnt down in a factual way without displaying any emotion.

Question 41

what is undoing?

Answer 41

avoiding conscious awareness of disturbing impulses by thinking or acting in a way intended to revert (“make un-happen”) those impulses, even if only at a symbolic level.

Question 42

what are the personality development psychosexual stages? what ages do they occur

Answer 42

oral stage (birth to 18 m)
anal stage (18m to 3y)
phallic stage (3y to 5y)
latency phase (6y to puberty)
genital stage (puberty to adulhood)

Question 43

what are fixations? and how do they relate to the defence mechanism, regression?

Answer 43

a sexual impulse is arrested at an early stage.
when your personality is stuck into one of the sexually stages.
It could lead to consequences while developing.
Seeking the gratification that you did not have during that stage and bringing it during your life.
link with regression: Regression is a reversion to an earlier stage of development in the face of stress.

Question 44

what characterises the oral stage? (pleasure focus, periods, child, oral individuals and fixations)

Answer 44

pleasure is focused on the mouth – child meets the world using his/her mouth, lips, tongue.
mouth is source of tension reduction (eating) and pleasurable sensatins (tasting, licking, sucking)

The child is more self-centred.
infant is totally dependent of others for satisfaction of needs.

is divided in 2 periods:
- oral incorporative phase:
lasts 6 months
weaning
starts with sucking
infant is helpless and dependent
dif traits can be developed:
benign world→ optimism and trust
less supportive world→ pessimism and mistrust
too helpful world → strong dependency on others
gullible person is fixated at this period

-oral sadistic phase:
teething
sexual pleasure from bitting and chewing (and even inflicting pain)
infant is deprived from bottle/breast and starts eating
verbally aggresive
“bitting” sarcasm
sarcastic, argumentative person is fixated at this period

oral individuals relate orally to the world:
more preoccupied with food and drink
if stressed, more likely to smoke or bite their nails
if angry, more verbally aggresive

dependent, helpless person is said to be fixated at this stage.

Question 45

what characterises the anal stage? (pleasure focus, toilet training, anal triad)

Answer 45

pleasure is focused on the anus – pleasure comes from defecation.
during toilet training child has first experience with imposed control

the way toilet training is handled can influence later personal qualities and conflicts:
- Praisal / Reward→ turns into productivity and creativity

• Shame / Punishment → turns into rebellion (anal expulsive traits: defecate purposely when the parents don’t want) or rigid, obsessive (anal retentive traits: withholding feces and urine)

anal triad: characteristics that form this pattern
- stinginess - desire to reatin feces
- obstinacy - struggle of wills over toilet training
- orderliness - reaction against the messiness of defecating

Question 46

what characterises the phallic stage? (pleasure focus, libido shift)

Answer 46

Focuses on genital organs
most children begin to masturbate, as they become aware of the pleasure that results

first awakening sexual desires are autoerotic – sexual pleasure comes only from self-stimulation but gradually the libido shifts toward opposite-sex parents
child observes the differences between female and male.

Question 47

what is the Oedipus complex in the phallic stage?

Answer 47

boy experiences the Oedipus complex:
symbolized by the father-son conflicts of ancient Greek myths (at age 5)

boy’s desire to possess his mother and replace his father
boys and girls love their mother (as a satisfier of needs) and resent their father (rival for their mother’s affections)

castration anxiety: boy fears castration, to eliminate the source of his lust, by the father as punishment for desiring his mother sexually.
- results in repression of boy’s sexual desires towards their mother and hostility towards the father
- to reduce anxiety by castration the boy tries to become like his father – he internalises his father’s values as his own and becomes more like him instead of battling him. → Identification (boy dvelops feelings of similarity and feels connected to his father)
- Identification leads to the superego reaching its final development – as the internalized standards of parents and society, and the opposition to incest and aggression becomes part of his own value system.
- by identifying with the father the boy gains symbolic access to his mother through his father and the more he resembles to the father the more he will fantasize about being in his place.

Question 48

what is the Electra complex in the phallic stage?

Answer 48

penis envy: discovering that she lacks the male organ the girl exchanges her original love object (mother) for a new one (father)
- she blames the mother for the castration and withdraws affection from her (because the mother does not have a penis either)
- she desires the father will share his penis with her through sex or that he would provide her with a symbolic equivalent (a baby)
- to reduce anxiety by penis envy the girl tries to become like her mother → Identification:leads to the superego reaching its final development
- by identifying with the mother the girl gains symbolic access to her father through her mother and the more she resembles to the mother the more she will fantasize about being in her place. + chances increase she will marry someone like him.

Question 49

what are the possible fixations at the phallic stage? (men and women)

Answer 49

men want to show they aren’t castrated by attempting to assert their masculinity:
by seducing as many women as they can or fathering a lot of children // attaining great career success
OR may fail sexually and professionally because of guilt they feel over competing with their father for theri mother’s love

women Oedipal conflict is displayed by:
relating to men in seductive nad flirtatious way but with a denial of the sexuality – (first develops towards father, but this desire is later repressed)
a woman who excites men with her secutive behaviour and is then surprised when they want to have sex with her

Question 50

What characterises the Latency Period? (what happens towards the end of the period?)

Answer 50

period of calm: decrease of sexual urges and more interest in intellectual or social pursuits. (likely due to emergence of ego and superego)
the child represses his or her memories of infantile sexuality and forbidden sexual activity by making them unconscious.
towards the end of this period, sexual and aggressive urges intensify. they have adult sexual desires but sex isnt socially sanctioned for them → ego’s coping skills are severely tested

Question 51

what characterises the genital stage?

Answer 51

the final, mature stage of psychosexual development.

if earlier stages were well, person now has libido on the genitals and it stays there throughout life.

sexual gratification is no longer narcissistic (like the other stages), but instead there is a desire to share mutual sexual gratification with somenone, can relate to others in a mature, heterosexual fashion.

the person is capable of genuine love for other people and can achieve adult sexual satisfactions.

But before he or she reaches the genital stage, excessive stress or overindulgence may cause the person to become fixated at earlier levels of psychosexual development.

Question 52

techniques for revealing the unconscious?

Answer 52

free association
hypnosis
projective techniques
dreams

Question 53

what are the pros and cons on Freud’s theories?

Answer 53

Difficulty to prove them
Ambiguity
During your latency there is actually development.
Not falsifiable

(look at summary