Psychoanalysis Flashcards
who was the first psychoanalyst?
Freud
what are the aspects of psychoanalysis?
- A proposed therapeutic technique –> to cure or alleviate mental problems
- An investigative method –> make interpretations to make discoveries about the mind e.g. free associations
- A diverse body of theory and findings –> Freud and post-Freudians wrote books and constructed theories
- A major cultural phenomenon –> was once a major thing now in terminal decline
- A residual set of ‘sticky memes’ –> unconscious, the ID, childhood experience determines how you will adapt to the world
features of Freud’s psychoanalysis
theories about:
- childhood sexuality
- developmental account of personality formation
- the interaction between innate drives and family circumstances which determine development
why are Freud’s theories interesting?
Freud changed his mind a lot over his career
his theories are universal not nomothetic so is generalised to everyone e.g. everyone has an Oedipus complex
there is little empirical evidence to support his claims - it is a cautionary tale
his theories talks about sex in an interesting but perverse way
key themes within psychoanalysis
- the psychoanalytic method
- levels of consciousness
- dreams and dream analysis
- human nature and motivation
- personality structure and development
- defence mechanisms
- clinical applications
what areas did Freud look into?
levels of consciousness
dream analysis
the nature of human beings and the source of human motivation
model of mind and personality
development of personality
theory of psychosexual development
defence mechanisms
Freudian theory
what are the 3 levels of consciousness?
conscious
preconscious
unconscious
what are conscious thoughts?
things you are currently thinking about
what are preconscious thoughts?
things you are not currently thinking about but is stored somewhere in the brain e.g. facts
what are unconscious thoughts?
aggressive and sexual thoughts that have been repressed
how can unconscious thoughts be made conscious?
due to repression you cannot make these thoughts conscious without therapy
what is repressed and why?
unconscious thoughts and traumatic experiences are repressed
they are pushed into the unconscious as humans cannot accept these thoughts
what is manifest content of dreams?
this is the storyline of a dream
what is latent content of dreams?
the interpretation and deeper meaning behind the dream that Freud argued was important
explain the process of dreamwork
when unacceptable urges e.g. aggressive and sexual drives that appear in the latent content of dream are transformed into acceptable ideas e.g. dreams that symbolise something else in the manifest content of dreams
e.g. naughty thoughts turn into dreams that symbolise something deeper
what is primary process thinking?
enjoyable but unacceptable thoughts that collide with conscience and rationality
found in the unconscious mind
uses the principle of association and pleasure principle
what is the pleasure principle?
thoughts move at this level to seek satisfaction
what is secondary process thinking?
rational, logical and reasoning thinking
found in the conscious mind
uses the reality principle
what is the reality principle?
taking things into account about the work
thinking straight
what is libido?
sexual drives
what did Freud say about the nature of humans and the source of human motivation?
sex is a big motivation for all humans
humans want to reject these terrible truths about ourselves
Freud thought he was exposing a terrible truth about human nature and that is why people did not believe him
why was Freud’s theory about the nature of humans and the source of human motivation controversial
he claimed that adults and children are both sexual beings
what are the 3 structures within the mind?
id
ego
superego
what is the id?
meaning ‘it’
the unconscious mind with sexual and aggressive drives
primary process thinking
ruled by pleasure principle
biological component
what is the ego?
meaning ‘eye’
the conscious mind with day-to-day thinking
secondary process thinking
ruled by reality principle
psychological component
what is the superego?
meaning ‘above eye’
the conscience - morals
it makes you feel guilty for thinking things from the id
driven by unconscious processes
social component
explain the topological model of personality
Consciousness at the top represents contact with outside world
then preconscious which represents material just beneath the surface of awareness
then unconscious which represents difficult to retrieve material stored well below the surface of awareness
explain how each structure of the mind is represented in the topological model of personality
Ego resides in the conscious and preconscious
ID resides in the unconscious
Superego resides in all components
how did Freud explain psychosexual development?
- Everyone goes through the same stages
- Uses the analogy of how simpler organisms develop over the course of their lifespan and evolution
- Libido gets attached at different stages of life to different parts of the body and then you get pleasure from those parts of the body
- Then there is a crisis as you can’t consistently get pleasure due to societal norms
- Depending how you deal with this crisis has implications on your personality
what are the psychosexual stages?
- polymorphous perversity
- oral stage
- anal stage
- phallic stage
- latency stage
- genital stage
explain the polymorphous perversity stage?
age: birth
pleasure focus: every part of the body equally e.g. tickling of foot or nose provides sexual pleasure
explain the oral stage
age: birth –> 1 year
pleasure focus: mouth in form of mother’s nipple - mother is source of pleasure
crisis: transition from breastfeeding to bottle-feeding
implications for personality if remain in this stage: need for oral stimulation through adulthood e.g. smoking, talking lots (extrovert)
which study provided counter-evidence for the oral stage?
Harlow’s monkey study
explain the anal stage
age: 18 months –> 2 years
pleasure focus: bum in the form of pooing
crisis: potty training and learning when to release
implications for personality if remain in this stage: anally retentive e.g. hyperorganised and rigid or anally expulsive e.g. laidback and disorganised
explain the phallic stage
age: 3 years –> 5 years
pleasure focus: sexual organ
crisis: competition with father for mothers love - Oedipus complex
implications for personality if remain in this stage: repress sexuality leading to latency stage
explain the latency stage
age: 5 years –> 12 years
pleasure focus: stops and there is a repression of pleasure - no sexual activity
implications for personality if remain in this stage: moving on from this stage ensures normal development
explain the genital stage
age: 12 years –> adulthood
pleasure focus: adult sexuality is developed
what are the purpose of defence mechanisms?
used to handle these unwanted thoughts
types of defence mechanisms:
- Repression
- Regression
- Denial
- Displacement
- Projection
- Undoing
- Sublimation
- Reaction formation
- Conversion reaction
- Rationalisation
- Phobic avoidance
- Isolation
what was Freud’s original theory of conversion?
Freud originally thought that the reason for mental problems is repressed trauma is expressed through mental and physical symptoms - called this conversion.
explain Freud’s theory of abreaction and catharsis
1895 first book with Breuer
Treated patient called Bertha Pappenheim
She recovered from her neurosis and became a famous feminist
Whilst being treated she had physical and mental symptoms
Freud had her think about when the symptoms first came about - it was when she was treating her ill father
This allowed her to emotionally ventilate (abreaction) as she thought about these moments she experienced relief (catharsis)
explain Freud’s change in theory of transference and counter-transference
Then decided this was not the case as not enough people have trauma and there are too many neurotics
He then thought that romantic feelings in adulthood stemmed from original attraction to our parents
He found that when clients spoke about sexual things with a therapist, feelings started to develop for the therapist (transference)
He also found that the therapist started to have feelings for the client (counter-transference).
Psychoanalysis believes that these feelings aren’t just spontaneous, romantic inclinations but they stem from earlier experiences from parents
explain Freud’s final theory of neurosis
He then thought that mental problems/ neurosis/ hysteria was a result of the collision between nasty urges that people have and social norms which produces neurotic symptoms
positive evaluation of Freud’s theory
big theory that says a lot about human nature
tries to give a consistent account of what human beings are like
tries to explain puzzling aspects of human nature e.g. why people have mental symptoms
did this by saying mental illness is a result of obscure processes in the unconscious which can be diagnosed by a qualified psychoanalytic expert
heuristic value e.g. defence mechanisms are likely to exist
psychotherapy is effective - but in comparison to other therapies it is the same
certain characteristics tend to co-occur e.g. people who are rigid also tend to be stingy and organised - anal characteristics
Tourette’s syndrome may be explained by psychoanalysis e.g. if id is not properly controlled by ego and superego may lead to this blurting of horrid words - this may show the impulsive, spontaneous, aggressive and sexual nature of the id
negative evaluation of Freud’s theories
theories are untestable e.g. cannot measure libido, libido may be located elsewhere, cannot be recorded
concepts turn out to be incorrect once tested e.g. theory of dreams disproved by theory of rapid eye movement which states that dreams happen when you are in a deep sleep
many unaccounted for and unanswered questions e.g. what about regular dreams or nightmares
absence of evidence e.g. lack of correlation because problems with weaning and extroversion or smoking
not parsimonious - didn’t explain theories well
therapy didn’t work for everything e.g. phobias
examples of post/Neo-Freudians
Adler
Horney
Jung
Rank
Anna Freud
Sullivan
Klein
Fromm
Erikson
Kohut
Kernberg
how did the viewpoints of post-freudians compare to that of Freud?
- All agreed with Freud in some way e.g. the unconscious matters, defence mechanism etc
- All disagreed with Freud in some way e.g. not all about sex, wider culture and environment matters too
key themes of disagreements between Freud and Post-Freudians
- Opposing theories
- Types of treatment they adopted differed
- Evaluations of their approaches differed too
what areas of psychoanalysis did Alfred Adler look into?
Individual psychology
- Inferiority complex
- Birth order
- Personality development
- Characteristics of the neurotic personality
- Adlerian treatment approaches
explain Adler’s theory of personality depending on birth order
Adler described personality using birth order as he thought that the entire family dynamic impacts upon a person’s development as resources will differ, independence will differ and experience will differ
describe eldest children’s developmental experience and subsequent adult characteristics
development experience: centre of attention until younger sibling comes (‘dethroned monarch’)
understands the importance of power and authority as they experienced it and then lost it
adult characteristics: conservation, support authority, maintain the status quo, excels in intellectual activities, attain high levels of eminence
describe middle children’s developmental experience and subsequent adult characteristics
developmental experience: view elder child as competitor to overcome, highly dependent on how elder child treats them
supportive older sibling –> healthy development
resentful older sibling –> problems arise
adult characteristics: demanding of themselves, setting unrealistically high goals to ensure their own failure as to not upset older sibling
describe youngest children’s developmental experience and subsequent adult characteristics
developmental experience~: baby of the family, most attention, pampering and spoilt by parents
adult characteristics: high dependency needs, need to excel, need for praise
describe only children’s developmental experience and subsequent adult characteristics
developmental experience: no sibling rivals or models, pampered
adult characteristics: high need for approval, great difficulty in handling criticism and dislike, intellectually able and high achievers
explain Adler’s theory of inferiority feelings and personality types
- describes the universal experience of feeling small and vulnerable when first enter the world compared to everything else
- says we experience a crisis of the world as it is a scary place
- so we must solve this crisis or an inferiority complex could develop
- how individuals respond to this crisis sets up how well you adapt to the world and if you have more of a neurotic personality
what are the 4 different Adlerian Personality types?
the ruling type
the avoiding type
the getting type
the socially useful type
explain the ruling type of personality
lacks social interest and courage
strives for personal superiority and power
exploit others to accomplish their goals
emotionally manipulative
examples: drug addicts and juvenile delinquents, domineering, successful individuals fit this profile as they exploit others, do not give credit and take centre stage
explain the avoiding type of personality
lacks necessary confidence to solve their problems
pretend problems do not exist
may claim it is not their problem, someone else is to blame,
cannot be held accountable
explain the getting type of personality
relatively passive
make little effort to solve their problems
use charm to get others to do things for them
parasitism was very unhealthy according to Adler
explain the socially useful type of personality
healthy option
faces life confidently with positive social interest
prepared to cooperate with others
prepared to contribute to the welfare of others
explain Adler’s therapeutic approach
eclectic
looked at:
- position of child in birth order
- daydreams and nightdreams
- earliest childhood recollection
- childhood disorders
- nature of external factors that caused the neurotic development/ illness
less emphasis on sex
tried to derive personality type differences
evaluate Adler’s theories
- Not as comprehensive as Freud
- Says there are a number of personality types
- Testable theories e.g. IQ compared across siblings
what areas of psychoanalysis did Carl Jung look into?
analytical psychology
- Structures within the psyche - archetypes
- Personality types
- Life-process energy
- Principle of opposites
- Teleology
- Self-realisation
- Principle of equivalence
- Principle of entropy
- Treatment approaches
what were Jung’s principles?
- Calls the mind the psyche
- Talks about life energy - more positive take
- Teleology - to do with goals
- Process of self-realisation - where you are going
- Individuation - as you develop in childhood and across your lifespan you come to develop your individual personality and character more
explain Jung’s theory of the structure of the mind
said we are all connected not just individuals
we have a collective unconscious which is populated by archetypes
archetypes are primordial forms that we all share
similar motifs come up in different mythologies and cultures e.g. the hero
explores what these myths and their contents mean for humans
what are the different types of Jungian archetypes?
the persona
the shadow
the anima
the animus
the self
explain the persona archetype
the mask/ role we adopt helps us to deal with other people and helps us to disguise our inner feelings and respond in socially appropriate ways to others
we have personas for all our roles
adaptive function but when used to extremes may result in stereotypical behaviour
explain the shadow archetype
the dark sinister side of our nature
consists of repressed material in our personal unconscious and universal images from evil from our collective unconscious
never truly know the shadow side of ourselves - too frightening to explore our potential to do harm or think evil thoughts
expressed in unexplained moods e.g. uncontrollable anger, psychosomatic pain and desires to harm others and ourselves
explain the anima archetype
the feminine element in the male psyche
consists of inherited ideas of what constitutes women
derived from man’s experience of women throughout evolution and their experience of their mother
the prototype for their female relationships
consists of feminine qualities e.g. emotionality, sensitivity, irrationality, vanity and moodiness
explain the animus archetype
the male element within the female psyche
similarly primarily derived from women’s evolutionary experience and their experience of their father
helps males and females to understand each other better
consists of masculine qualities e.g. reason, logic, social insensitivity
explain the self archetype
the potential we all have to achieve the unique individuality that is within us
reach this through individuation which entails creating balance within the psyche and of coming to accept oneself as one really is
explain Jung’s theory of personality
Jung spoke a lot about psychological balance and underdeveloped parts of yourself e.g. if you’re an extrovert, introvert part is underdeveloped.
He highlights the importance of developing all the different parts of the psyche to get them in balance
Introverts preoccupied with your inner world whereas Extroverts preoccupied with external world
Focused on parts of personality other than neurosis
Jung said we apprehend the world using four different functions
If these functions are predominant then you have one type
Drew a contrast between thinking and feeling - you can interpret reality by thinking and putting it into categories or you can see how you feel about it - people have a dominant function in their ability to do this
According to Jung, these different faculties of apprehending reality are more or less dominant and this produces types not traits
This oversimplifies reality
Coined the terms introversion and extroversion
what is sensing?
where we experience stimuli without any evaluation
register that something is present
what is thinking?
interpreting stimuli using reason and logic
helps to develop understanding
what is feeling?
involves evaluating the desirability or worth of what has been presented
what is intuitive?
when we relate to the world with a minimum of interpretation and reasoning; instead we form hunches or have premonitions
difference between extraverted sensing type and introverted sensing type
extraverted sensing type: reality oriented
shun thinking and contemplation
act rather than think
pleasure seeking and sociable
keen to enjoy good things in life
typically men
introverted sensing type: tend to be sensitive
may overact to outside stimuli
take innocuous comments and turn them into something sinister
tend to be calm and passive
difference between extraverted thinking type and introverted thinking type
extraverted thinking type: tries to be objective and guided by facts
represses emotional responses
guided by rules
may neglect more spiritual and aesthetic side of their nature
neglect friendships
introverted thinking type: private people
often ill at ease socially
tend to be intellectual and repress their feelings
difficult to express ideas and feelings
involved in their inner world
may appear cold and aloof
difference between extraverted feeling type and introverted feeling type
extraverted feeling type: tend to be conventional
expectations influence their feelings and behaviour
sociable
respect authority and tradition
more typical of women
introverted feeling type: tend to be quiet, thoughtful and difficult to get to know
mysterious
not very involved with others but feel things intensely
better with animals than people more typical of women
difference between extraverted intuitive type and introverted intuitive type
extraverted intuitive type: created individuals excited by new things
keen to exploit all opportunities
tendency to follow hunches
politicians, speculators fit this type
introverted intuitive type: withdrawn and uninterested from the world
dreamers
may come up with unusual new ideas
communicate poorly since their judgement functions are repressed
evaluation of Jung
- Wrote lots of books on this topic
- Talks a lot about complex symbolic stuff e.g. interest in alchemy - people trying to transform their psyche from something bad into something good
- Said that alchemists were describing psychological development
- Talked about lots of aspects of human nature
- Not to parsimonious
- Difficult to test archetypes
- Interesting ideas but iffy and vague
- Had his own therapeutic approaches - said 1/3 patients got better, 1/3 stayed the same, 1/3 got worse
what areas of psychoanalysis did Karen Horney look into?
focus on neurosis
- Emphasis on the nature and origin of neurosis
- Development of the personality and the neurotic personality
- Personality types
- Defence mechanisms: blind spots, compartmentalisation, rationalisation, excessive self-control, arbitrary rightness, elusiveness, cynicism
- Critique of penis envy
explain Horney’s 10 neurotic needs theory
- Theory explained development of the neurotic personality
- If you’re neurotic then you have these rigid, inflexible needs that needs to be serviced
- This happens if you didn’t get what you needed in childhood according to Horney
- Origin of neurosis comes from early in life
what are the 10 neurotic needs?
need for personal achievement
need for affection and approval
need for self-sufficiency and independence
need for power
need for personal admiration
need for a partner to take over one’s life
need for perfection and unassailability
need to exploit others
need for social recognition and prestige
need to restrict one’s life within narrow boundaries
what are the defence mechanisms according to Horney?
Blind spots
Compartmentalisation
Rationalisation
Excessive self-control
Arbitrary rightness
Elusiveness
Cynicism
what are the different types of neurotic personalities?
compliant types
aggressive types
detached types
healthy personality
describe the compliant type
desperately need others
self-effacing, submissive and devalue their own abilities
cannot tolerate any criticism
need to fit in
live within restricted boundaries to feel safe
people style: moving towards people
describe the aggressive type
need power, social recognition, prestige, admiration and to achieve
believe others are hostile and untrustworthy
believe in survival of the fittet
seem tough and unemotional
poor at relationships
people style: moving against people
describe the detached type
need self-sufficiency, perfection and unassailability
secretive, solitary
feel that others do not understand them
aloof
people style: move away from people
describe the healthy personality type
the other three trends are present but complement each other as healthy individuals are flexible
confidence in their abilities
trust others
secure in their selfhood
people style: adopt all three styles when appropriate - adaptable and flexible
evaluation of Horney
- Not comprehensive - focus mainly on neurosis
- More plausible as it looks at one specific feature instead of trying to address all of human nature
- More testable than Freud - unmet needs at childhood produce different personality types
areas to look at when evaluating theory
▪ Description
▪ Explanation
▪ Testable concepts and their empirical validity
▪ Comprehensiveness
▪ Parsimony
▪ Heuristic value
▪ Applied value
