Psychoanalytic 1 Flashcards
What is Freud’s view of personality ?
Personality is an energy system with psychic energy constantly looking for release. A dynamic process. Adult personality is shaped by early childhood experiences and how these are processed
The 3 layers of the mind according to freud are
- The conscious mind
- The preconscious mind
- The unconscious mind : inaccessible entails pleasure principle, impulses. The unconscious mind exerts omnipotent pressure on the conscious mind
The structure of personality and describe each component
- The ID : core of personality, only structure present at birth, totally UNCONSCIOUS & driven by PLEASURE PRINCIPLE that seeks immediate gratification and by LIFE & DEATH DRIVES (Eros vs Thanatos)
- The EGO : Operates both consciously and unconsciously, develops after the ID, driven by REALITY PRINCIPLES: tests reality to decide when & how the ID’s needs can be satfisfied
- The SUPEREGO : MORALITY , last to develop, learned through parents, sociabilization etc.
Describe the personality dynamic as per freud’s view and its validity today
The personality structure is universal but levels of each component will produce different personalities.
Personality is not a response to ONE reality, but to TWO: the external reality (rules, laws, conscious ego) and the psychic reality (inner impulses & desires from the ID)
The ego needs to manage the constant struggle btw ID’s impulses and counterforce of superego as well as the ego’s awareness of external demands. System relies on ego’s ability to successfully manage using defence mechanisms, the ego develops gradually across psychosexual stages, the first early means where the psyche meets the external world.
–> There is evidence for an uncounscious psyche however a softer type + freud theory based on limited number of ppl, focuses a lot on abnormality
How can we assess the ego’s functioning?
- Look at a person’s high stress tolerance, ability to delay gratification, tolerate frustration, maintain healthy relationships and have a strong sense of self.
- Tests: PROJECTIVE TESTS : present ambiguous stimuli and asks for interpretation = projects the person’s inner needs & feelings on stimulus - ex: the RORSCHACH TEST w/ 10 inkblots
SCENE-BASED PROJECTIVE TESTS: thematic apperception test, subject has to write a story about what is happening in a presented picture, these are then analysed for recurrent themes.
Issue with tests: validity, responses not quantifiable, requires high level of trust btw patient and therapist
The structure of the mind as per Carl Jung
THE CONSCIOUS (ego, the self)
PERSONAL UNCONSCIOUS
COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS or, archetypes which are inherited tendencies to interpret experiences in certain ways
What is the P Factor
It is a dimension of psychopathology which is a risk factor and possible cause of psycho disorders, comes from contemporary research based on psychoanalytic idea of a risk factor : the P FACTOR is associated with life impairments etc.
Where do psychological disorders come from according to psychoanalytic + cite key assumptions of psychoanalytic view on these
The way in which early personality is formed and processed, as a whole rather than a specific type, where symptoms themselves have specific meanings.
Comes from the EGO’S INABILITY TO SUCCESSFULLY MANAGE CONFLICTING DEMANDS between the pleasure principle (the ID, drive to satisfy expression of libido) the reality principle (obstacles from self, superego) and the death drive
ASSUMES THAT:
- Individual reality is constructed
- Disorders often have roots in developmental experiences with pre existing hints or antecedents
- People often can’t locate or describe why they feel this way
- Nomothetic approaches are insufficient in explaining the individual’s experience: uses idiographic
What is the death drive
A desire to return to a state of pure homeostasis, the death, however not always express violently, needs to be expressed cathartically (sport, running, art..) otherwise will build up and be released in an uncontrollable way.
ANXIETY : Describe and how prevalent it is in population
GAD = 5% approx of population most likely in women and in 35-59 yo
Anxiety becomes problematic when its uncontrollable affects life
-> AUTOMATIC ANXIETY is the reaction to traumatic situation, a confrontation or excitation, therefore ego can’t manage and uses SIGNAL ANXIETY as DEFENCE mechanism, it tries to attach the anxiety to an external object to help control the release.
Worry helps avoid even more troubling emotions, high emotional avoidance in GAD(Cassidy et al 2009)
Process:
INSTINCT => PROHIBITION => REPRESS INSTINCT INTO UNCONSCIOUS => creates PSYCHICAL FIXATION that will persist as a result of unresolved conflict btw prohibition and instinct => can create high anxieties and phobias (freud totem and taboo example)
What is the dark triad , how to test and issue with
A personality theory based on foundations of the BIG 5 , relates to 3 socially aversive traits, all comprising the ANTAGONISM TRAIT
- NARCISSISIM: grandiose and vulnerable forms
- MACHIAVELLISM: manipulative for personal gain
- PSYCHOPATHY: fearlessness, impulsivity, lack of conscience
Correlates the most with low agreeableness in the big 5
Test with the short dark triad SD3 with 27 items measure using a 5 point likert scale HOWEVER, just descriptive, also very basic and not as accurate as for example the Hare Psychopathy checklist revised for psychopathy.
