Psychoanalytic Perspective

Question 1

Freud: Topographical Model

Answer 1

Conscious: contains thoughts you are currently aware of
Preconscious: large body of retrievable information that can be brought to your conscious
Unconscious: vast majority of thoughts reside here. You have no immediate access to it. You cannot bring unconscious thoughts into consciousness except under extreme conditions.

Question 2

Freud: the Structural Model

Answer 2

Id: the only personality structure present at Ruth. Operates based on the pleasure principle. Also uses wish fulfilment to satisfy its needs (ie dreams). Buried entirely in the unconscious.

Ego: reality principle, primary job is to satisfy id impulses through compromise. Keeps id impulses in the unconscious. Mediates the demands of the id and the superego.

Superego: represents society’s values and standards. Forms around 5 years of age. Moral anxiety (ever-present feeling of shame and guilt for failing to reach standards no human can meet).

Question 3

Freud: Psychic Energy

Answer 3

Freud suggested that everyone is born with a certain amount of psychic energy
This powers our psychological functions
We have a finite amount. However, it can be redistributed as needed
If we expend a lot of energy repressing the desires of the id, for example, the ego has little energy left for other function (leads to poor mental wellbeing).

Question 4

Defence mechanisms

Answer 4

The ego has many techniques at its disposal to deal with unwanted thoughts and desires - defence mechanisms.
The ego tries to reduce anxiety. Neurotic anxiety occurs when unconscious thoughts are close to becoming conscious.
The ego uses defence mechanisms to help with this anxiety.
Anna Freud elaborated on defence mechanisms.
We all use defence mechanisms, but relying on them (particularly certain ones) can be problematic

Question 5

Repression

Answer 5

The most important

The ego’s efforts to push material out of conscious awareness

Question 6

Sublimation

Answer 6

The most productive of the defence mechanisms

Channelling impulses into socially acceptable actions

Question 7

Displacement

Answer 7

Also channels impulses, but no social rewards
Instead of being angry at an abuser, angry at children or coworkers.
Phobias were seen as symbolic displacements eg boy afraid of horses was actually afraid of his father

Question 8

Denial

Answer 8

Denial of reality, will not accept that certain facts exist

One of main defence mechanisms in children

Question 9

Reaction formation

Answer 9

Acting in a manner opposite to our unconscious desires.

Eg daughter always says she loves her mum actually masking strong unconscious hatred for the mother

Question 10

Intellectualisation

Answer 10

Dealing with the threatening impulse in an unemotional manner.

Question 11

Projection

Answer 11

When we attribute an unconscious impulses to other people instead of to ourselves
One of main defence mechanisms in children

Question 12

Phobic avoidance

Answer 12

Extreme form of avoiding places and situations which arouse anxiety

Question 13

Rationalisation

Answer 13

Providing a logical reason which reduces anxiety

Question 14

Regression

Answer 14

Returning to an earlier stage of life

Question 15

Conversion reaction

Answer 15

Anxiety is converted into psychosomatic symptoms

Question 16

Personality development: Freud

Answer 16

Freud believed that personality formed during the first 5-6 years of life divided into psychosexual stages
Major developmental task associated with each stage and this is a potential source of conflict
Some individuals may become fixated at a particular stage

Question 17

Oral stage

Answer 17

0-18 months
Mouth, lips, and tongue are the primary erogenous zones, source of pleasure.
Traumatic weaning or feeding problems can result in fixation and the development of oral personality (dependency, need for oral satisfaction)

Question 18

Anal stage

Answer 18

18 months - 3 yrs
Anal region becomes the primary erogenous zone
Toilet training
Traumatic toilet training can result in an adult anal personality (orderly, stubborn, or generous)
Anal-retentive: perfectionism
Anal-expulsive: overly generous, messy

Question 19

Phallic stage

Answer 19

Age 3-6
Genitals - according to Freud, children develop sexual attraction for their opposite sex parent (Oedipus complex) which is never fully resolved, but rather repressed
Boys develop castration anxiety and girls develop penis envy
Reaction formation leads to identification with the same-sex parent. Important for the development of the superego

Question 20

Latency stage

Answer 20

6 years - puberty
No specific erogenous zone, libido energy is sublimated
Focused on social interactions

Question 21

Genital stage

Answer 21

Puberty ->

Genitals - mature sexual intimacy (unless large amounts of libido are fixated at earlier stages)

Question 22

Uncovering the unconscious

Answer 22

Unconscious impulses leak out in everyday life
Eg,
Parapraxes: forgetting, slips of the tongue (Freudian slips), accidents
Humour/Wit: a ‘leak’ occurring in a controlled manner

Question 23

Psychoanalysis

Answer 23

It is the goal of psychoanalysis therapy to bring the unconscious material to consciousness so that it can be examined and resolved
Psychoanalytic therapists use various techniques to reveal unconscious drives and conflicts
Resistance: resist help, skip appointments
Transference: transfer anxieties onto therapist

Question 24

Free association

Answer 24

Psychoanalytic technique

Speaking freely without any distractions to reveal previously hidden material (difficult)

Question 25

Dream interpretation: Freud

Answer 25

Dreams provide id impulses with a stage for expression
Contain manifest content (what the dreamer remembers) and latent content (shah the dream is really about)
Unacceptable images and thoughts can be expressed in our dreams
Freud developed common dream symbols which are said to be representative of something else
Evidence has suggested that dream content may not be random as dreams are influenced by our thoughts and fears prior to sleep
Evidence for the meaning of dream symbols is less clear
Dreaming has some psychological benefits (better able to cope with anxiety)

Question 26

Hypnosis: Freud

Answer 26

In Freud’s model, Hypnosis is when the ego is suspended leaving a direct link to the unconscious, but there are other views
Neodissociation theory: whilst part of the mind enters the ‘trance’ like state, there is always a hidden observer
Others emphasise motivation, expectancy, and concentration effects
Not all individuals are equally responsive to hypnosis. If you score high on absorption you would likely be responsive to hypnosis

Question 27

Personality assessment

Answer 27

Assessment is via projective tests
Ambiguous stimuli which the person can project unconscious drives, motives, conflicts etc onto
Eg the Rorschach Inkblot Test, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), the Draw a Person Test and the Sentence Completion Test

Question 28

Are projective tests useful?

Answer 28

Rorschach Inkblot Test has been researched the most
Questionable psychometric properties (is it an interview?)
More rigorous coding methods available now

Question 29

Content of dreams

Answer 29

Men tend to dream about male characters twice as often as they dream about female characters
Some researchers think this is evidence of men’s preoccupation with other men, a holdover from unresolved Oedipal impulses

Question 30

Discovery of REM sleep

Answer 30

Allowed investigators to better examine the function of dreams
Dreaming may help the sleeper work through ongoing problems

Question 31

Freud - Humor

Answer 31

Argued that sexual and aggressive themes underlie much of what we find funny
People think hostile humor is funnier when it is aimed at someone they don’t like
Hostile humor reduces the likelihood of aggression, as Freud predicted
Some studies find the opposite however: the more tension people experience before recovering a lunch line, the funnier they find the joke