The Psychoanalytic Approach: Freud Flashcards
Why do we care about Freud?
Founder/creator of psychoanalysis
– One of the most influential schools of thought in
the 20th Century
– Considered one of 4 major revolutions in
humans’ understanding of the world: Copernican, Darwinian, Freudian, DNA
Influenced thinking and research in:
– Therapy (“talk therapy”)
– Philosophy
– Science
– Humanities: modern art, literature, films
The origins of Freudian Theory?
Viennese neurologist
– Trained as a medical doctor, but more interested in research and understanding the mind
– Worked with famous neurologist Dr. Breuer
* Developed the “Talking Cure”
They both picked up on the work of Charcot, another neurologist
The Case of Anna O.?
- Patient of Dr. Breuer, a neurologist colleague
of Freud - Numerous symptoms, contracted shortly after
she nursed her father (who had TB)
– Symptoms included coughing, hallucination, refusal to
drink water, partial paralysis - No physical cause
- Breuer would talk with Anna each night, and
found her symptoms would improve the
following day - Anna called their talks “chimney sweeping”
Curing Hysteria?
The “talking cure”
* Step 1: Hypnotize patient, or allow for free association
* Step 2: Talk with patient to reveal psychological anxiety/neurosis
* Step 3: Patient has “catharsis”—insight into
psychological problem
* Step 4: Physical symptom disappears
Current Research on Hysteria?
- Neurologists analyzed brain function of a
woman paralyzed on left side
– no identifiable physical source - When the woman tried to move her
“paralyzed leg,” her motor cortex did not
activate - Instead, right orbitofrontal and anterior
cingulate cortex activated
– EMOTION brain areas - Emotional areas of the brain may be
suppressing movement in the leg
Neuroscientific Explanation for
Conversion Disorder
Cause of Hysteria
– Emotional centers of the brain activated
– Inhibit motor centers of the brain from
coordinating movement
So, there is a biological basis to hysteria!
Psychoanalytic Theory:
4 Basic Assumptions?
- Psychological Determinism
– Life/sex instinct
– Death/aggression instinct - Importance of the Unconscious
– Dynamic processes
– Intrapsychic Conflict (Id, Ego, Superego) - Defense Mechanisms
- Importance of early childhoodexperiences
Part 1. Psychological Determinism: Basic Instincts?
- Life – self preservation, sex
- Death – aggression, destruction
Are Love and Death
the primary motives
of human behavior?
Do humans seek death?
World War I led to Freud’s view that death and
destruction are instinctual aspects of human
nature
There are no accidents; all
behaviors are caused by internal drives. Explain this process?
Biological drivers (Sex & Death)
->
Internal forces (Wishes & Fears)
-> Behaviours, Thoughts, Emotions
Part 2. Importance of Unconscious: Levels of Consciousness? (3)
– Pre-Conscious – easily retrieved, but not
currently on one’s mind
* E.g., what you had for breakfast
– Consciousness
* What you’re thinking about RIGHT NOW
– Unconscious
* “The seething cauldron”
* Repressed contents of the mind
* Libido (sexual), aggressive instincts
Carl Jung’s Unconscious?
- Student of Freud, but disagreed about
the depravity of the unconscious - Personal Unconscious
– The Freudian Unconscious - Collective Unconscious
– Contents of unconscious shared by all
humanity, passed down from ancestors
– Primordial images: archetypes - E.g., mother = good; dark = evil
Freud and the Structure of Personality: Id?
- Infancy
– All drives and urges
– Pleasure Principle - Immediate gratification
– Primary Process thinking (illogical) - Not bound by reality
- The language of dreams
Freud and the Structure of Personality: Ego?
– Develops at age 2
– Constrains the Id to reality
– Reality Principle
* Direct expression of id impulses can lead to
problems
* Avoid, redirect, postpone id impulses
– Secondary Process thinking (logical)
* Strategies for solving problems in an acceptable
way
Freud and the Structure of Personality: Superego?
– Develops at age 5
– Internalized values, morality of parents and
society
– Promotes guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride
(self-conscious emotions)
– Like the Id, NOT bound by reality
* Sets higher standards
Freud and the Structure of Personality: Conflict?
*Our lives are a constant negotiation of opposing
impulses (desire/fear; love/hate)
* Id, Ego, and Superego are constantly battling
to control our behavior
*Such conflicts produce anxiety
