The Psychoanalytic Explanation of Dreams

Question 1

The psychoanalytic approach states that…

Answer 1

childhood interactions with our parents shape our personality

Question 2

The id

Answer 2

• unconscious mind
• motivated by instinctual desires
• does not understand rules or consequences

Question 3

The ego

Answer 3

• conscious mind which we are aware of
• controls rational thoughts

Question 4

The superego

Answer 4

• part conscious and part unconscious
• provides a sense of right and wrong

Question 5

during sleep, the id becomes…

Answer 5

dominant

Question 6

since the id is dominant in sleep, dreams reveal…

Answer 6

our unconscious wishes and fantasies

Question 7

wish fulfilment

Answer 7

we dream about what we desire to have

Question 8

dreams are translated into … by the …

Answer 8

symbols by the ego

Question 9

manifest content

Answer 9

what a dream appears to be about, which disguises the true meaning

Question 10

latent content

Answer 10

the true meaning of the dream

Question 11

methods of dream distortion (2)

Answer 11

• condensation
• secondary elaboration

Question 12

condensation

Answer 12

when several ideas in a dream are mixed together

Question 13

secondary elaboration (distortion)

Answer 13

the dreamer’s own interpretation of the dream; things may be added in or removed

Question 14

defence mechanisms in dreams (3)

Answer 14

• repression
• displacement
• secondary elaboration

Question 15

repression

Answer 15

• places unwanted thoughts from the unconscious ego to the id
• these unwanted thoughts return during dreams when the ego is dominant

Question 16

displacement

Answer 16

unimportant things are made to seem important to distract from what is really important

Question 17

secondary elaboration (defence)

Answer 17

• the dreamer can hide the embarrassing things that happen in a dream
• the jumbled up symbols in a dream can be changed to become a coherent story
• bits can be added in

Question 18

strength of the psychoanalytic explanation

Answer 18

Freud’s ideas were influential and have become part of everyday culture

Question 19

Freud relied on case studies, meaning that…

Answer 19

it is difficult to generalise his findings

Question 20

Jung disagreed with Freud by saying…

Answer 20

that dream’s symbols are unique to the individual and cannot have a general meaning

Question 21

Freud’s idea of wish fulfilment does not explain…

Answer 21

unpleasant dreams and nightmares

Question 22

There is a lack of … that dreams have …

Answer 22

scientific evidence that dreams have any meaning at all