Topographical Theory Flashcards
What is the topographical theory?
Freud believed the personality operates at 3 different levels of the unconscious: Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious
What is found in the conscious?
All of the thoughts, memories, feelings, and wishes which we are aware of at any given moment
What does the preconscious consist of?
Memories and stored knowledge that could potentially be brought into the conscious mind
What is found in the unconscious? (3)
Feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that outside our conscious awareness
Such as violent motives, fears, sexual desires, irrational wishes, immoral urges, selfish needs, shameful experiences
The id
What is repression?
It is a defense mechanism - in order to cope with the unacceptable thoughts/feelings/urges our mind pushes them into the unconscious so they no longer cause anxiety and pain
How may repressed material emerge? (2)
Our ego’s ability to repress material is weakened
When we no longer feel threatened by the repressed material
Describe the unconscious mind (3)
We do not have access to it and it is difficult to - still it can be accessed
Contains repressed memories/thoughts/feelings/urges
Some memories are completely erased from the mind but the trauma is still stored in the body
How are unconscious memories passed down through generations?
through epigenetics
How is repressed material accessed? (6)
Introspection
Free association
Dreams
Resistance
Parapraxes
Projection
What is resistance?
A defense mechanism - the way we react when unconscious defenses are threatened by an outside source
e.g., booking a therapy session and always arriving late
What examples of parapraxes? (5)
Freudian slips
Forgetfulness
Misplacement of objects
Joking and dark humor
False perceptions
What is introspection?
The examination of one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings and an in-depth exploration of past experiences from a non-defensive stance
What is free association?
Uncensored talk
e.g., saying the first few things that come to your head without giving any thought
What is the primary purpose of dreams (2)
Leftover thoughts from the day and memories from the past that emerge are incorporated into the dream to keep you from waking up
If the dream is too threatening (too close to what’s really buried inside us), we wake up to protect ourselves
How is the content of the dream divided?
The MANIFEST content - what you see is what you get
e.g., going in for an exam late - you are afraid this will happen in real life
The LATENT content - things about our life, worries, impulses, etc. that are masked into something else
e.g., you’re driving in a flooded street - the water controls the car, not you
What is the second purpose of dreams? (2)
Wish fulfilment - e.g., I want to be successful so I dream about success
Satisfaction of the id - sexual dreams and aggressive dreams
What are 10 types of dreams?
(AEDFHLNOPR)
Anxiety dreams
Epic dreams
Daydreams
False awakening dreams
Healing dreams
Lucid dreams
Nightmares
Ordinary dreams
Prophetic dreams
Recurring dreams
What are the 5 psychological mechanisms operating in dreams?
Condensation
Displacement
Dramatization
Symbolization
Secondary Elaboration
What is condensation in dreams? (3)
The combining of all the ideas, thoughts, or feelings into one object - hence one object can represent a lot of things
Portions of the latent dream are omitted and only unimportant fragments appear in the dream
e.g., dreaming about a snake - could be a symbol of various things including trouble death, afterlife, change, etc.
What is displacement in dreams?
An unconscious mechanism by which the emotional tone of a dream is shifted onto the manifest content, NOT the latent one - hence disguises the true meaning of the dream
e.g., we turn the object of anger into something else - a monkey as a symbol of an annoying father
What is dramatization in dreams?
Abstract thoughts and wishes are put into a story
e.g., dreaming you’re in a film and not wanting to wake up because it is enjoyable
What is symbolization in dreams?
Latent content is converted into symbols
e.g., male genitals - sticks, trees, bananas etc.
e.g., female genitals - hollows, corridors, empty spaces etc.
What is secondary elaboration in dreams?
Within the dream, you try to create a coherent and meaningful story
Reflects the more elaborate secondary thinking process of the ego
What is projective testing?
A way of revealing the unconscious without being aware you are doing it - used by psychologists
What are the 3 types of projective techniques?
Completion - sentence completion test
Association - Rorschach test
Construction: Thematic Apperception test (TAT)
