Week 3 - Psychodynamic theories of individual difference

Question 1

Who was Freud influence by?

Answer 1

• Charles Darwin
• Philosophers Arther Schopenhauer & Friedrich Nietzche (unconscious, irrational, and primitive forces play a central role in human motivation)

Question 2

Describe determinism from a psychoanalytic perspective

Answer 2

• Freud maintained that nothing happens by chance or accident
• There is a reason behind every behaviour related to unconscious thoughts
• Past events shape future behaviour, therefore life is predetermined

Question 3

What did Freud propose was evidence of the unconscious?

Answer 3

• Slips of the tongue, forgetting things, jokes
• Dreams and their symbolism
• Post-hypnotic suggestions
• Free association material
• Projective test material

Question 4

What are symbols from a psychoanalytic perspective?

Answer 4

Symbols are unconscious conflicts finding acceptable expression

Question 5

What are some examples of symbols from a psychoanalytic perspective?

Answer 5

• House: human body
• Smooth fronted house: male body
• House with ledges and balconies: female body
• Bullets, guns, fires, hoses, knives, snakes, sticks, umbrellas, tree trunk, necktie, pencil: male genitals
• Balloon, airplane: erection
• Bottles, boxes, caves, closets, ovens, ships, tunnels: female sex organs

Question 6

According to Freud, what is psychic energy?

Answer 6

psychic energy motivates all human activity. The amount of psychic energy a person has remains constant throughout the lifetime. The source of psychic energy is instincts.

Question 7

According to Freud, what are instincts?

Answer 7

A driving force or impulse; a form of energy which connects the body’s needs with the mind’s wishes

Question 8

What two categories are instincts grouped into?

Answer 8

Life (eros) & death (thanatos)

Question 9

Describe life (eros) instincts

Answer 9

• Seeking to satisfy basic instincts
• Psychic energy of life instincts is the libido
• Sex is our most primary motivation
• Sexual longings are satisfied through constructive activities like art & music.

Question 10

Describe death (thanatos) instincts

Answer 10

• An aggressive drive that includes the unconscious wish to die
• This drive compels us to destroy, conquer and kill
• Only gained limited acceptance even with Freud’s most dedicated followers
• Suicide is anger turned inwards

Question 11

By what age did Freud think personality was established by?

Answer 11

5 years old

Question 12

Describe the function of the Id

Answer 12

• most primitive part of the human mind
• located deep within the unconscious and is the source of all instinctual energy
• passed onto us at birth
• operated according to the pleasure principle
• Operates with primary process thinking

Question 13

What is primary process thinking?

Answer 13

Operates with the Id - unconcerned about societal pressures and social norms and more concerned with tension reduction and has no sense of reality.

Question 14

What is wish fulfillment?

Answer 14

If the object the Id wants is unavailable, it can use a process called wish fulfillment, where something unavailable is conjured up and the image of it is temporarily satisfying.

Question 15

Describe the function of the Ego

Answer 15

• develops within the first 2-3 years of life
• Controls the Id through compromise
• operates in accordance to the reality principle
• engages in secondary process thinking

Question 16

What is secondary process thinking?

Answer 16

The development of strategies for solving problems and obtaining satisfaction

Question 17

Describe the function of the Superego

Answer 17

• Powerful and mostly unconscious set of beliefs we acquire through childhood
• Aims for perfection
• Usually learned by the age of 5 or 6
• Operates at all levels of consciousness but mostly the preconscious level

Question 18

What 3 types of anxiety did Freud identify?

Answer 18

• Objective
• neurotic
• moral anxiety

Question 19

According to Freud, what is objective anxiety?

Answer 19

Fear - occurs in response to a real, external threat to a person.

Question 20

According to Freud, what is neurotic anxiety?

Answer 20

When there is a direct conflict between the Id and the Ego, and the Ego may lose control.

Question 21

According to Freud, what is moral anxiety?

Answer 21

Conflict between the Ego and Superego. When the Superego is overpowering and a person feels they have to live up to unrealistic expectations.

Question 22

What are defense mechanisms?

Answer 22

Conflicts between the id, ego, and superego that are disguised

Question 23

What functions do defense mechanisms serve?

Answer 23

to protect the ego, and to minimise anxiety and distress.

Question 24

When do defense mechanisms become a problem?

Answer 24

when they get in the way of someone’s productivity or ability to maintain relationships.

Question 25

Explain the defense mechanism of repression

Answer 25

Freud thought that repression involved blocking anxiety-provoking feelings/thoughts from conscious awareness and pushing them into the unconscious

Question 26

Explain the defense mechanism of projection

Answer 26

People attribute their undesirable traits to others. “The devil made me do it”

Question 27

Explain the defense mechanism of denial

Answer 27

Refusal to accept reality or recognise true source of anxiety.

Question 28

What is the fundamental attribution error?

Answer 28

People tend to blame events outside their control as the reasons for failure instead of accepting responsibility

Question 29

Explain the defense mechanism of displacement

Answer 29

A threatening or unacceptable impulse is channeled or redirected from its original source to a nonthreatening target

Question 30

Explain the defense mechanism of regression

Answer 30

When in a stressful situation, engaging in behaviour associated with an earlier stage of development

Question 31

Explain the defense mechanism of rationalisation

Answer 31

Occurs especially among educated people like students. Reinterpretation of undesirable feelings or behaviour to make them appear acceptable