Week 4: Freud and post-Freudian theorists Flashcards
Which two people and their theories were big influences for Freud?
- Charles Darwin and his view on humans not being fundamentally different from animals
- Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzche who focused on the unconscious and irrational and primitive forces
List the main emphases of Psychoanalytic theory
- intra-psychic events
- unconscious drives
- early childhood
List Freud’s major theories
- instincts
- topographic model
- structural model
- stages of psychosexual development
- defence mechanisms
Describe Freud’s instincts
- Eros: the life instinct - sexual reproduction, creativity, generativity
- Thanatos: the death instinct - destruction, war
Describe Freud’s topographic model
- Things we are conscious of at the surface, the middle is preconscious, and the bottom is unconscious - think top to bottom of ice berg
Describe Freud’s structural model
- Superego: internalised rules, dogmatic
- Ego: the balancing force between the superego and the id
- Id: destructive, primitive force, animalistic part of the self
Describe Freud’s stages of psychosexual development
Freud posited that as infants grow, they go through different sexual fixations at different stages, with key conflicts at each stage
Describe Freud’s defence mechanisms
Defence mechanisms are processes that help defend against assaults to your personality
What are some popular criticisms of Freud’s theories?
- overemphasis on sexual urges
- heterosexist and offensive to women
- focus on early childhood
- virtually impossible to test
- cultural generalisability?
- restricted sample: unhappy middle class females
- no real time data - wrote from memory
List Freud’s 6 main contributions to psychology
- unconscious mental life affects conscious experience
- dynamic components of the mind in conflict
- past experiences (early childhood) affect our current perception
- transference can occur
- defence mechanisms
- observable psychological and psychosomatic symptoms
Define transference
The tendency to transfer problems from one close relationship to areas that mirror it
What were Erik Erikson’s main views on personality?
- it continues to develop throughout the lifespan
- it is buit up over time
- emphasised the impact of culture, society and history
Erik Erikson’s childhood
- born in Germany
- father abandoned family before birth
- rejected by school peers, dropped out to travel and paint, trained in psychoanalysis
List the 8 stages of Erikson’s stage model
- oral sensory
- muscular-anal
- locomotor
- latency
- adolescence
- young adulthood
- middle adulthood
- maturity
What was the main premise of Erikson’s stages?
We go through each stage and have conflicts that we have to deal with. Successful handing of conflicts leads us into the next stage in a positive way
What is the age and basic conflict of the oral sensory stage?
- 0-12/18 mo
- Trust vs. mistrust (hope)
What is the age and basic conflict of the muscular-anal stage?
- 18mo - 3 years old
- Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
What is the age and basic conflict of the locomotor stage?
- 3-6
- Initiative vs. guilt (purpose)
What is the age and basic conflict of the latency stage?
- 6-12
- Industry vs. inferiority (competence)
What is the age and basic conflict of the adolescence stage?
- 12-18
- Identity vs. role confusion (fidelity)
What is the age and basic conflict of the young adulthood stage?
- 19-40
- Intimacy vs. isolation (love)
What is the age and basic conflict of the middle adulthood stage?
- 41-65
- Generativity vs. stagnation (care)
What is the age and basic conflict of the maturity stage?
- 65-death
- Ego integrity vs. despair (wisdom)
What are the three neurotic trends by Horney?
- moving toward people
- moving against people
- moving away from people
What are neurotic needs?
Those generated from personal insecurities or expectations from others
List a couple of things about Alfred Adler’s childhood
- jealousy of brother
- inferiority to brother
- early childhood illness
What was Adler’s overall approach called?
Individual psychology
What were Adler’s focuses under ‘individual psychology’?
- people have a will to power
- people strive for superiority
- there is social interest in kinship with others
- personal continuity is a qualitative narrative
What is said about our earliest conscious memories?
They hold clues about the person’s present and future identity and style of life
Define style of life
Someone’s unique mode of adjustment to life, including self selected goals and means of achieving them
What did Bruhn and Schiffman suggest were congruent with our earliest memories and present identity?
- mastery and control
- punishment
- interpersonal difficulties
What is a fictional final goal?
- a idealised, hypothetical, vague goal that is created to give life meaning and purpose
- guides striving for superiority, wholeness and completion
Humans begin life with a ________ which is never outgrown
sense of inferiority
Failure to reach ones striving can result in…
inferiority complex
Organ inferiority
Defective parts/organs shape personality through efforts to compensate for defect/weakness
Spoiling
When spoilt children meet obstacles, they believe they have a personal deficiency, and an inferiority complex develops
Neglect
Children whose infancy and childhood is characterised by lack of love and security can develop feelings of worthlessness and distrust in others
What did Adler believe about birth order?
The first five years of life helped set the stage for later psychological development
First borns
- oriented towards the past, nostalgic, pessimistic about the future
- order and authority
- over represented in uni attendance, girls more obedient and responsible
Second borns
- more optimistic about the future
- less likely to be competitive and ambitious
Youngest children
- often high achievers
- could be too pandered and believe they need not do anything for themselves
Only children
- often mature early and manifest adult behaviours and attitudes
- have not learned to share or compete
- high levels of industriousness, initiative and self esteem
What kind of things would Adler look at to discover lifestyle fictions/personality assessment?
- birth order position
- earliest childhood memory
- childhood problems
- dreams and daydreams
- how people express themselves
How did Horney and Freud differ
- horney emphasised the relationship between child and parents
- she didn’t believe in developmental stages or
childhood conflicts - childhood is dominated by need for safety
- suggested womb envy
How did Horney suggest that anxiety aroused?
Through culture and the way in which a child is brought up
How did Horney suggest neurotic behaviour came about?
The child represses anger and resentment so they don’t lose love and security, but a cycle of intrapsychic conflict results
People with an inferiority complex feel…
Helpless and unable to cope with life
What kind of events can interfere with striving?
Physical obstacles and personal limitations
List some ways in which individuals can compensate for an inferiority complex
- becoming good at what they feel inferior about
- becoming good at something else
- not developing self esteem at all
Freud’s basic concept
- unconscious is self destructive
- unconscious thoughts can be the source of neurosis
Explain Adler’s concept of birth order
Order of birth is a major influence in childhood, from which we create our style of life
