Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud Bottom line: We do not know ourselves…our actions are shaped by unconscious motivators.

Types of Personalities Type A Feel time pressure. Easily angered. Competitive and ambitious. Work hard and play hard. More prone to heart disease than rest of population. Type B Relaxed and easygoing. But some people fit in neither type.

Freudian slip?

Our Personality Conscious- What we are aware of. Preconscious- things we can be aware of if we think of them. Unconscious- deep hidden reservoir that holds the true “us”. All of our desires and fears. Remember: nothing is an accident Dreams, jokes, etc., all show us the “manifest content”(the wishes of the patient).

Freud’s Concept of Personality (Psyche) Id Ego Superego

Id Exists entirely in the unconscious (so we are never aware of it). Our true basic needs— immediate gratification Works on the Pleasure Principle Great example is the Marshmallow test.

Ego Develops after the Id about 2-4 years of age. Works on the Reality Principle Deals with long terms survival Negotiates between the Id and the environment- in a realistic way

Superego Develops at about the age of 4-5 It is our conscience (consider moral consequences, social norms, the ideal response) The Ego often mediates between the superego and id.

Freud claimed we develop through psychosexual stages First is the idea of the Libido Stages of Psycho-Sexual Development 1.Oral (0-2): understanding world through mouth—baby develops trust 2.Anal (2-3): pleasure shifts to anus, learns control, Child learns to “give things up” 3.Phallic (3-6): pleasure shifts to genitals, boys go through Oedipus Complex 4.Latent: (6 to puberty) sexual feelings are controlled (ego/superego), and the Libido is channeled… 5.Genital (puberty on): develop strong interest in opposite sex. Sigmund Freud

Oedipus Complex Boy develops strong desire for mom Boy notices close relationship between mom and dad (sleep together) Boy begin to get feelings of hatred or being jealous Boys become fearful that dad will notice his (boy’s) true feelings Fears ultimate punishment… castration. Resolution to become like his father (mom will like him and Dad will like him and not punish him). So kids identify with parents of same sex through identification, and this is how the superego develops essentially through same sex parents’ replication.

Defense Mechanisms The ego has a pretty important job…and that is to protect you from threatening thoughts in our unconscious (the battle between the Id and Superego) The result is we often have a lot of anxiety and we unconsciously develop means of dealing with this. One way it protects us is through defense mechanisms. You are usually unaware that they are even occurring.

Repression Repression: Pushing unwanted ideas down to the unconscious, thus cannot be reminded of unsettling, horrible events. Why don’t we remember our Oedipus and Electra complexes?

Denial Not accepting the ego-threatening truth.

Displacement Displacement: diverting energy (often sexual or aggressive) into other avenues that are more psychologically acceptable to the patient. May redirecting one’s feelings toward another person or object. Often displaced on less threatening things.

Projection Projecting threatening feelings that come from you onto others. Comments such as “ I think she dislikes the teacher, may mean that you may dislike the teacher. Or believing that the feelings one has toward someone else are actually held by the other person and directed at oneself.

Reaction Formation Expressing the opposite of how one truly feel The ego unconsciously takes unacceptable ideas and makes them into their opposites. “ I love you” suppresses the real idea of hate.

Regression Going back to an earlier stage to get comfort in the face of stress, sucking a thumb, sleeping with a favorite blanket, etc

Rationalization Coming up with a beneficial result of an undesirable outcome. I really did want to go to ……..anyway, it was too ……

Sublimation Channeling one’s frustration toward a different goal. Sometimes a healthy defense mechanism. Insert any American sports/teen movie clip

Criticisms of Freud He really only studied wealthy woman in Austria. His results are not empirically verifiable (really hard to test). No predictive power. Developments not just fixed in childhood—it is continual, also can young people develop such complex ideas?? Repression??? Loftus: hard stuff generally is seared into memory not the opposite. Dreams. Freudian slips…what area they?? Karen Horney said he was sexist with the “penis envy” and there is an actual “womb envy”.

Getting into the Unconscious Hypnosis Dream Interpretation Free Association (having them just randomly talk to themselves…and then interpreting the conversation). Projective Tests (and test that delves into the unconscious). Examples are TAT and Inkblot Tests.

TAT Test Thematic Apperception Test Giving the subject a picture that is ambiguous (can have several meanings) and ask them what is occurring. Their answers reveal the manifest content.

Rorschach Inkblot Test The most widely used projective test A set of ten inkblots designed to identify people’s feelings when they are asked to interpret what they see in the inkblots.