Evaluating Freud Lesson 05: Tapping into the unconscious…

Starter: How many mistakes can you spot? The preconscious is the large part of the mind that is hidden completely (like the majority of an iceberg is under the water) – some of what is in the preconscious is depressed (pushed back) because it is too traumatic to deal with. The subconscious mind is what we are aware of, can remember, discuss and deal with. Freud said dreams have a manifest (the underlying meaning of the dream) and latent (the story the dreamer tells) content and used the term dreamwork to describe what the mind is doing whilst dreaming to keep unconscious thoughts hidden and repressed. This protects the individual from undesirable thoughts. Dreamwork includes contradiction, disengagement and secondary education.

Did you spot all 9? The preconscious unconscious is the large part of the mind that is hidden completely (like the majority of an iceberg is under the water) – some of what is in the preconscious unconscious is depressed repressed (pushed back) because it is too traumatic to deal with. The subconscious conscious mind is what we are aware of, can remember, discuss and deal with. Freud said dreams have a manifest (the underlying meaning of the dream) (the story the dreamer tells) and latent (the story the dreamer tells) (the underlying meaning of the dream) content and used the term dreamwork to describe what the mind is doing whilst dreaming to keep unconscious thoughts hidden and repressed. This protects the individual from undesirable thoughts. Dreamwork includes contradiction condensation, disengagement displacement and secondary education elaboration.

Learning objectives  To evaluate Freud’s dream theory, examining the strengths & weaknesses of his work.  To label and define the parts of a neuron to understand how the brain sends signals.

Draw the following table StrengthsWeaknesses Task 1: Around the room you will find various strengths and weaknesses in relation to Freud’s dream theory. Read all of the posters and complete your table with at least two strengths and weaknesses.

Evaluating Freud… StrengthsWeaknesses Unique methods Freud used unique methods, including free association, slips of the tongue and dream analysis, to uncover unconscious wishes and desires which are difficult to access. Freud believed that the unconscious is a strong force, which guides our thoughts and behaviours. He therefore came up with creative techniques to uncover the content of our unconscious. In-depth, real-life data Freud collected qualitative data containing lots of detail and depth. The data was about real lives and is therefore said to be valid. Although the data is often from the unconscious, it was detailed and came directly from the patient, which is a strength. Biased sample Freud mostly treated middle-class Viennese women and did not find out about different people in different circumstances. Therefore his findings might not apply to everyone, which means that his results are not generalisable. Hard to measure The unconscious is ‘unmeasurable’ so it is hard to test scientifically. Freud’s ideas are hard to test and therefore his ideas are not scientific. Interpretation Freud’s interpretation of dreams are highly subjective. This means that another analyst might have a different interpretation of the same dream. Science realise on objectivity, so that the same results are found every time. Freud’s ideas are subjective and therefore not scientific.

Evaluating Freud… StrengthsWeaknesses Unique methods Freud used unique methods, including free association, slips of the tongue and dream analysis, to uncover unconscious wishes and desires which are difficult to access. Freud believed that the unconscious is a strong force, which guides our thoughts and behaviours. He therefore came up with creative techniques to uncover the content of our unconscious. In-depth, real-life data Freud collected qualitative data containing lots of detail and depth. The data was about real lives and is therefore said to be valid. Although the data is often from the unconscious, it was detailed and came directly from the patient, which is a strength. Biased sample Freud mostly treated middle-class Viennese women and did not find out about different people in different circumstances. Therefore his findings might not apply to everyone, which means that his results are not generalisable. Hard to measure The unconscious is ‘unmeasurable’ so it is hard to test scientifically. Freud’s ideas are hard to test and therefore his ideas are not scientific. Interpretation Freud’s interpretation of dreams are highly subjective. This means that another analyst might have a different interpretation of the same dream. Science realise on objectivity, so that the same results are found every time. Freud’s ideas are subjective and therefore not scientific.

Evaluating Freud – exam questions… Now you have examined various strengths and weaknesses, answer the following exam style question: Discuss the view that Freud’s theory of dreaming is unscientific.  Hint: You could use the terms objectivity, subjectivity, generalisability and reliability…