What is happening? What led to this? What will happen in the future?

What is happening? What led to this? What will happen in the future?

What is happening? What led to this? What will happen in the future?

Projective Tests Present an ambiguous stimulus (drawing, picture, inkblot, words) and the person is asked to describe the image or make up a story Another way to access the “unconscious” Other ways are dreams, Freudian slips, & free association EX: Rorschach Inkblot test – series of 10 inkblots EX: Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) – series of drawings

Evaluation of Projective Tests Possible Advantages: Harder for the subjects to fake since they aren’t sure what is a “correct” answer Might reveal aspects of their personality of which they are not aware Possible Problems: Difficult to score and interpret Low validity – measuring what they are supposed to Low reliability – don’t show the same results over time Tend to “over- patholigize” – see abnormalities and illness when it does not exist

Neo-Freudians – people who followed then changed Freud’s theories Agree with Freud on: The importance of the unconscious The divisions of the mind The use of defense mechanisms Disagreed on: The psychosexual stages The absolute importance of sexual and aggressive drives

Famous Neo-Freudians Erik Erikson – stressed social interactions Devised 8 “Psychosocial Stages” Saw personality development continuing into old age

Carl Jung Analytical Psychology Divides unconscious into personal unconscious (similar to Freud’s) and collective unconscious – storehouse of latent memory traces from ancestral past Contains archetypes – emotionally charged images and thought forms with universal meaning First to use introvert vs. extrovert personality types

Karen Horney (pronounced “ Horn – eye”) Objected to Freud’s view of women Stressed child-parent social interactions Claimed men had “womb- envy”

Alfred Adler Focused on sibling influences (including birth order) and child- rearing practices Also stressed social urges Developed concept of “inferiority complex”

Analysis of Psychoanalytical (Freudian) Personality Theory Cons Too much emphasis on sex Difficult to test Not useful for predictions based upon fixations Too much emphasis on early childhood – development continues beyond that time period Pros Good evidence that unconscious forces influence our behavior, but not necessarily from repressed desires Large impact on culture