psychology paper

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Chapter 10

Basics of Psychoanalysis

Objectives

Discuss the key ideas of psychoanalysis
Discuss Freud’s theory of psychological development
Discuss Freud’s idea of how the mind is structured
Discuss slips and humor
Discuss anxiety and defense mechanisms
Discuss implications for psychotherapy and modern life

Key ideas of psychoanalysis: psychic determinism, internal structure, psychic conflict, and mental energy

Freud Himself

Medical doctor
Left Austria when Hitler came to power
Believed war proved that people are aggressive and destructive
Became a psychiatrist

Left Austria when Hitler came to power: Freud was Jewish.

Became a psychiatrist: began as a research neurologist, noticed that patients who simply talked about their problems often improved

Freud Himself

Used free association
The talking cure
Self-analysis
Influenced by his patients

Free association: patient says whatever came to mind; to get people to talk about difficult topics

Talking cure: makes thoughts and fears explicit so the conscious, rational mind can deal with them; therapist can provide emotional support as patient tries to figure out what is going on

Influenced by his patients: well-to-do women who often reported sexual abuse by their fathers

The Key Ideas of Psychoanalysis: Psychic Determinism

Miracles, free will, and random accidents do not exist
Contradictions of thoughts and behavior can be resolved
Leads to idea of the unconscious
Supported by modern research

Psychic determinism definition: Everything that happens in a person’s mind, including everything a person thinks and does, has a specific cause that can be identified.

Things that look like contradictions of thoughts and behavior can be resolved, usually by looking at the unconscious part of the mind.

Leads to idea of the unconscious: areas and processes of the mind of which a person is not aware

Activity: Psychic Determinism

The Key Ideas of Psychoanalysis: Internal Structure

The mind is made of separate parts that function independently and can conflict with each other
Id: irrational and emotional
Ego: rational
Superego: moral
Modern research

Definition of mind: the psychological result of what the brain and the rest of the body do

Modern research: The mind is not neatly divided into three parts; different structures of the mind work independently and can process different thoughts and motivations at the same time.

The Key Ideas of Psychoanalysis: Psychic Conflict and Compromise

The mind can conflict with itself
Compromise formation
The ego’s main job
Result is conscious thought and behavior
Used in modern psychoanalytic thought

Psychic conflict definition: the phenomenon of one part of the mind being at cross-purposes with another part of the mind

Compromise formation definition: finding a compromise among the different structures of the mind and the different things the individual wants

Activity: Id Versus Ego Versus Superego Demonstration

The Key Ideas of Psychoanalysis: Mental Energy

Assumption
Libido
The amount of energy is fixed and finite
Some implications not supported by research: expression of anger
Modern thought: information-processing capacity is limited

Assumption: the psychological part of the mind needs energy

Libido: the mental or psychic energy used by the mind

Expression of anger: Freud thought that if anger was not expressed, it would build up over time; but research shows that expressing anger usually makes people more angry, not less.

Activity: Freud’s Impact on Popular Culture

Controversy

Moral: dislike of emphasis on sex and sexual energy
Scientific: theory is unscientific
Personal level: People do not want to be told why they really did something, especially when you are correct

Most controversial approach to psychology

Moral (Victorians)

Scientific (current): The theory is unscientific because it deals with things that cannot be seen or proven.

Psychoanalysis, Life, and Death

Two fundamental motives
Libido, or sexual drive
Creation, protection, and enjoyment of life
Creativity, productivity, and growth
Thanatos, or drive toward death
Introduced later to account for destructive activity such as war and the fact that everyone dies
Opposites and entropy

Two fundamental motives: always present and competing

Libido definition: the life drive or sexual drive

Thanatos: based on belief in duality of nature, or that everything contains its own opposite; similar to the concept of entropy (basic universal force moving toward randomness and disorder)

Psychoanalysis, Life, and Death

The doctrine of opposites
Life and death, happiness and sadness
“Extremes on any scale may be more similar to each other than either extreme is to the middle” (p. 364)
Example: emotionality

The doctrine of opposites: Everything implies, and even requires, its opposite.

Example: Some emotion is normal; no emotion makes people unable to love, and too much emotion makes people unable to work.

Activity: Strength in Weakness, Weakness in Strength

Psychosexual Development

Focus on where the psychic energy is and how it is used
Stage theory of development
Aspects of each stage
Physical focus
Psychological theme
Adult character type

Physical focus: where energy is concentrated and gratification is obtained

Psychological theme: related to the physical focus and the demands from the outside world

Adult character type: associated with being fixated, or not resolving the psychological issues, in a stage

Psychological Development:
Oral Stage

Timing: birth to 18 months
Physical focus: mouth, lips, and tongue
Psychological theme: dependency, passivity
Only the id exists
Two ways things can go wrong: needs are not fulfilled or needs are fulfilled instantly and automatically
Adult character type: overly independent versus passive

Dependency: Everything must be provided by someone or else needs are not fulfilled: and basic mistrust is developed.

Needs are fulfilled instantly and automatically, and anxiety is common for issues involving dependency, passivity, and activity.

Adult character type: too independent (refuse help from anyone) versus passive (spend more time thinking about what you want than how to get it)

Psychological Development:
Anal Stage

Timing: about 18 months to 3 years
Physical focus: anus and organs of elimination
Psychological theme: self-control and obedience

Self-control of emotions, behavior (following orders, inappropriate urges), and toilet training; Freud focused too much on literal defecation and not enough on other demands being made during this stage.

Psychological Development:
Anal Stage

Development of the ego
Two ways things can go wrong: unreasonable expectations and never demanding control of urges
Adult character type: overcontrolled versus undercontrolled

Development of the ego: to find compromises between what is wanted and what is possible

Two ways things can go wrong, which then don’t allow the child to figure out how to control the self and when to submit to control those in authority.

Overcontrolled: obsessive, compulsive, stingy, orderly, rigid, subservient to authority, unable to tolerate disorganization or ambiguity

Undercontrolled: unable to do anything on time, chaotic, disorganized, compulsive need to defy authority

Psychological Development:
Phallic Stage

Timing: about 3 ½ to 7 years
Physical focus: sexual organs
Basic task: coming to terms with physical sex differences and their implications
Oedipal crisis

Oedipus crisis: fall in love with opposite-sex parent, fear of same-sex parent (castration anxiety for boys), leading to identification with same-sex parent; not supported by research

Psychological Development:
Phallic Stage

Psychological themes
Gender identity and sexuality
Identification
Love, fear, and jealousy
Development of morality, conscience, and the superego
Adult character type: rigid moral code versus lack of moral code; asexual versus promiscuous

Gender identity and sexuality: figure out what it means to be a boy or girl; develop a self-image as masculine or feminine

Identification definition: taking on many of the same-sex parent’s attitudes, values, and ways of relating to the opposite sex

Development of morality, conscience, and the superego: by-product of identification; superego passes moral judgments on the id and ego

Psychological Development: Latency

Timing: about 7 years to puberty
A break from development
Concentrate on learning the tasks of childhood

Psychological Development:
Genital Stage

Timing: puberty on
This stage is not passed through, but attained
Physical focus: genitals, sexuality in the context of a mature relationship
Focus on creation and enhancement of life
Psychological theme: maturity
Achievement: well-adjusted and balanced
Mental health: the ability “to love and to work”

Attainment of this stage: having a mature attitude about sexuality and aspects of adulthood

Physical focus: genitals (as the source of new life)

Creation and enhancement of life: not limited to children, also intellectual, artistic, or scientific contributions

Psychological Development: Moving Through Stages

Analogy: army conquering hostile territory
Battles occur when there is opposition
Troops are left at battle sights: fixation
Retreat to previous stronghold: regression
Victory is reaching the genital stage with most of the army (energy) intact

Troops are the mental energy

Battles occur at developmental stages

Fixation is leaving lots of energy behind if a stage is not completely resolved

Activity: Adult Character Types for the Psychosexual Stages of Development

Thinking and Consciousness: Secondary Process Thinking

Conscious thought
Rational and practical
Able to delay or redirect gratification
How the conscious part of the ego thinks
Develops second; less important role

Thinking and Consciousness:
Primary Process Thinking

The way the unconscious mind operates
Does not contain the idea of “no”
Goal is immediate gratification
Displacement
Condensation
Symbolization
Seen in very young children, during delirium and dreams, and sometimes in psychotics

How the id thinks

Displacement definition: replace one idea or image with another

Condensation definition: Several ideas are compressed into one.

Symbolization definition: One thing stands for another; Freud originally thought symbols were universal, but later realized they differ across individuals.

Thinking and Consciousness:
Levels of Consciousness

Topographical model
Conscious mind
Least important
Some of the ego
Preconscious
Unconscious
All of the id and superego and some of the ego
Most important
Difficult to bring to the surface

Conscious mind: the part of mental functioning you can observe

Preconscious: ideas you are not currently aware of but that can be brought into awareness

Unconscious: those areas and processes of the mind of you are not aware

Difficult to bring to the surface: use hypnosis and free association; look for clues in slips of tongue, accidents, and lapses of memory

Figure 10.4: “Consciousness and the Iceberg,” Freud’s diagram showing the relationship between consciousness and id, ego, and superego (p. 374)

Parapraxes

Freudian slips
From belief in determinism
Forgetting
Usually the result of repression
Slips
Often in speech, but also in action
More likely when a person is tired, not paying attention, in a hurry, or excited

Parapraxes definition: leakages from the unconscious mind that manifest as mistakes, accidents, omissions, or memory lapses

Forgetting: Suppressing something in the unconscious mind affects real life.

Slips: unintended actions caused by leakage of suppressed thoughts or impulses

Activity: Freudian Slips of Politicians

Anxiety and Defense

Anxiety from the outside world
Anxiety from psychic conflict
Prevent anxiety with defense mechanisms

Anxiety from psychic conflict: when the mind battles itself; the things we want (from the id), that are possible (from the world), and that are morally right (from the superego) are not always the same.

Defense mechanisms: shield the self from reality; techniques the ego uses to keep certain thoughts and impulses hidden in order to avoid or lessen anxiety

Anxiety and Defense

Denial
Repression
Reaction formation
Projection
Rationalization
Intellectualization
Displacement
Sublimation

Denial: refuse to believe bad news or anything that might make you anxious

Repression: failure to acknowledge anything that might remind you of unwanted thoughts

Reaction formation: create the opposite idea to what may cause anxiety

Projection: think something about the self that would cause anxiety is instead true of others

Rationalization: create a rational, logical explanation that doesn’t acknowledge the real motivation

Intellectualization: translate anxiety-producing thoughts into unemotional theories or jargon

Displacement: moving object of emotions from a dangerous target to a safe target

Sublimation: providing a safe outlet for problematic desires

Activity: Reaction Formation at the Denver International Airport

Psychoanalysis as a Therapy and as a Route Toward Understanding

Resolve problems by bringing unconscious conflicts to the surface so the ego can deal with them
Takes time and can be painful
May increase anxiety in the beginning
Patients must be comforted and guided through this process
Therapeutic alliance, with power through transference

Takes time and can be painful: issues must be dealt with logically and emotionally

Patients must be comforted and guided through this process by a therapist with whom they have an emotional bond (therapeutic alliance)

Transference: the tendency to bring ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that developed in response to one important relationship into a relationship with a different person (the therapist)

Psychoanalysis as a Therapy and as a Route Toward Understanding

Criticisms: low cure rate and length of treatment
Recent research
Rather than a therapy, psychoanalysis can be thought of as a tool for understanding human nature and culture
Do you agree with this idea?

Criticism: Recent research showed that long-term psychotherapy is more effective that shorter treatments.

Psychoanalytic Theory: A Critique

Excessive complexity
Case study method
Theories are based on introspection and insight from specific cases
High likelihood of bias
Vague definitions
Concepts not defined in terms of operational definitions

Theories are based on introspection and insight from specific cases: not on public, scientific observations; so others can’t evaluate the evidence

High likelihood of bias: therapist may influence what client says or bias may affect the interpretation of what is said

Operational definitions: operations or procedures used to identify or measure them; example: psychic energy

Psychoanalytic Theory: A Critique

Untestability: cannot be proven false
Sexism
Males are considered to be the norm
Females are considered as aberrations or deviations from the male model

Untestability: Hypotheses based on the theory can only sometimes be proven false

Sexism: Freud thought females had less self-esteem, creativity, and morality than males and spent most of their lives coming to terms with not being male.

Why Study Freud?

Focused on ideas that are underemphasized or ignored elsewhere
Influence on modern conceptions of the mind
Influence on the practice of psychotherapy

Focused on ideas that are underemphasized or ignored elsewhere: conflicting motives are a source of confusion and anxiety; sex and aggression are powerful forces in psychological life; importance of childhood experiences for adult personality and behavior; a child’s relationship with parents forms a template for later relationships

Influence on the practice of psychotherapy: use of talking to help problems, free association, transference

Why Study Freud?

Many ideas in popular culture
Revival of Freudian thought in research
Proposed the only complete theory of personality

Many ideas in popular culture: helps people think and talk about each other

Complete theory of personality: covered all the important issues that we should continue to study

Clicker Question #1

If psychic determinism is true, then a possible explanation for forgetting a person’s name could be that you

have a bad memory.

do not like the person.

are in love with the person but don’t want to admit it to yourself.

both b and c

Correct answer: d; opposite explanations are possible

Clicker Question #2

During which stage of psychological development do people learn how to appropriately control their urges and what decisions are up to them or to an authority figure?

oral

anal

latency

phallic

Correct answer: b

Clicker Question #3

Which of the following about Freud’s theory is true?

It is no longer an important part of psychological thought.

It has been proven false.

It was too simplistic to explain all of personality.

Many of the issues that Freud thought to be important are topics of current research.

Correct answer: d