Personality theories-Chapter 3-A psychodynamic theory: Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality

Defensive identification

"I can't beat them, so i'm gonna join them." *We take the same gender parent and become like them because we cant beat them.

Level of consciousness and the concept of the unconscious

*1) Conscious level: includes thoughts of which we are aware at any given moment. *2) Preconscious level: Contains mental contents of which we easily could become aware of it we attended to them. *3) Unconscious level: Mental contents are parts of the mind of which we are unaware and cannot become aware except under special circumstances. **According to Freud we cannot become are of these thoughts because they are anxiety provoking. **Our desire to protect ourselves from the anxiety these thought elicit forces them to reside outside of conscious awareness, in the unconscious. *Freud was not the first person to recognize the unconscious however he was the first person to explore qualities of unconscious life in scientific detail and to explain a range of his every day behavior in terms of unconscious mental forces. *Freud attempted to understand the properties of the unconscious by analyzing slips of the tongue, neuroses, psychosis, works of art, rituals, and dreams.

Hermann Von Hemholtz

*19th century physicist who had presented the principle of conservation of energy: matter and energy can be transformed not destroyed.

Denial

*A simple defense mechanism *People may in their conscious thoughts deny the existence of a traumatic or otherwise socially unacceptable fact; the fact is so "terrible" that they deny that it is "true" *Initially avoidance of an issue may be conscious, but later it becomes automatic and unconscious, so that the person is not even aware of "not looking." *Psychoanalysts generally assume that although the mechanisms of defense can be useful in reducing anxiety, they are also maladaptive by turning the person away from reality. *Thus, psychoanalysts view "reality orientation" as fundamental to emotional health and doubt that distortions about oneself and others can have value for adaptive functions.

Mechanism

*Addressed questions about the nature and possibilities of the science of biology. *It is best understood by contrasting it with an opposing movement, vitalism. *Vitalists argued that biological science could not fully explain biological life because life arose from nonmaterial forces (like a should, or spirt, that animates an otherwise lifeless body). *Mechanists argues that principles of natural science could, in fact, provide comprehensive explanation. *The mechanists position, which is taken for granted today, opened the door for a complete natural science of persons.

Sublimation

*Another device used to express a impulse of the id in a manner that is free of anxiety. **The original object of gratification is replaced by a higher cultural goal that is far removed from a direct expression of the instinct. *In contrast to other defense mechanisms, here the ego does not have to maintain a constant energy output to prevent discharge, *In all, Freud felt that the essence of civilization is contained in a person't ability o sublimate sexual and aggressive energies.

Projection

*Another primitive defense mechanism *What is internal and unacceptable is projected out and seen as external. *People defend against the recognition of their own negative qualities by projecting them onto others. *The basic idea is that people tend to dwell on those features of themselves that they do not like. Whenever one dwells on a topic, that topic comes to ind easily ("chronically accessible") *Central to the psychoanalytic view of projection is that they key personality feature is both projected onto others and denied as part of the self; that is-the other person is lazy, not me. *Research by Newman et. al. supports this theory of projection-however, they indicate that projection occurs with respect to relatively mundane psychological qualities (e.g., laziness) that are not in any obvious way connected to the psychosexual instincts of the id.

Assumption: determinism

*Behavior is meaningful- provides clues to the unconscious. *Behavior is over determined- result of the unconscious, reality constraints, etc. *Early childhood critical for behavior patterns. **Most important parts of your personality have been established by the time you're about six according to Freud.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): A view of the theorist

*Born in Moravia (in what is now the city of Fribor of the Czech Republic) in 1856. *Family soon moved to Vienna where he spent most of his life. *Freud was his mothers favorite and was confident letting people know that a man who has a good relationship with his mother will feel successful and feel confident. *Freud wanted to become a great general or government official but anti-Semitism limited the possibility for advancement in these fields for freud who was jewish. *Thus he pursued a career in medicine instead. *Freud's medical training at the University of Vienna, profoundly shaped his later theorizing about personality. *A key figure in this training was a professor of physiology named Ernest Bruke, who took part in the intellectual movement known as mechanism. *Brukes rejection of vitalism and embrace of the scientific principles of mechanism provide a foundation for the dynamic view of personality Freud developed later in life. *After earning his medical degree, Freud worked in the field of neurology-he concluded that the earliest structures persist throughout life-a view that was a precursor to his later views of personality development. *Freud was plagued by periods of anxiety and depression and to understand his problems, freud began self-analysis, which proved to be utterly fundamental to the development of psychoanalysis. *In his therapeutic work, Freud tried hypnosis, which he learned from the French psychiatrist Jean Charcot-but finding that not all patients could be hypnotized, he explored other methods.

Anxiety and defense

*Conflicts and dangers *External: realistic anxiety *Internal: Neurotic anxiety (id vs. ego) *Internal: moral anxiety (id vs. superego Role of defense mechanisms: *Help us cope with internal sources of anxiety. *Unconscious ego processes that prevent thoughts from entering awareness.

The psychoanalytic unconscious and the cognitive unconscious

*Contemporary findings indicate the existence of unconscious influences, but these are unconscious influences that may have little to do with the psychological experiences discussed by Freud. *The distinction between the traumatic sexual and aggressive unconscious of interest to Freud, and the relatively mundane unconscious content studied by many contemporary researchers in personality and social psychology-suggests that one should distinguish between the psychoanalytic unconscious and what has been called the cognitive unconscious.

More key assumptions

*Dynamics of psychic energy *libido exists in fixed quantities *Cathexis- investment of libido in mental representations of people, ideas, behaviors, etc. *Fixation-Libido getting stuck to a particular issue. *economic hypothesis: drives cause tension, satisfying drives is pleasurable. *Tendency to discharge tension=pleasure principle. *Nervous system functions to keep tensions low=constancy principle. *If drive not satisfied, pressure build until released.

Id, Ego, and Superego

*Each is a distinct mental system that carries out a particular type of psychological function. *Id seeks pleasure and the superego seeks perfection, the ego seek reality. *Freud's ego is logical, rational, and tolerant of tension, it must conform to the dictates of three masters: the id, the superego, and the world of reality.

Ego

*Emerges during first 6 months of life. *Uses id energy, thus reducing the power of the id-delay of gratification *Governed by the reality principle *Secondary process-Creates a strategy for obtaining what id wants-problem solving, planning *Servant of the id. *Operates according to the reality principle *Can distinguish fantasy from reality. *Unlike the id, it changes over time, with more complex ego functions developing over the course of childhood. *The egos function is to express and satisfy desires of the id in accordance with 2 things: 1) Opportunities and constraints that exist in the real world, 2) The demands of the superego *The ego is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse-the is the horse (id) who provides all the energy.

Erikson's psychosocial stages of development:

*Erikson believed that development was not merely psychosexual but also psychosocial. *In contrast to people who develop a sense of identity, people with role diffusion experience the feeling of not really knowing who they are, of not knowing whether what they think they are matches what others think of them, and of not knowing how they have developed in this way or where they are heading in the future. *Erikson suggests that some people develop a sense of intimacy, an acceptance of life's successes and disappointments, and a sense of continuity throughout the life cycle, whereas other people remain isolated from family and friends, appear to survive on a fixed daily routine, and focus on both past disappointments and future death.

Integrity vs. Despair

*Erikson's eighth stage of development: Later years 1) Positive outcome: *Sense of order and meaning, content with set and one's accomplishments 2) Negative Outcomes: *Fear of death, bitter about life and what one got from it or what did not happen.

Identity vs. Role diffusion

*Erikson's fifth stage of development: Adolescence 1) Positive outcomes: *Confidence of inner sameness and continuity, promise of adulthood. 2) Negative outcomes: *Ill at ease in roles, no set standards, sense of artificiality. *The crucial task of adolescence is the establishment of a sense of ego identity, an accrued confidence that the way one views oneself has a continuity with one's past as it matched by the perceptions of others.

Basic trust vs. mistrust

*Erikson's first stage of development: age 1 1) positive outcomes *Feelings of inner goodness, trust in oneself and others, optimism. 2) negative outcomes *Sense of badness, mistrust of self and others, pessimism. *This stage is significant not just because of localization of pleasure in the mouth but because in the feeding situation a relationship of trust or mistrust is developed between the infant and the mother.

Industry vs. Inferiority

*Erikson's fourth stage of development: Latency 1) Positive outcomes: *Able to be absorbed in productive work, pride in completed product, 2) Negative outcomes: *Sense of inadequacy and inferiority, unable to complete work. *The latency and genital stages are periods where the individual develops a sense of industry and success or a sense of inferiority and perhaps a sense of identity or a sense of role diffusion.

Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt

*Erikson's second stage of development: 2-3 years 1) Positive outcomes *Exercise of will, self-control, able to make choices. 2) Negative outcomes *Rigid, excessive conscience, doubtful, self-conscious shame. *Anal stage is significant not only for the change is the nature of the erogenous zone but also because toilet training is a significant social situation in which the child may develop a sense of autonomy or succumb to shame and self-doubt.

Generativity vs. stagnation

*Erikson's seventh stage of development: Adulthood 1) positive outcomes: *Ability to lose oneself on work and relationships 2) negative outcomes *Loss of interest in work, impoverished relations.

Intimacy vs. Isolation

*Erikson's sixth stage of development: Early adulthood 1) Positive outcomes: *Mutuality, sharing of thoughts, work, feelings. 2) Negative outcomes: *Avoidance of intimacy, superficial relations.

Initiative vs. Guilt

*Erikson's third stage of development:ages 4-5 1) Positive outcomes *Pleasure in accomplishments, activity, direction, and purpose. 2) Negative outcomes: *Guilt over goals contemplated and achievements initiate. *In the phallic stage the child must struggle with the issue of taking in pleasure, as opposed to feeling guilty about, being assertive, competitive, and successful.

Genital stage

*Fifth stage of development: puberty-rest of life *Genitals: focus becomes developing a mature opposite sex relationship. *Reduction in dependency. *Dependency feelings and Oedipal strivings that were not fully resolved during the pregenital stages of development come back to rear their ugly heads. *The turmoil of adolescence is partly attributable to these factors.

Oral Stage

*First stage of development: ages 0-2 *Sensual gratification centers on the mouth. *Early oral gratification occurs in feeding, thumb sucking, and other mouth movements characteristic of infants. *In adult life, traces or orality are seen in: 1) Chewing gum 2) eating 3) Smoking 4) kissing 5) optimism 6) dependency 7) gullibility 8) aggression 9) alcohol problems *Early oral stage, child is passive and receptive *Late oral stage, can be a fusion of sexual and aggressive pleasures. *In children, such a fusion of instinctual gratification is seen in the eating of animal crackers? *In later life, we see orality in various spheres: 1) Academic oral associations within the unconscious-"food for thought," "incorporate," and "regurgitate."

Latency stage

*Fourth stage of development: 7-puberty *No erogenous zone focus *Child continues developing but sexual urges minimal *The onset of puberty-reawakening of sexual urges and Oedipal feelings.

Catharsis

*Freud and Breuer *Refers to a release and freeing of emotions by talking about one's problems. *Freud applied this method of treating hysterical symptoms of his own patients and reported great success. *The notion of catharsis has two implications for understanding the human mind: 1) To Freud, it further confirms his view that the mind is an energy system 2) Before a cathartic experience, Freud's patients appeared totally unaware tat their symptoms were caused by the contents of their mind. *This means that mental components of which people were unaware were continuously active within their own minds.

Structure

*Freud provided not one but 2 conceptual models of the mind: 1) Addressed level of consciousness: Are the contents of the mind something that we are aware of (conscious) or not (unconscious)? 2) The other concerns functional systems in the mind: What does a given mental system do?

Relevant Psychoanalytic research

*Freud realized the importance of the unconscious after observing hypnotic phenomena *Clinical observations suggest that the unconscious includes memories and wishes that not only are not currently part of the consciousness but are "deliberately buried" in our unconscious. *in the 1960s and 1970s, experimental research focused on unconscious perception or what is called perception without awareness *Subliminal perception *Perceptual defense *Subliminal psychodynamic activation *Some view the research on perceptual defense and subliminal psychodynamic activation as conclusive experimental evidence of the importance of psychodynamic, motivational factors in determining what is "deposited into" and "kept in" the unconscious. *However, the experiment have been frequently criticized on methodological grounds

Freud's view of the science of personality

*Freud was "passionately committed to a scientific model that would mirror physics, the paragon of the natural sciences. *This commitment cause Freud to appreciate the relationship between theory and research, and the need for theoretical concepts that are sharply defined. *Freud created a theory of enormous breadth, based on a body of evidence- his encounters with his patients- that was relatively narrow. *Freud neither ran experiments in a laboratory nor created or used standard psychological tests. *Freud placed faith in only case studies./He analyzed case studies via free association. *This method provided a wealth of information about his clients, yet contemporary psychologists generally doubt that the evidence it yields is sufficient for theory building.

The mind as an energy system

*Freud's theory of personality is fundamentally a theory of mind-a scientific model of the overall architecture of mental structures and processes. ]*In formulating a model of the mind, freud explicitly considers mental life from a biological point of view. *The mind gets mental energies from the overall physical energies of the body. *In Freud's energy model, mental contents do not merely sit in storage inertly; mental contents DO things. *The overall mind is a system that contains and directs these energetic forces. *Freud's 3 main ideas of mental energy: 1) There is a limited amount of energy; if much energy is used one way there is less available for other purposes. 2) Energy can be blocked from one channel of expression and, if it blocked, the energy does not just go away; instead it gets expressed in some other manner, along a path of least resistance. 3) Fundamental to Freud's energy model is the idea that the mind functions to achieve a state of quiescence (a period of inactivity)-bodily needs create a state of tension, and the person is driven to reduce that tension to return to a quite internal state. *The goal of all behavior then is the pleasure that results from the reduction of tension or the release of energy. *This assumption derives from development in physics in Freud's time.

Superego

*Functions involve the moral aspects of behavior *Contains ideals for which we strive, as well as ethical standards that will cause us to feel guilt if we violate them. *Is an internal representation of the moral rules of the external social world. *Functions to control behavior in accord with these rules, offering rewards (pride, self love) for "good" behavior and punishments (guilt, feelings of interiority) for "bad" behavior. *May function on a very primitive level, being relatively incapable of reality testing- that is of modifying its action depending on circumstances. *Individual is bound by black-white, all-none judgements and by the pursuit of perfection. *Excessive use of words such as good, bad, judgement, and trial express a strict superego. *Can also be understanding and flexible *Created through defense identification *A healthy superego can be flexible and moderate and an unhealthy superego can be underdeveloped or overdeveloped. *Develops in mid childhood-5 or fish. *Exists on all three levels of consciousness. *Get your superego from your parents, you either accept them or don't.

Reality principle

*Gratification of the instincts is delayed until a time when something in reality enables one to obtain maximum pleasure with the least pain or negative consequences *The energy of the id may be blocked, diverted, or released gradually, all in accordance with the demands of reality and the superego. *Does not contradict the pleasure principle but represents a temporary suspension of it.

The dynamics of functioning (book)

*How can one account for the diversity of motivated human activities, many of which do seem obviously related to sex or aggression? **Freud's creative solution to this problem was to posit (assume as a fact) that a given instinctual drive could be expressed in a wide variety of ways, that the mechanisms of the mind can redirect the energy to diverse activities. *Each instinct may be transformed or modified and the instincts can combine with one another. *The interplay between expression and inhibition of instincts forms the foundation of the dynamic aspects of psychoanalytic theory.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): A view of the theorist Continued...

*In 1900, Freud published his most significant work, The Interpretation of Dreams. *He was developing a theory of mind- a conceptual model of the minds basic structures and working principles. *The book only sold 600 copies in in it's first 8 years because his views on childhood were ridiculed. *Medical Institutions that taught freud's views were boycotted. *Ernest Jones, was forced to resign a neurological appointment for inquiring into the sexual life of his patients, in the manner that Freud's theory suggested. *After a series of bad events (Loosing his savings, daughter dying at age 26) freud at age 64 developed a theory of death instinct-a wish to die, in opposition to the life instinct or a wish for survival. *lectures in the United States in 1909 greatly enhanced his profile outside of Europe. *An international Psychoanalytic Association was founded in 1910. *Among 20th century figures, Freud's contributions to Western Intellectual life are exceeded perhaps only by those of Einstein. *Zeitgeist: machine as metaphor for mind *Energy runs the machine

The mind as an energy system continued...

*In psychoanalysis ideas have mental energy that remain stored in the mind; that is, the energy is conserved within the mind. *Under special circumstances the energy associated with an idea can be released. *Joseph Breuer, the viennese physician is responsible for the answer of how the energy can be released which is central to psychoanalytic theory. *When energy cannot be released it doest not merely disappear , its is conserved, *A wide range of activities- Freud believed the whole range of cultural productivity- were expression of sexual and aggressive energy that were prevented from expression in a more direct way.

Primary process

*In psychoanalytic theory this type of thinking is the language of the unconscious. *This process thought is illogical and irrational. *Reality and fantasy are indistinguishable.

Anxiety

*In psychoanalytic theory: Anxiety is a painful emotional experience representing threat or danger to the person. *In structural terms, anxiety develops out of a conflict between the push of the id instincts and the threat of punishment by the superego.

Anna O

*In the summer of 1882, Breuer told Freud about a patient named Anna O who suffered from a bizarre collection of symptoms whose biological causes could not be determined: partial paralysis, blurred vision, persistent cough, and difficulty conversing in her native language, german, despite being able to speak fluently in her second language, English. *Symptoms of this sort are know as hysterical symptoms. *Anna O herself stumbled upon a treatment for her hysterical symptoms by experiencing relief from a symptom if she could trace it to a traumatic event in her past. (catharsis)

The dynamics of functioning (class)

*Instincts can be: 1) blocked from expression 2) expressed in a modified way *Libido= affectionate *Thanatos/aggression= Sarcasm 3) Expressed without modification *Displaced from one object to another *Love of ones mother may be displaced to the wife, children or dog 4) Combined *Sexual and aggressive instincts=football

Erogenous Zones

*Instinctual drives tend to center on particular regions of the body. *Particular erogenous zone that is most important to biological gratification at a given point in time changes systematically across the course of development.

Research on brain by neuroscientists

*Interesting to both psychoanalysts and cognitive psychologist *1) There is evidence that events of early childhood may leave an emotional memory that influences later functioning without the person having a conscious memory of the event. 2) Evidence of neural systems that are capable of keeping unwanted memories out of awareness, the kind of motivated forgetting emphasized by psychoanalysts.

Defining Psychoanalysis

*Internal driving forces cause behavior *Motivations are unconscious *Individuals urges conflict with society *Personality develops in stages by internal conflicts and resolution.

Perceptual defense

*Involves a process by which the individual defends against the anxiety that accompanies actual recognition of a threatening stimulus. *There appears to be considerable evidence that people can, outside of awareness, selectively respond to and reject specific emotional stimuli.

Rationalization

*Is a more complex, mature defense mechanism than a process such as denial in that in rationalization people do not simply deny that a thought or action occurred. *People recognize the existence of an action but distort its underlying motive *Behavior is reinterpreted so that it appears reasonable and acceptable; the ego constructs a rational motive to explain an unacceptable action that is actually cause by the irrational impulses of the id. *With this, an individual can express the dangerous impulse, seemingly without disapproval from the superego.

Life instinct

*Libido is the name for the energy of the life instinct *Includes drives associated previously with both earlier ego and sexual instincts; the life instinct impels people toward preservation and reproduction of the organism. *To Freud, our psychological lives are essentially powered by sexual and aggressive drives because they are part of the basic human nature with which we are born.

Repression

*Major defense mechanism of psychoanalytic theory *A thought, idea, or wish is dismissed from consciousness, *It is so traumatic and threatening to the self that it is buried in the unconscious, stored away in the depths of the mind. *Viewed as playing a part in all other defense mechanisms and requires a constant expenditure of energy to keep that which is dangerous outside of consciousness. *research supports the view that some individuals may be characterized as having a repressive style. *Repressors rarely report that they experience anxiety or other negative emotions; outwardly, they appear calm. *Repressors react more to stress than do non repressors and are more prone to develop a variety of illnesses. *Practicing psychoanalysts find the evidence in support of the concept of repression compelling, experimental researchers find the evidence to be inclusive.

Death instinct

*Opposite of the life instinct. *Involves the aim of the organism to die or return to an inorganic state. *remains one of the most controversial and least accepted parts of the psychoanalytic theory *yet it reflected Fred's idea that a basic tendency of the organism is to seek a state of calmness. *It is also consistent with the human condition-sadly, many people escape psychological problems through suicide-which can be understood as a manifestation of a drive to die. *Thanatos: death drive added to make sense of human capacity for destruction-controverisal. *WWI affected Freud a log with the loss of his daughter which helped bring him to these theories.

Structural Model

*Organization of the mind 1) Id 2) Ego 3) Superego

Defense mechanisms

*People develop these against anxiety, *We develop ways to distort reality and exclude feelings from awareness so that we do not feel anxious. *These mechanisms are functions carried out by the ego; they are a strategic effort by the ego to cope with the socially unacceptable impulses of the id.

Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality

*Personality theories address: 1) Structures 2) Processes 3) Development

Process

*Process aspects of personality are concerned with motivational dynamics. *Motivation- involves mental energy. *Psychic energy is excited ad seeks expression and tension reduction. *That states are called instincts or drives. *Two drives that underly behavior: 1) Eros (drive) 2) Libido (energy) *preservation and reproduction of self

Anal stage

*Second stage of development: ages 2-3 *There is excitation in the anus and in the movement of feces through anal passageways. *The expulsion of the feces is believed to bring relief from tension and pleasure in the stimulation of the mucous membranes in that region. *The pleasure related to this erogenous zone involves the organism in conflict between elimination and retention. *Represents the first crucial conflict between the individual and society. *Here the environment requires the child to violate the pleasure principle or be punished. *Psychologically, the child may associate having bowel movements with losing something important, which leads to depression, or may associate bowel movements with giving a prize or gift to others, which may create feelings of power and control. *Adult traits: 1) excessive cleanliness 2) orderliness 3) messiness 4) rebelliousness

Critique of psychoanalysis (Strengths)

*Strengths: *First comprehensive theory of personality. *Foundation for future theories. *First system of therapy:Some elements still used by therapists. *Important topics such as anxiety, defenses

Levels of consciousness

*Structure: topographic model *Unconscious: most of mental like takes place, most important. *Contains threatening ideas and desires, repressed aspects of self, emerges in symbolic form. *Preconscious: accessible with focus or effort *Conscious: Awareness

Current status of the concept of the unconscious

*The concept of a motivated unconscious is central to psychoanalytic theory. *At this point almost all psychologists, whether psychoanalytic or otherwise, would agree that many mental events occur outside of conscious awareness and that unconscious processes influence what we attend to and how we feel. *This viewpoint is supported by research, such work in which researchers present words related to people's unconscious themes for such a brief period of time that the words cannot be perceived consciously. *The fact that people respond distinctively to those words implies that unconscious processes are at play. *Research does indicate that much of mental life occurs outside if consciousness but this fact does not necessarily support Sigmund Freud's particular conception of the unconscious-A conception based on an energy model of mind and in which two primary forms of unconscious mental energy drive a spectrum of psychological processes. *John Bargh- social psychologist found striking contemporary evidence of unconscious influences while experimenting with individuals working on word puzzles that were related to achievement or affiliation.

Dreams

*The content of dreams vividly reveals that the mind contains unconscious contents that differ dramatically from conscious thinking. *In psychoanalytic theory, dreams have 2 levels of content: 1) Manifest content: storyline of a dream 2) Latent content: Consists of the unconscious ideas, emotions, and drives that are manifested in the dream's storyline. *Freud found through studying dreams, the unconscious can be utterly bizarre, a lot does't make sense and throughout the process of symbolization certain things can represent other things. *A second component of Freud's theory theory of dreams is that the 2 levels of dreams had a relation in that the latent content consists of unconscious wishes and the manifest content is wish fulfillment. *The story of the dream (the manifest content) symbolically represents the fulfillment of unconscious wishes that it may be impossible to fulfill in everyday waking life.

The importance of early experience:

*The early years are important but more in terms of patterns of interpersonal relationships than in terms of isolated events.

Pleasure principle

*The id pursues pleasure and avoids pain.

Isolation

*The impulse, thought, or act is not denies access to consciousness, but it is denied the normal accompanying emotion. *Another way to deal with anxiety and threat is to isolate events in memory or to isolate emotion from content of a memory or impulse.

Reaction formation

*The individual defends against expression of an unacceptable impulse only by recognizing and expressing its opposite. *The person who uses this cannot admit to other feelings. *This defense is evident in socially desirable behavior that is rigid, exaggerated, and inappropriate.

Undoing

*The individual magically undoes one act or wish with another. *This mechanism is seen i compulsions in which the person has an irresistible impulse to perform some act.

Id

*The original sources of all drive energy- the "great reservoir" of mental energies. *Present from birth *Seeks to release out excitation or tension-the reduction of tension to return to a quite normal state. *Operates according to the pleasure principle. *It does not devise plans or strategies for obtaining pleasure or wait patiently for particularly pleasing objects to appear *It does not concern itself with social norms and rules; "it is total non-moral" *Seeks immediate release of tension no matte what. *Cannot tolerate frustration. *Free from inhibitions. *Seeks satisfaction through 2 ways: 1) through action 2) Or merely through imagining that it has gotten what it wants. *Fantasy of gratification is as good as the actual gratification *Functions entirely outside of conscious awareness. *Primary process *fantasy, wish fulfillment, psychosis)

Free association

*The person being analyzed allows all of his or her thoughts to come forth without any inhibition or falsification of any kind. *By letting thought flow freely, one may discover hidden associations among ideas. *For freud-this technique was both a therapy and a scientific method; it provided the primary evidence for his theory of personality.

Subliminal perceptions

*The registration of stimuli at a level below that required for awareness. *Can a person hear or perceive stimuli, and be influenced by these perceptions, without being aware of these perceptions? *Duck research (people drew more ducks when they were flashed a picture of a duck)

Growth and development

*The study of personality development encompasses two distict challenges: 1) General patterns that characterize the development of most or all people and 2) factors that contribute to the development of differences among people. *In Freud's psychoanalytic theory he proposed that all persons develop through a series of stages. *early life experiences, and the particular stage at which these experiences occur, are said to have permanent effect on personality; a strong psychoanalytic position would suggest that the most significant aspects of later personality are entirely determined by the end of the first 5 years of life. **Research demonstrates that it is possible for people to "remember" events that demonstrably had not occurred.

The Motivated Unconscious

*The unconscious is highly motivated, it is not like a library where books just sit on a shelf until they are removed to be used. *Motivational principles come into play in 2 respects: 1) Mental contents enter the unconscious for motivated reasons; the unconscious stores ideas that are so traumatic that, if they were to remain in conscious awareness, they would cause psychological pain. 2) Thoughts in the unconscious influence ongoing conscious experience. *To Freud, all cases of slips of the tongue, string feelings of attraction toward someone we just met, etc, are motivated by unconscious mental forces.

Secondary Process

*Thinking is the language of consciousness, reality testing, and logic. *It develops only after the child first has the capacity for primary process thought, and thus is secondary. *The development of this capacity parallels the development of the ego. *With the development of the ego, the individual becomes more differentiated, as a self, from the rest of the world, and self preoccupation decreases.

Phallic Stage

*Third stage of development: (3-7 years/class notes)-(4-5/book notes) *Excitation and tension are focused on the genitals. *The biological differences between the sexes leads to psychological differentiation. *Oedipus/Electra complex leads to castration anxiety (males) and penis envy (females) *Children internalize parental standards through defensive identification, create a superego. *Adult traits: flirtatiousness, vanity, promiscuity, chastity, masculine or feminine qualities. *Your moral compass is based on fear. *Castration anxiety causes defensive identification. *It was found that at around age 4, children show increased preference for the parent of the opposite sex and increased antagonism toward the parent of the same sex-these behaviors diminish at around age 5 or 6. *Freud devoted little attention to development after the early years of life. "all the action" in personality Freud thought, occurred by the end on the phallic stage.

Energy system

*To freud the body is a mechanist energy system. *The mind, being part of the body, also is a mechanistic energy system.

Perception without awareness

*Unconscious perception

The Individual in Society

*Western culture sees people as essentially good; society corrupts them/ People are born innocent but experience a world of temptations and fall from grace. This is the story from the old testament (adam and eve) *The French philosopher Rousseau argued that, prior to the development of contemporary civilization, people were relatively content and experienced primarily feelings of compassion toward others./Civilization, he thought, changed things for the worse by creating competition for resources that fostered feelings of jealous and suspicion. *Freud; in psychoanalysis, sexual and aggressive drives are an inborn part of human nature./ Individuals function according to the pleasure principle, and seek pleasurable gratification of those drives/The role of society is to curb these biologically natural tendencies./ Children are far from grace when they are born; they posses erotic desires and aggressive drives that society takes steps to restrict. *Freud's overall theory includes not only a radical view of the mind but also this equally radical rethinking of the relation between the individual and the society.

Displacement

*When we shift something that we can't get away with to something/someone that we can get away with. *An outlet that we can get away with.

Self-analysis

*freud began this by analyzing the content of his own experiences, concentrating in particular on his dreams, which he thought would reveal unconscious thoughts and desires, *He continued this self analysis though out life, devoting the last half hour of every wordy to it.

Critique of psychoanalysis (limitations)

*limitations: *Freud's work was not entirely original *Hypothesis difficult to test *Case study data were not representative individuals. *Case study data are prone to investigator bias. *Freud likely influenced his clients self presentations. *Key differences from followers included emphasis on early childhood, on sexuality, on id, on pathology, on lack of sociocultural factors in theory, etc.

Subliminal psychodynamic activation

*researchers attempt to stimulate unconscious wishes without making them conscious. *This is generally done by presenting material that is related to either threatening or anxiety-alleviating unconscious wishes then observing participants subsequent reactions. **Content that is upsetting or relieving to various groups of subjects is predicted beforehand on the basis of psychoanalytic theory and that the effects occur only when the stimuli are perceived subliminally or unconsciously.

Cognitive view of the unconscious

1) Absence of fundamental difference between conscious and unconscious processes. 2) Content emphasis on thoughts with no special significance associated with sexual and aggressive contents. 3) Focus on nonmotivated aspects of unconscious functioning.

Psychoanalytic view of the unconscious

1) Emphasis on illogical, irrational unconscious processes. 2) Content emphasis on motives and wishes. 3) Emphasis on motivated aspects of unconscious functioning.

Erikson's noteworthy contributions:

1) He has emphasized the psychosocial as well as the instinctual basis for personality development. 2) He has extended the stages of development to include the entire life cycle and has articulated the major psychological issues to be faced in these later stages. 3) He has recognized that people look to the future as well as to the past and how they construe their future may be as significant a part of their personality as how they construe their past.

Marcia (1994) 4 statuses individuals can have in relation to identity formation:

1) Identity achievement: The individual has established a sense of identity following exploration. 2) Identity moratorium: The individual is in the midst of an identity crisis. 3) Identity foreclosure: The individual is committed to an identity without having gone through a process of exploration. 4) Identity diffusion: The individual lacks any strong sense of identity or commitment. *In sum, Marcia suggests that individuals differ in how they go about handling the process of identity formation, with such differences being reflected in their sense of self, thought processes, and interpersonal relations.

Unconscious

More mysterious hidden region of ideas that lie outside awareness.

Hysterical Symptoms

Symptoms of the disorder hysteria which is a disorder in which people experience physical symptoms (especially involving disturbed motor movement or perceptual experience) that are caused by emotional problems rathe than by ordinary physical disease or disability. *In contemporary psychology hysteria is known as conversion disorder-because an emotional problem is transformed or converted, into a psychological problem involving motor movement or perception. *Conversion disorder is also known as a type of "somatic" disorder because psychological content affects the functioning of the body, or soma.

Regression

When one retreats to a more child like way of functioning.