Freud Test

Repression

The Ego's ridding itself of unacceptable desires and ideas by dumping them into the unconscious. Repressed desires and ideas can re-arise into consciousness under certain circumstances, but especially when recent events similar to what's repressed occur.

ID

The id is the most basic part of the personality, and wants instant gratification for our wants and needs. If these needs or wants are not met, a person becomes tense or anxious.

8. Give an example of sublimation. Why is sublimation in general our best hope for happiness?

a. An example of sublimation is when someone with the desire to inflict pain refines that energy and becomes a surgeon to mask the initial impulse and not let it overtake his life. Sublimation is our best hope for happiness because it is what allows our innapropriate desires to not take over our lives as it transfers that energy into a socially acceptable sense.

1. Freud himself predicts that the unconscious is not easy to recognize. But then why should we think that there is such a thing in the first place? Whats the evidence

a. Evidence for the unconscious comes through happenings such as dreams and slips of the tongue. Thus the unconscious mind can be seen as the source of dreams and automatic thoughts (those that appear without any apparent cause), the repository of forgotten memories (that may still be accessible to consciousness at some later time), and the locus of implicit knowledge (the things that we have learned so well that we do them without thinking).

Superego

By the age of five, or the end of the phallic stage of development, the Superego develops. The Superego is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers. Many equate the superego with the conscience as it dictates our belief of right and wrong.

Primary Process

In Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, the primary process works to resolve tension created by the pleasure principle. The pleasure principle is what drives the id and seeks instant gratification of all needs, wants, and desires. When the pleasure principle creates tension, the id must find a way to discharge this energy. The primary process acts as the id's mechanism for discharging the tension created by the pleasure principle. Rather than act on dangerous or unacceptable urges, the id forms a mental image of a desired object to substitute for an urge in order to diffuse tension and anxiety. This image can take the form of a dream, hallucination, fantasy, or delusion. For example, if you are hungry, you might form a mental image of a slice of pizza or a deli sandwich. The experience of this mental image through the primary process is known as wish fulfillment.

The Unconscious

Part of the topographical model, we are not aware of our unconscious, but it stores our underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings and impulses not available at a conscious level. Makes up a large part of our personality.

2. What is the distinction between the manifest and latent content of dreams? What is the dream-work?

The manifest content is the actual literal subject-matter of the dream, while the latent content is the underlying meaning of these symbols. The Four Aspects of The Dream Work * Condensation: condenses many different ideas into one. * Displacement: replaces a latent element by a well-concealed allusion to it, so the psychical emphasis is shifted from an important element to a relatively trivial one. * Considerations of representability (or "figurability"): transforms thoughts into visual elements ("I was in a tower above the audience" might mean "I towered above the audience intellectually"). * Secondary Revision: makes something whole and more or less coherent out of the distorted product of the dream work. a. Overall, the processes by which the unconscious mind alters the manifest content of dreams in order to conceal their real meaning from the dreamer.

9. In future of an illusion freud mentions several featurs of religion that he considers especially suggestive or striking psychologically. What are these and what might they suggest?

a. Firstly because our primal ancestors already believed them; secondly, because we possess proofs which have been handed down to us from antiquity, and thirdly because it is forbidden to raise the question of their authenticity at all." Psychologically speaking, these beliefs present the phenomena of wish fulfillment, "fulfillments of the oldest, strongest, and most urgent wishes of mankind. Wish fulfillment is the satisfaction of a desire through an involuntary thought process.

4. What does freud mean by sex?

a. Freud believed that life was built round tension and pleasure. Freud also believed that all tension was due to the build up of libido (sexual energy) and that all pleasure came from its discharge. All pleasurable thoughts and actions

6. What are two fundamental human instincts according to freud in civilization and its discontents

a. Freud postulated that human beings are dominated by two basic instincts: Eros (the sexual drive or creative life force) and Thanatos (the death force or destructiveness). Both fundamental drives are empowered by libido energy

5. How and why do the basic psychosexual stages develop?

a. Oral i. In the first stage of personality development the libido is centered in a baby's mouth. It gets much satisfaction from putting all sorts of things in its mouth to satisfy the libido, and thus its id demands. Which at this stage in life are oral, or mouth orientated, such as sucking, biting, and breastfeeding. b. Anal Stage i. The libido now becomes focused on the anus and the child derives great pleasure from defecating. The child is now fully aware that they are a person in their own right and that their wishes can bring them into conflict with the demands of the outside world (i.e. their ego has developed). c. Phallic Stage i. Sensitivity now becomes concentrated in the genitals and masturbation (in both sexes) becomes a new source of pleasure. The child becomes aware of anatomical sex differences, which sets in motion the conflict between erotic attraction, resentment, rivalry, jealousy and fear which Freud called the Oedipus complex d. Latency Stage i. No further psychosexual development takes place during this stage (latent means hidden). The libido is dormant. Freud thought that most sexual impulses are repressed during the latent stage and sexual energy can be sublimated (re: defense mechanisms) towards school work, hobbies and friendships. Much of the child's energy is channeled into developing new skills and acquiring new knowledge and play becomes largely confined to other children of the same gender. e. Genital Stage i. This is the last stage of Freud's psychosexual theory of personality development and begins in puberty. It is a time of adolescent sexual experimentation, the successful resolution of which is settling down in a loving one-to-one relationship with another person in our 20's. Sexual instinct is directed to heterosexual pleasure, rather than self pleasure like during the phallic stage.

7. How do the ego and superego develop? Where does each one get its juice?

a. The ego develops as a child interacts more with the world. It's based on the reality principle and understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run. It's the egos job to meet the needs of the id while taking into consideration the reality of the situation. The ego gets its energy from the drives associated with what we want to be and do. Our goals provide the drive that powers the ego. b. The superego develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers. It dictates our belief of right and wrong. The superego draws its energy from the id, and in turn uses that force to suppress the id's drives. It takes the energy of aggression from the id and turns it against ourselves so we don't have the energy available to us to act primitively and innapropriately.

3. What is dreamings function? Why dream at all?

a. We dream as a secret outlet for the desires repressed by the ego. Freud said dreams are a way to express the unconscious emotions arising from the Id - otherwise we would be constantly disturbed by them in our sleep and soon wake up. So why do we dream? Freud said it was to protect our sleep.

Sublimation

sublimation is a mature type of defense mechanism where socially unacceptable impulses or idealizations are unconsciously transformed into socially acceptable actions or behavior, possibly resulting in a long-term conversion of the initial impulse.

Latent content

the latent content of a dream is the hidden psychological meaning of the dream. Freud believed that the content of dreams is related to wish fulfillment and suggested that dreams have two types of content: manifest content and latent content. The manifest content is the actual literal subject-matter of the dream, while the latent content is the underlying meaning of these symbols.

-‐ Erotogenic zones

those areas of the body most liable to sexual stimulation--namely, the mouth, anus, and penis, although Freud regarded the entire body as an erogenous zone.