305 lecture 5

sigmund frueds work

founded psychoanalysis.

focused on the unconscious mind, defense mechanisms, and early childhood experiences. One of the most influential people in shaping the western world

problems with freud’s work

• Did not believe in experimentation

• Relied on case studies of wealthy white people

• Took a very negative view of human nature 

• Inherently sexist and heteronormative 

• But did not think homosexuality was a disorder like all others at that time

psychic determinism

Freud believed that everything we think, feel, and do comes from deep, hidden parts of our mind (the unconscious).

• This was a big idea at the time because it suggested that even small mistakes, like saying the wrong word (a Freudian slip), reveal hidden thoughts and emotions.

psychic energy

Freud thought that people have a fixed amount of "psychic energy," which fuels all their actions and desires.

• This energy doesn't increase or decrease but can be used in different ways.

• Personality change happens when someone redirects their energy—like shifting from being anxious to focusing on a hobby or career instead.

freuds basic instincts

Life Instinct (eros)

Thanatos (death instinct)

represented opposing forces that drive human behaviour

can be related to communion and agency

life instinct (eros)

This is the drive for survival, self-care, love, creativity, and reproduction. The energy behind it is called libido. It aligns with Darwin’s idea of natural selection, as it promotes behaviors that help individuals survive and reproduce.

death instinct (thanatos)

This is the drive toward destruction, aggression, and, ultimately, a return to nothingness. The energy behind it is called destrudo. Freud proposed this idea after witnessing World War I, suggesting that humans have an unconscious desire for self-destruction or harm.

freuds view on mental illnesses

Freud believed that many mental illnesses are caused by unconscious motivations, meaning that hidden thoughts and emotions influence symptoms without the person realizing it.

• example is Anna O., a patient who suffered from physical symptoms with no clear medical cause. Found that when she talked about past traumatic events, her symptoms improved. This became known as the “talking cure”, which later influenced modern therapy (psychoanalysis).

blindsight

Some people with brain damage can’t consciously see objects, but they can still react to them. This suggests that one part of the brain knows something that another part does not. It’s proof that unconscious processes can influence behavior.

deliberate-without-attention decision making

If someone is struggling with a difficult decision, they may stop actively thinking about it. However, their unconscious mind keeps working on the problem in the background. Later, they might suddenly come to a decision that feels intuitive and correct.

theory of ego depletion

Ego depletion is the idea that self-control is a limited resource—when we use a lot of it, we become mentally exhausted and struggle to control ourselves afterward.

Situations That Require Self-Control

• Suppress thoughts or emotions

Behaviors Affected by Ego Depletion

• Become aggressive when provoked

Social Behaviors That Require Self-Control

• Acting polite and managing how others see us

  How to Reduce Ego Depletion

• Laugh or experience positive emotions (helps refresh mental energy)

freuds organization of the mind

Conscious mind: current thoughts, feelings and images in the moment

Preconscious mind: information that can easily retrieved (breakfast, childhood memory)

Unconscious mind: containing instincts, urges, and thoughts, memories of which a person is unaware. 

• Motivated, has its own drive. Almost like it is a mind within a mind 

freuds structural model of personality

id

ego

superego

id

like a little child that only cares about getting what it wants right now, without thinking about consequences or whether it’s right or wrong.

• It controls our basic urges (like hunger, aggression, and sexual desire).

• It follows the pleasure principle, meaning it wants instant gratification.

• It does not use logic or reality—it thinks in dreams, fantasies, and emotions (this is called primary process thinking).

Wish Fulfillment

Since the id doesn’t care about reality, it sometimes creates mental images of what it wants. This is called wish fulfillment—for example, if someone is very hungry but has no food, they might daydream about eating a big meal, which brings them temporary satisfaction.

ego

The ego is like the mind’s manager—it controls the id and helps it act in a way that fits with reality.

• Unlike the id, which just wants instant gratification, the ego follows the reality principle—it understands that acting on every urge right away can have bad consequences.

• It solves problems by thinking logically and planning ahead (secondary process thinking).

• It tries to find a way to satisfy the id’s desires in a way that won’t cause trouble.

think of it as a self control system

superego

The superego is like the moral compass of the mind—it tells us what is right and wrong based on what we’ve learned from our parents, society, and culture.

• It has two parts:

  • Conscience → Makes us feel guilt or shame when we do something bad.

  • Ego-ideal → Gives us a sense of pride when we do something good.

How It Works

• The id wants instant pleasure.

• The ego tries to find a smart way to get it.

• The superego steps in and says, "Is this the right thing to do?"

You can think of the superego as the voice in your head that reminds you to be a good person and follow your morals.

freuds iceberg metaphor

• Id is part of unconscious

• Superego is part of unconscious and conscious

• Ego has few unconscious but mostly conscious

carl jung

Founded analytical psychology. Focused on things more like meaning and spirituality and self-awareness. agreed that there was a conscious and unconscious mode

• Worked under Freud and were very close but then they broke up because freud thought that Jung was going to try to kill him 

jungs key concepts

• Ego → The conscious part of the mind (what we are aware of).

• Persona → The "mask" we wear in society, the character we present to others.

• Shadow → The dark side of our personality, including desires and instincts we try to ignore. Jung believed we need to face and integrate this part of ourselves.

• Anima (feminine in men) / Animus (masculine in women) → Represents the opposite gender traits that exist in each person’s unconscious.

jungs collective unconscious

Jung proposed that humans inherit universal concepts from past generations. These are not learned, but rather built into us.

• Think of them as instincts for the mind—deep, shared ideas that influence how we respond to life.

• This explains why myths, symbols, and cultural themes appear across different societies.

contemporary views on freud

• Id and supergo are no longer studies

• The idea that the mind had components was an important one 

• There is an unconscious part of the mind but how powerful is it 

• We generally see in cognitive psychology that yes there is a unconscious mind but there is nothing buried there and its not very powerful 

• Thats the cognitive view but there is work in social and neuroscience psych that is contrasting

types of anxiety

Objective anxiety: fear in response to a real external threat to the person

• The control of the ego is being threatened by an external factor rather than internal conflict

Neurotic anxiety: direct conflict between the id and the ego 

• The ego may lose control over a desire of the id 

Moral anxiety: caused by a conflict between the ego and the super ego

• People who punish themselves, low self esteem or who feel worthless suffer from this the most

defense mechanisms

Repression: preventing unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or urges from reaching conscious awareness and keeping them unconscious

Denial: insisting then things are not the way they seem; not seeing facts

Rationalization: reasoning, explaining, making excuses for outcomes

Displacement: redirecting threatening impulse to a less threatening target 

Projection: attributing negative qualities to others (projecting onto others)

Reaction Formation: displaying opposite behaviors (often exaggerated)

Sublimation: converting unacceptable sexual or aggresive instrincts into socially acceptable activities such as working out: an adaptive defense 

what did freud think of anxiety

anxiety is an unpleasent state arising when the ego is threatened. The ego then employs defense mechanisms. These are unfolding unconsciously. They do things to try to distort, transform of falsify reality in some way to make us feel better and do tension reduction

• Why? It is not very reasonable to face our fear so it is easier to do things to make us feel better in the moment

• But most of them are not adaptive over time 

examples of trump using defense mechanisms

• claimed that he had a defective microphone during the debate which is rationalization

• Denied previous calls to lock up hillary clinton over email scandal which is denial

• He denies the generally tendency to lie 

• Claims that he has a much better temperament than hilary clinton - reaction formation and projection

• The 5 most common insults he uses on twitter show displacement and projection

• Aggressive handshake: intimidation tactic

jungs view on anxiety

 anxiety propels us to make meaning in life

• When we experience anxiety we look to religion, spirituality and symbolism as sources of meaning

contemporary views on anxiety

We refer to coping mechanisms broadly

• Repression: seems possible but both authentic and false memories can occur so it is possible to remember things that is not real but there is evidence of when people have memories suppressed

• Meaning-focused coping: one way to successfully manage threats and anxiety 

frueds theory of psychosexual development

Freuds Theory of Psychosexual development: children pass through a series of developmental stages whichthey have to face and resolve

• Oral stage: weaning/independance and trust

• Anal stage: toilet training/self control

Ego develops

• Phallic stage: morals and ideals 

Either frustration or overindulgence results in a fixation at a particular stage; these challenges define adult personality

Frued on narcissism

• Narcissim is a form of self love where the childs libido energy is invested in the ego ideal and this can happen due to a lack of parental love and identification and then they can come to love themselves

• Occurs in phallic stage

• The ego ideal becomes inflated due to to the self love where you have a grandiose image of yourself

examples of trump showing narcissism

• creates fake time magazine cover

• released exclusive trading cards and NFTs for sale

• His relationship with his dad was business like

• Probably was cold and it is suggested that he was a sociopath which could have impacted how trump saw himself 

• His dad believed that in life there are only winners and losers which is a defining quality of trump

jungs idea of individuation

personality development continues into adulthood - individuation

• becoming a whole, balanced person by integrating the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind

• requires self awareness and introspection

• you must face your shadow

• first half of life we build a strong ego, second half we self reflecting and let ego go

contemporary views on development

• No evidence that development stops at puberty → We continue growing and changing throughout life.

• Talking therapy (like psychotherapy) was influenced by Jung → The idea that discussing inner conflicts helps with mental health traces back to him.

• Parent-child relationships do shape personality and influence how we act as adults.

• Self-awareness is key for personal growth → Many psychologists agree that facing and working through hidden conflicts is necessary for well-being.