wk 9: basics of psychoanalysis

Psychic Determinism

The assumption that everything psychological has a specific cause

Id

The irrational and emotional part of the mind that operates on the pleasure principle and wants immediate gratification.

Ego

The rational part of the mind that acts as the principal decision-maker and balances the competing claims of the id, superego, and reality.

Superego

The part of the mind that consists of the conscience and internalized rules of conduct or morality.

Compromise Formation

The ego's main job of finding a middle course between competing demands

Libido

The "life drive" or mental energy responsible for creation, protection, and enjoyment of life.

Thanatos

The fundamental drive toward death, decay, and destructive activity such as war.

Doctrine of Opposites

The idea that everything implies or contains its opposite, and that extremes on a scale may be more similar to each other than to the middle.

Topographic Model

Freud’s map of the mind consisting of three levels of consciousness: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.

Conscious Mind

The part of mental functioning that an individual is aware of and can observe by turning attention inward.

Preconscious

Ideas that are not in the conscious mind at the moment but can be brought to awareness easily.

Unconscious

The largest layer of the mind containing the id, superego, and most of the ego

Oral Stage

Birth to 18 months

Anal Stage

18 months to 3 years

Phallic Stage

3.5 to 7 years

Genital Stage

Puberty onward

Fixation

Leaving a disproportionate share of mental energy behind at an earlier stage due to too much or too little gratification.

Regression

Retreating to a previous developmental stage during times of stress.

Parapraxes

Often called "Freudian slips"

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious resources used by the ego to protect against anxiety produced by psychic conflict