SAS 1 - Sigmund Freud's Classical Psychoanalytic Theory

Psychology of Science

an emerging field that sets out to empirically investigate the full range of psychological processes behind scientific behavior, interest, talent, and creativity

Sigismund Schlomo Freud

• born of a Jewish Family at Freiburg, Moravia

• claims to be her mother’s favorite

Martha Bernays

married Sigmund Freud with whom she had six children

Anna

Freud’s favorite child

Classical Psychoanalytic Theory

• theory of mind or personality

• method of studying unconscious processes

• method of treatment

Core Assumptions of Psychoanalysis

1. primacy of the unconscious

2. psychic causality

3. critical importance of early childhood experiences

sex and aggression

• people are born with basic drives, especially for these

• social order would be impossible unless these drives are controlled

neurosis

• a term used in psychology to describe a range of mental health conditions involving chronic distress, anxiety, or emotional instability, but without a loss of touch with reality (unlike psychosis)

• when a person struggles with negative thoughts, worries, or compulsive behaviors that interfere with their daily life, but they still know what's real and what's not

neuroses or personality disturbances

society imposes its drives into socially acceptable outlets, but often doing so in ways that lead to _____

Importance of Libido or Sex Drive

Freud believed that this drive is present even in young infants and that it leads to constant tension between the individual and society.

Freud’s Topographic Model of the Mind

• Conscious

• Preconscious (Superego)

• Unconscious (Id)

Conscious

our current awareness

Preconscious

all the information that is not currently “on our mind” but we could bring into awareness if called upon to do so

Unconscious

storehouse of impulses, unacceptable wishes, desires, and other anxiety-producing materials that could affect our thought and behavior

Freud’s Methods of Studying the Unconscious

• Free Association

• Dream Analysis

  • Manifest Content

  • Latent Content

Free Association

allowing patients to say whatever came into their minds without regard to logic or propriety

Dream Analysis

allowing patients to record and describe their dreams

Manifest Content

the surface meaning or the conscious description given by the dreamer

Latent Content

the hidden or unconscious meaning of the dream

Freudian Slip

an unconscious error or oversight in writing, speech, or action that is held to be caused by unacceptable impulses breaking through psychic defenses and exposing the individual’s true wishes or feelings

Erogenous Zones

parts of the body that especially strong pleasure-giving qualities at particular stages of development

Fixation

being stuck at a particular stage of development that stem from too much or too little gratification of erogenous zones associated with a particular stage

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Stage 1: Oral Stage

Stage 2: Anal Stage

Stage 3: Phallic Stage

Stage 4: Latency Stage

Stage 5: Genital Stage

Stage 1: Oral Stage

Age Range: 0-18 months

Developmental Task: moving from infantile dependency toward autonomy and self-sufficiency

Associated Character Traits: dependency

Stage 2: Anal Stage

Age Range: 18-36 months

Developmental Task: learning to exercise control over one’s body, one’s impulses, and other people

Associated Character Traits: obsessiveness

Stage 3: Phallic Stage

Age Range: 3-6 y.o.

Developmental Task: mastering competitive urges and acquiring gender-role related behaviors

Associated Character Traits: competitiveness

[Stage 3: Phallic Stage] Oedipus complex

developing an unconscious sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex and a feeling of rivalry toward the parent of the same sex

• Males: castration anxiety and identification with the father

• Females: penis envy and identification with the mother

Stage 4: Latency Stage

Age Range: 6 y.o. to puberty

Developmental Task: investing energy in conflict-free (nonsexual) tasks and activities

Associated Character Traits:

Stage 5: Genital Stage

Age Range: puberty onwards

Developmental Task: mature sexuality (blending of sexuality and intimacy)

Associated Character Traits:

Freud’s Structural Model of Personality

• Id

• Ego

• Superego

Id

• seat of drives, instincts, and biological impulses

• operates on the pleasure principle

Ego

• represents the logical, reality-oriented aspect of personality

• operates on the reality principle

Superego

• internalized representation of values and morals of society

• akin to conscience or set of moral guidelines and prohibitions

Defense Mechanisms

unconscious processes used by the ego to avoid dealing directly with sexual or aggressive implosives and defend itself against the anxiety that accompanies them

• Repression

• Sublimation

• Displacement

• Regression

• Rationalization

• Reaction Formation

• Projection

Repression

preventing painful or dangerous thoughts from entering consciousness

Sublimation

channeling frustrated sexual energy into socially acceptable activities

Displacement

releasing pent-up feelings on objects less dangerous than those arousing the feelings

Regression

reverting to an earlier developmental level

Rationalization

using contrived explanations to conceal or disguise unworthy motives for one’s behavior

Reaction Formation

preventing the awareness or expression of unacceptable desires by an exaggerated adoption of seemingly opposite behavior

Projection

attributing one’s unacceptable motives or characteristics to others

Criticisms of Classical Psychoanalytic Theory

• too much emphasis on sex

• offers a pessimistic view of the self

  • we are not in control of our actions

  • “the ego is not master in its house” — Freud (1946)

• offers a deterministic view of the self

  • who we are is determined by our early childhood experiences