PSYCH 101 - Chapter 2.2: Psychodynamic Psychology

Psychodynamic Perspective

Proposes that there are psychological forces underlying human behavior

Sigmund Freud

Proposed the Psychodynamic Perspective in the late 19th century

Theory of Psychoanalysis

Assumes that much of mental life is unconscious, and that past experiences, especially in early childhood, shape how a person feels and behaves throughout life.

Consciousness

Awareness of the self in space and time

Consciousness

Human awareness of both internal and external stimuli

Phenomenal

Type of consciousness: In the moment

Access

Type of consciousness: Recalls experience from memory

Mayan and Incan Civilizations

Where did theories of the multiple levels of consciousness first appear?

Ancient Mayans

First to propose an organized sense of each level of consciousness, its purpose, and its temporal connection to humankind

Incans

Considered consciousness to be a progression, not only of awareness but of concern for others as well.

The Conscious

Consists of all those things we are aware of

Preconscious

Consists of those things we could pay conscious attention to if we so desired, and where many memories are stored for easy retrieval

Unconscious

Consists of those things that are outside of conscious awareness, including many memories, thoughts, and urges of which we are not aware

Developmental Psychologists

Viewed consciousness not as a single entity, but as a developmental process with potential higher stages of cognitive, moral, and spiritual quality

Social Psychologists

Viewed consciousness as a product of cultural influence having little to do with the individual.

Neuropsychologists

Viewed consciousness as ingrained in neural systems and organic brain structures

Cognitive Psychologists

Based their understanding of consciousness on computer science

Psychoanalysis

A type of analysis that involves attempting to affect behavioural change through having patients talk about their difficulties

Carl Jung

Expanded on Freud’s theories, introducing the concepts of the archetype, the collective unconscious, and individuation — or the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy

Active Imagination

This refers to activating our imaginal processes in waking life in order to tap into the unconscious meanings of our symbols.

Archetypes

These primordial images reflect basic patterns or universal themes common to us all and that are present in the unconscious. These symbolic images exist outside space and time.

Anima

The archetype symbolizing the unconscious female component of the male psyche. Tendencies or qualities often thought of as feminine.

Animus

The archetype symbolizing the unconscious male component of the female psyche. Tendencies or qualities often thought of as masculine.

Self

The archetype symbolizing the totality of the personality. It represents the striving for unity, wholeness, and integration.

Persona

The mask or image a person presents to the world. It is designed to make a particular impression on others, while concealing a person’s true nature.

Shadow

The side of a personality that a person does not consciously display in public. It may have positive or negative qualities.

Dreams

Are specific expressions of the unconscious that have a definite, purposeful structure indicating an underlying idea or intention. The general function of dreams is to restore a person’s total psychic equilibrium.

Complexes

Unconscious and repressed emotionally toned symbolic material that is incompatible with consciousness

Individuation

Process of integrating the conscious with the unconscious, synergizing the many components of the psyche

Mandala

Symbol of wholeness, completeness, and perfection, and symbolized the self

Mystery

For Jung, life was a great [blank], and he believed that humans know and understand very little of it. He never hesitated to say, “I don’t know,” and he always admitted when he came to the end of his understanding.

Neurosis

Jung had a hunch that what passed for normality often was the very force that shattered the personality of the patient. He proposed that trying to be “normal” violates a person’s inner nature and is itself a form of pathology. In the psychiatric hospital, he wondered why psychiatrists were not interested in what their patients had to say.

Symbol

A name, term, or picture that is familiar in daily life

Unconscious

All products of this are symbolic and can be taken as guiding messages

Personal Unconsious

This aspect of the psyche does not usually enter an individual’s awareness, but, instead, appears in overt behaviour or in dreams.

Collective Unconscious

Manifests in universal themes that run through all human life

Word Association Test

A research technique that Jung used to explore the complexes in the personal unconscious

Introvert

Inner-directed; needs privacy and space; chooses solitude to recover energy; often reflective.

Extravert

Outer-directed; needs sociability; chooses people as a source of energy; often action-oriented.

Thinking Function

Logical; sees cause and effect relations; cool, distant, frank, and questioning.

Feeling Function

Creative, warm, intimate; has a sense of valuing positively or negatively.

Sensing Function

Sensory; oriented toward the body and senses; detailed, concrete, and present.

Intuitive

Sees many possibilities in situations; goes with hunches; impatient with earthy details; impractical; sometimes not present

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

A psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions

Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs-Myers

Who created the MBTI?

Latent Content

Relates to deep unconscious wishes or fantasies

Manifest Content

Superficial and meaningless

Threat-Simulation Theory

Suggests that dreaming should be seen as an ancient biological defence mechanism

Expectation Fulfillment Theory

Posits that dreaming serves to discharge emotional arousals (however minor) that haven’t been expressed during the day

Activation-synthesis Theory

Dreams don’t actually mean anything

Continual-activation theory

Dreaming is a result of brain activation and synthesis

NREM

processes the conscious-related memory

REM

processes the unconscious-related memory

Spreading Activation

When problem solvers disengage from the problem-solving task, they naturally expose themselves to more information that can serve to inform the problem-solving process.

Selective Forgetting

Once disengaged from the problem-solving process, solvers are freer to let go of certain ideas or concepts that may be inhibiting the problem-solving process, allowing a cleaner, fresher view of the problem and revealing clearer pathways to solution.

Problem Restructuring

When problem solvers let go of the initial problem, they are then freed to restructure or reorganize their representation of the problem and thereby capitalize on relevant information not previously noticed, switch strategies, or rearrange problem information in a manner more conducive to solution pathways.

Neural Correlates of Consciousness

seeks to link activity within the brain to subjective human experiences in the physical world

Neurophilosphy

focusing on the body rather than the mind