Note
Studied by 14 people
Ch 3
THE FREUDIAN THEORY OF PERSONALITY
THE TOPOGRAPHIC MODEL
Division of personality into 3 parts
Topographic model: the division of personality into the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious
Conscious: the thoughts you are currently aware of
This material changes constantly as new thoughts enter your mind and others pass out of awareness
Can only deal with a tiny percentage of all the information stored in your mind
Preconscious: the large body of retrievable information
Pretty much LTM
Unconscious: material you do not have immediate access to
You cannot bring unconscious thoughts into consciousness except under extreme situations
This material is responsible for much of your everyday behaviour
Understanding the unconscious is the key to the psychoanalytic perspective
THE STRUCTURAL MODEL
Freud found the topographic model alone to be limited
So he added the structural model
Structural model: divides personality into the id, ego, and superego
At birth, there is one personality structure; the id
Id: the selfish part; concerned with satisfying personal desires
Actions are based on the pleasure principle
The id is concerned with what brings immediate personal satisfaction regardless of physical or social limitations
Doesn't disappear when we become adults
Rather, it is held in check by other parts of a healthy adult personality
Buried entirely in the unconscious, outside our awareness
Wish fulfillment: if the desired object is not available, the id will imagine what it wants
Temporarily satisfying
Dreams are a type of wish fulfillment
After interacting with their environment in the first 2 years of life, the ego develops
Ego: satisfies the ids impulses, but in a manner that takes into consideration the realities of the world
Based on the reality principle
Id impulses are typically socially unacceptable, therefore threatening
The ego keeps these impulses in the unconscious AND reduces tension
The ego tries to satisfy the wants of the id to lessen tension, but in a way that considers the consequences of the action
Ego moves freely throughout the unconscious, preconscious, and conscious
By age 5, the superego develops
Superego: represents society's (and particularly the parents') values and standards
Places more restrictions on when we can and cannot do
The superego induces guilt
Also referred to as a conscience
Does not just punish us for moral violations after the fact
Thinking about doing something wrong can trigger feelings of guilt, keeping us in line with societal standards
Some fail in developing their superegos, demonstrating little inward restraint
Some have overbearing superegos, burdening the ego with impossible standards of perfection
This is referred to as moral anxiety: an ever-present feeling of shame or guilt for failing to reach standards no human can meet
The desires of the id, ego, and superego complement and contradict one another
In a healthy individual, a srtong ego does not allow the id or superego too much control over the personality
There is an eternal state of tension between a desire for self-indulgence, a concern for reality, and the enforcement of a strict moral code
LIBIDO AND THANATOS
Human behaviour is motivated by strong internal forces called triebe
Roughly translated as drives or instincts (thus, is innate)
Libido: the life or sexual instinct
How freud attributed most of human behaviour
Not simply behaviour with erotic content, but also any action aimed at receiving pleasure
Thanatos: the death or aggressive instinct
Characterised by the desire to die and return to earth
Typically expressed outward (rather than inward as a self-destructive action) as aggression toward others
The wish to die remains unsconsious
Both were initially thought to be in opposition, but actually often intertwine much of what we do with both erotic and aggressive motives
We have a finite amount of psychic energy that powers psychological functions
Energy spent on one part of psychological functioning is not available for other uses
Thus, if the ego expends large amounts of energy to control the id, it has little energy left to carry out the rest of its functions efficiently
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
The ego reduces or avoids anxiety by keeping this material out of consciousness
Neurotic anxiety: vague feelings of anxiety sparked by the sensation that unacceptable unconscious thoughts are about to burst through the awareness barrier and express themselves in consciousness
The ego has many techniques to deal with unwanted thoughts and desires; defense mechanisms
Repression: an active effort by the ego to push threatening material out of consciousness or to keep that material from ever reaching consciousness
Because it is a constant, active process, it requires the ego to constantly expend energy
Sublimation: the ego channels threatening unconscious impulses into socially acceptable actions
The more we use sublimation, the more productive we become
The only successful defense mechanism
e.g., playing an aggressive sport
Displacement: channeling our impulses to nonthreatening objects
Unlike sublimation, displacement does not lead to social rewards
e.g., man gets into shit at work --> beats child
Many of our seemingly irrational fears are actually symbolic displacements
Denial: we refuse to accept that a certain fact exists
We insist that something is not true despite evidence provided
e.g., reacting to the death of a loved one
An extreme form of defense
The more we use it, the less in touch with realitywe are and the more difficulty we have functioning
Reaction formation: we hide threatening unconscious ideas or urges by acting in a manner opposite to our unconscious desires
It is as if the thought is so unacceptable that the ego must prove how incorrect the notion is
e.g., masking a deep hatred for your mother, but constantly telling people how much you love her
Intellectualization: by considering something in a strictly intellectual, unemotional manner, we can bring previously difficult thoughts into consciousness without anxiety
Handles threatening material by removing the emotional content from the thought before allowing it into awareness
Projection: we attribute an unconscious impulse to other people instead of to ourselves
By projecting the impulse onto another person, we free ourselves from the perception that we are the one who actually holds this thought
e.g., man who thinks the world is full of distrustful cheaters may unconsciously recognize that he is a distructful cheater
PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Our adult personalities are heavily influenced by what happens to us during the first 5 or 6 years of life
The chief characteristic of each stage is an erogenous zone and a specific influence on adultn personality
Children face specific challenges as they pass through each of the psychosexual stages and that small amounts of psychic energy is used when resolving these challenges
If things move accordningly, we should have an adequate amount left to operate a healthy personality by the time we become adults
Fixation: the tying up of psychic energy
Results from difficulty or failure to successfully complete a stage
Leaves less energy available for normal functioning
Adults express behaviours characteristic of the stage which the energy is fixated
First stage: oral stage
The mouth, lips, and tongue are the primary erogenous zones, I.e., the source of pleasure
Traumatic weaning or feeding problems during this stage can result in fixation and the development of an oral personality
Adults tend to be dependent on others
May result in excessive levels of aggression
Often express an infantile need for oral satisfaction
Second stage: anal stage
Anal region is primary erogenous zone
Toilet training
Traumatic toilet training can result in fixation and an anal personality
Typically orderly and rigid
Can also be stubborn or even generous, depending on how the toilet training progressed
Third stage: phallic stage
Penis or clitoris is the most important erogenous zone
Children experience the oedipus complex
Children develop a sexual attraction for their opposite sex parent
Boys develop castration anxiety: a fear that their fathers will discover their thoughts and cut off their penis
Girls develop penis envy: the desire to have a penis, coupled with feelings of inferiority and jealousy
To resolve this, children perform reaction formation and identify with the same-sex parent
Acquiring the according feminine or masculine characteristics
Adopting the parents' values paves the way for the emoergence of the superego
Oedipal desires are never fully eliminated, and are merely repressed
Fourth stage: latency stage
Sexual desires abate
Boys and girls are largely uninterested in one another
This changes with puberty
Erogenous urges return and are focused on adult genital regions
GETTING AT UNCONSCIOUS MATERIAL
Dillemma: how can we study the unconscious?
Solution: strong id impulses do not simply disappear after being pushed out of consciousness
The true nature of the impulses is repressed by a strong ego, but they are often expressed in a disguised or altered form
If psychologists know what to look for, they can catch a glimpse of unconscious thoughts by observing seemingly innocent behaviours
DREAMS
"Royal road to the unconscious"
Dreams provide id impulses with a stage of expression
They are a type of wish fulfillment
Representing things we desire
Manifest content: what the dreamers sees and remembers
Latent content: what is really being expressed
PROJECTIVE TESTS
Where are images from ambiguous stimuli (e.g., clouds) coming from?
Our responses are projections of material in the perceiver's unconscious mind
Projective tests present test takers with ambiguous stimuliand asks them to respond by identifying objects, telling a story, or perhaps drawing a picture
The responses allegedly provide insight into what is going on in the unconscious
FREE ASSOCIATION
Clear your mind and thoughts, then allowing whatever comes into your mind to enter
Say the thoughts aloud
These are typically uncensored ideas that bypass the censoring mechanism of the ego
FREUDIAN SLIPS
These slips of the tongue allegedly represent unconscious associations that momentarily slipped out
HYPNOSIS
The ego is put into a suspended state during a deep hypnotic trance, giving direct access to unconscious material
But, not everyone is responsive to hypnotic suggestion
ACCIDENTS
Many apparent accidents are actually intentional
Stemming from unconscious impulses
People do not consciously intend them, but not in the sense that they are unintended
SYMBOLIC BEHAVIOUR
Many of our daily behaviours can be interpreted as symbolic representations of unconscious desires
Symbolic actions pose no threat to the ego because they are not perceived for what they are
APPLICATION: PSYCHOANALYSIS
GOAL: bring curcial unconscious material into consciousness where it can be examined in a rational manner
However, once the material surfaces, it must be dealt with in a way that it does not manifest into some new disorder
The therapist and client work to help the ego exercise appropriate control over id impulses and/or an oppressive superego
Traditional psychoanalysis is expensive and limited to those who can afford it
Unlike other systems of psychotherapy, in psychoanalysis, the therapist actively interprets the significance of statements, behaviours, and dreams
ASSESSMENT: PROJECTIVE TESTS
Provide ambiguous stimuli
There are no correct or incorrect answers
Responses are interpreted as projections from the unconscious
Gives test takers an opportunity to express pent up impulses
The significance of the response is not apparent to the test taker
RORSCHACH INKBLOT TEST
Initially used with schizophrenics
10 cards containing ink blots
Test takers are tasked with describing what they see in the images
Unusual answers and recurring themes are of interest
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST (TAT)
A series of ambiguous pictures
Tasked with telling a story about each picture
The scenes are intentionally vague
HUMAN FIGURE DRAWING TEST
Initially a measure of intelligence
A blank paper and instructed to draw a picture
Used as an indicator for psychological problems, particularly in children
EVALUATION OF PROJECTIVE TESTS
Psychologists disagree on how to interpret most of this research
Unacceptably low indices of reliability and frequent failures to find evidence for validity of the test
However, newer, more rigorous systems for coding Rorschach responses have been proven far more reliable than earlier methods
Projective tests should be viewed as simply another source of information about a client
Taken alongside other measures
STRENGTHS AND CRITICISMS OF FREUD'S THEORY
STRENGTHS
The first comprehensive theory of human behaviour
psychologists built their theories on the foundation laid by Freud, borrowing key psychoanalytic concepts and assumptions.
Freud’s observations set the direction for subsequent personality theory and research.
Developed the first system of psychotherapy
Today, treating psychological disorders through discussions with a therapist is an accepted and widely practiced procedure.
Credited with popularizing and promoting many important psychological concepts
CRITICISMS
many Freudian ideas appear in literature that predates Freud’s work
However, he did often cite others work and unified these works into a theory
many of the hypotheses generated from the theory are not testable
one criterion for a useful scientific theory is that it generates hypotheses that can be either supported or not supported with data.
if the hypothesis cannot be unsupported, neither can it be truly supported, and this makes the theory considerably less useful to scientists.
Used primarily case studies - thus, not a representative sample
