Psychodynamic Perspective Sigmund Freud Freud’s Famous Couch

Freud Personality set in childhood Psychosexual stage theory Believed that sexual urges were an important determinate of a person’s personality Stages named for the erogenous zone involved An area of the body from which we receive pleasure

Freud Oral phase- 0-18 months of life Anal phase- 18 to 24 months Phallic phase- 3-5 years Oedipus Crisis /Electra Crisis Penis Envy Castration Anxiety ~ Identification Latency- 5 years-puberty Genital- Puberty and beyond

Freud Fixations result from psychic energy, or libido, getting stuck at a stage Oral fixation Anal retentive Anal expulsive We either over or under compensate

Freud's Conception of the Human Psyche

Personality- Psychodynamic Id Contains instincts and psychic energy Eros/ libido, Thanatos Exists completely in our unconscious mind Propelled by the pleasure principle the principle that the id seeks gratification & fails to distinguish fantasy from reality

Personality- Psychodynamic Ego Partly in the conscious mind~ partly in the unconscious Driven by the reality principle The ego is aware of the real environment and the need to fit into it Delays gratification

Personality- Psychodynamic Superego Partly in the conscious mind~ partly in the unconscious Our sense of right and wrong Represents the internalizing of our parents’ rules & the rules of society Disobeying the superego causes anxiety

You are studying for your Psychology exam. Your id tells you, “Go to sleep. We are tired. This isn’t any fun. Besides, isn’t Lola having a party?” Your superego replies, “Keep studying. You know it is the right thing to do.” Your ego compromises, “We’ll study for two hours. Drop by the party and then get to bed.”

Superego Id EGO

Defense Mechanisms Part of the ego’s job is to protect the conscious mind from the threatening thoughts buried in the unconscious mind This is done with defense mechanisms or behaviors that protect people from anxiety

Oedipus Complex Crisis of development (happens around 5) During the Phallic Stage the child desires opposite sex parent He fears punishment from same-sex parent, so he represses these desires into unconscious Boys – Oedipus complex Girls – Electra complex (Jung)

Oedipus Complex Resolution is a defense mechanism called identification We become like our same-sex parent, take on their behaviors, values, attitudes, etc. Freud says this is how we learn our gender roles & conscience. None of this is conscious but may surface in symbolism in dreams!

Resolving the Oedipus Complex Boy’s sexual impulse directed at mother Father viewed as rival Boy fears father will retaliate (castration anxiety) Resolved by the defense mechanism identification with the aggressor (father)

Tapping the Unconsciousness Projective tests- vague stimulus to look into the unconscious TAT- Thematic Apperception Test Rorschach Inkblot Word Association: I’ll say a word and you say the first word that pops into your head Analyzing Dreams and fantasies

Neo-Freudians-Jung Agreed with Freud that the unconscious exerts a powerful influence Suggested that the collective unconscious is a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history.

Neo-Freudians Generally placed more emphasis on the conscious mind in interpreting experience and coping with the environment Argued that we have more positive motives than sex and aggression

Criticisms Little empirical evidence Little predictive power Overestimation of childhood and sex Sexist-Androcentric

Problems with Freudian Psychoanalysis Freud didn’t conduct controlled experiments. He assumed that case studies could establish whether theories are true or false. However, this is not true. Freud believed that schizophrenia was a disturbance in the unconscious caused by unresolved feelings of homosexuality. It is a brain disorder related to dopamine. Scientific research into how memory works does not support the psychoanalytic concept of the unconscious mind as a reservoir of repressed sexual and traumatic memories of either childhood or adulthood.

Impact Greater on culture than on modern psychology Terms invented by Freud have entered our language Prominent role in many of the arts

However Freud should be considered one of our great thinkers because he lead the way in our desire to understand people whose behaviors and thoughts are not considered “normal.”

Modern Psychoanalysis Does help some people Focuses on affect and expression of emotion. Explores attempts to avoid distressing thoughts and feelings. Identifies recurring themes and patterns. Discusses past experience (developmental focus) Focuses on interpersonal relations and the therapeutic relationship

Sources Banyard, P. And Grayson, A. (2000) Introducing Psychological Research; Seventy Studies that Shape Psychology, 2nd Edition. London: Macmillan Myers, David, & Reviews, Cram101. (2009). Outlines and highlights for psychology by david g myers, isbn. Gross, R. (1999) Key Studies in Psychology, 3rd Edition. London: Hodder and Stoughton Allpsych Merriam-Webster Skeptic’s Magazine