Chapter 3 Psychoanalytic Aspects of Personality This multimedia

Psychoanalytic Approach Personality theory based on the writings of Sigmund Freud Emphasizes the unconscious

The Unconscious The portion of the mind of which a person is not aware

Dreams The “royal road” to the unconscious Manifest content ◦ the content of a

Parts of the Mind Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychosexual Development � The development of the psyche � Progresses in stages as the

Oral Stage Theme ◦ Infants are driven to satisfy the drives of hunger and

Anal Stage �Theme: ◦ Child receives pleasure from relieving self of bodily waste �Conflict:

Phallic Stage Theme: ◦ Child gains pleasure through the genitals ◦ Oedipus Complex-Boys desire

Latency Stage Theme: ◦ Psychosexual energy is channeled into academic and social pursuits Conflicts

Genital Stage Theme: ◦ The individual gains satisfaction from mature sexual relationships This stage

Defense Mechanisms The ego must balance the demands of the id, the super-ego, and

Defense Mechanisms Repression Pushes threatening thoughts and ideas into the unconscious As an explanation

Defense Mechanisms �Reaction formation �Hides threatening impulses by overemphasizing their opposite �As an explanation

Defense Mechanisms Denial Refusal to acknowledge anxietyprovoking stimuli As an explanation for: ◦ Not

Defense Mechanisms Projection Attributing anxiety-provoking impulse or thoughts to others As an explanation for:

Defense Mechanisms �Displacement �Shifting one’s unconscious aggression or fears to a safer target (hydraulic

Defense Mechanisms �Sublimation �Dangerous urges are transformed into positive, socially meaningful motivations �As an

Defense Mechanisms Regression Protecting the individual by returning to an earlier, “safer” time of

Defense Mechanisms Rationalization Creating logical, socially acceptable explanations for behaviors which were actually driven

Current Applications: Unconscious Emotions Freudian theory speculates that we can experience internal arousal that

Current Applications: Hypermnesia “Excess memory” The link between the psychoanalytic tool of free association

Current Applications: Infantile Amnesia Freud noted that adults cannot remember much from their early

Current Applications: Memory is imperfect and subjective ◦ memories change over time ◦ all

Current Applications: Amnesia �Psychoanalysis emphasizes that unconscious thoughts affect behavior �Research on amnesic patients

Timeline: Psychoanalytic Approach Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychoanalytic Approach Analogy ◦ Humans as a bundle of sexual and aggressive drives contained

Psychoanalytic Approach Advantages ◦ Emphasizes the importance of childhood ◦ Acknowledges the importance of

Psychoanalytic Approach Limits ◦ Pessimistic ◦ Focused on pathology ◦ Difficult to test empirically

Psychoanalytic Approach View of free will ◦ Behavior is determined by inner drives and

Psychoanalytic Approach Common assessment techniques ◦ Psychotherapy ◦ Free association ◦ Dream analysis Copyright

Psychoanalytic Approach �Implications for therapy ◦ Because personality problems result from deep inner conflicts,

Slides: 37

Download presentation

Chapter 3: Psychoanalytic Aspects of Personality This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: (1) Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; (2) Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; (3) Any rental, lease, or lending of the program. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Unconscious The portion of the mind of which a person is not aware Psychoanalytic techniques to access the unconscious ◦ Hypnosis ◦ Free Association ◦ Dream Analysis Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dreams The “royal road” to the unconscious Manifest content ◦ the content of a dream that a person remembers Latent content ◦ the underlying hidden meaning of a dream Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychosexual Development � The development of the psyche � Progresses in stages as the libido (desire, sexual energy) is redirected to different parts of the body � Psychosexual Stages ◦ ◦ ◦ Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genital Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Oral Stage Theme ◦ Infants are driven to satisfy the drives of hunger and thirst Conflict ◦ Child must give up breast feeding Fixation ◦ Dependency ◦ Preoccupation with oral acquisition Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Anal Stage �Theme: ◦ Child receives pleasure from relieving self of bodily waste �Conflict: ◦ Child is “toilet trained” �Fixation: ◦ Preoccupation with neatness ◦ Excessive “bathroom humor” ◦ “anal-retentive” and “anal-expulsive” characteristics Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Phallic Stage Theme: ◦ Child gains pleasure through the genitals ◦ Oedipus Complex-Boys desire mother Castration anxiety ◦ Electra Complex-Girls suffer penis envy Conflict: ◦ Overt sexual behavior socially unacceptable Fixation: ◦ Vanity, narcissism, inability to love Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Latency Stage Theme: ◦ Psychosexual energy is channeled into academic and social pursuits Conflicts and fixations do not occur during this stage Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Genital Stage Theme: ◦ The individual gains satisfaction from mature sexual relationships This stage is achieved if a person makes it through the other stages with enough available sexual energy ◦ no strong fixations ◦ “normal” (conventional) adult sexuality is viewed as the healthy outcome Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defense Mechanisms The ego must balance the demands of the id, the super-ego, and reality Defense Mechanisms ◦ Ego processes that distort reality to protect the individual from anxiety ◦ Prevent threatening unconscious material from reaching consciousness Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defense Mechanisms Repression Pushes threatening thoughts and ideas into the unconscious As an explanation for: ◦ Post-traumatic stress disorder ◦ Repressed memories ◦ False memories Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defense Mechanisms �Reaction formation �Hides threatening impulses by overemphasizing their opposite �As an explanation for: ◦ Rabidly homophobic people turning out to be closeted gays ◦ Inappropriate sexual escapades by politicians and clergymen who promote “family values” Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defense Mechanisms Denial Refusal to acknowledge anxietyprovoking stimuli As an explanation for: ◦ Not acknowledging the sudden death of a loved one ◦ Interpreting a terrible fight with a spouse as just a “lovers quarrel” Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defense Mechanisms Projection Attributing anxiety-provoking impulse or thoughts to others As an explanation for: ◦ Always being suspicious of others ◦ Extreme political opinions Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defense Mechanisms �Displacement �Shifting one’s unconscious aggression or fears to a safer target (hydraulic model) �As an explanation for: ◦ The case of Little Hans ◦ “Kicking the dog” Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defense Mechanisms �Sublimation �Dangerous urges are transformed into positive, socially meaningful motivations �As an explanation for: ◦ Artistic creativity ◦ Community leadership Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defense Mechanisms Regression Protecting the individual by returning to an earlier, “safer” time of life As an explanation for: ◦ A child with a new baby sibling wanting a bottle again ◦ When an adult whimpers ◦ A distressed individual treating his/her spouse as a parent Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Defense Mechanisms Rationalization Creating logical, socially acceptable explanations for behaviors which were actually driven by unconscious impulses As an explanation for: ◦ Lying and then claiming the lie was to protect the feelings of another person Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Current Applications: Unconscious Emotions Freudian theory speculates that we can experience internal arousal that we do not cognitively understand Neurological research shows that some emotional events can exist independent of thought Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Current Applications: Hypermnesia “Excess memory” The link between the psychoanalytic tool of free association and the more modern notions of signal detection theory ◦ Rewards for producing good material ◦ No penalty for “false alarms” Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Current Applications: Infantile Amnesia Freud noted that adults cannot remember much from their early years ◦ He attributed this to traumatic conflicts in early life Research has found that all early memories are forgotten, not just traumatic ones Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Current Applications: Memory is imperfect and subjective ◦ memories change over time ◦ all memories vary in their “availability” for conscious recall Types of memory ◦ Explicit vs. implicit Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Current Applications: Amnesia �Psychoanalysis emphasizes that unconscious thoughts affect behavior �Research on amnesic patients has demonstrated that behavior may be affected by experiences that are not consciously remembered (implicit memory can be demonstrated in the absence of explicit memory) Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychoanalytic Approach Advantages ◦ Emphasizes the importance of childhood ◦ Acknowledges the importance of sexual and aggressive drives ◦ Attempts to understand unconscious forces ◦ Explains defense mechanisms ◦ Assumes multiple levels are operating in the brain Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychoanalytic Approach Limits ◦ Pessimistic ◦ Focused on pathology ◦ Difficult to test empirically ◦ Sexist (male as norm and model) ◦ Modern research has not supported many of its notions Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychoanalytic Approach �Implications for therapy ◦ Because personality problems result from deep inner conflicts, real change must come through long-term, insightoriented psychotherapy ◦ Freudian psychoanalysis involves fivedays-a-week sessions over a period of years for a successful analysis Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.