Sigmund Freud z Classical and modern perspectives The

Sigmund Freud z. Classical and modern perspectives

The World in the Late 1900’s: Male and Female z It was a world shaped by man for man, in which woman occupied the second place. z Political rights for women did not exist. y The separation and dissimilarity of the sexes was sharper than today. y Women who wore slacks, wore their hair short, or smoked, were hardly to be found. y The universities admitted no female students (the first ones appeared in the early 1890's). z Man's authority over his children and also over his wife was unquestioned. y Education was authoritarian; the despotic father was a common figure and was particularly conspicuous only when he became extremely cruel. z Laws were more repressive, delinquent youth sternly punished, and corporal punishment was considered indispensable. y Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York, Basic Books. p. 255

The repression of sexuality z Sexual repression, a supposedly characteristic feature of [the Victorian] period, was often merely the expression of two facts: the lack of diffusion of contraceptives, and the fear of venereal disease. z Venereal disease was all the more dangerous because of the great spread of prostitution, and because prostitutes were almost invariably contaminated, and therefore potential sources of infection. z We can hardly imagine today how monstrous syphilis appeared to people of that time, made worse by the fact that it was likely to be transmitted to the next generation in the form of "hereditary syphilis, " which, in turn, had become a nightmarish myth and to which many physicians attributed all diseases of unknown origin. y Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York, Basic Books. p. 291

Nietzsche’s influence z “Psychoanalysis evidently belongs to that "unmasking" trend, that search for hidden unconscious motivations characteristic of the 1880's and 1890's. In Freud as in Nietzsche, words and deeds are viewed as manifestations of unconscious motivations, mainly of instincts and conflicts of instincts. z For both men the unconscious is the realm of the wild, brutish instincts that cannot find permissible outlets, derive from earlier stages of the individual and of mankind, and find expression in passion, dreams, and mental illness.

Nietzsche’s influence, continued z Even the term "id" (das Es) originates from Nietzsche. z The dynamic concept of mind, with the notions of mental energy, quanta of latent or inhibited energy, or release of energy or transfer from one drive to another, is also to be found in Nietzsche. z Before Freud, Nietzsche conceived the mind as a system of drives that can collide or be fused into each other.

Nietzsche’s influence, continued z In contrast to Freud, however, Nietzsche did not give prevalence to the sexual drive (whose importance he duly acknowledged), but to aggressive and self-destructive drives. z Nietzsche well understood those processes that have been called defense mechanisms by Freud, particularly sublimation (a term that appears at least a dozen times in Nietzsche's works), repression (under the name inhibition), and the turning of instincts toward oneself. z Both give a new expression to Diderot's old assumption that modern man is afflicted with a peculiar illness bound up with civilization, because civilization demands of man that he renounce the gratification of his instincts. ” y Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York, Basic Books. p. 277

Introspection and Self. Analysis

The Creative Illness z “In the summer of 1897. . . Freud undertook his most heroic feat - a psychoanalysis of his own unconscious. z It is hard for us nowadays to imagine how momentous this achievement was; that difficulty being the fate of most pioneering exploits. z Yet the uniqueness of the feat remains. Once done it is done for ever. For no one again can be the first to explore those depths.

The Creative Illness, continued z In the long history of humanity the task had often been at-tempted. Philosophers and writers, from Solon to Montaigne, from Juvenal to Schopenhauer, had essayed to follow the advice of the Delphic oracle, 'Know thyself', but all had succumbed to the effort. z Inner resistances had barred advance. There had from time to time been flashes of intuition to point the way, but they had always flickered out. z The realm of the unconscious, whose existence was so often postulated, remained dark, and the words of Heraclitus still stood: 'The soul of man is a far country, which cannot be approached or explored. ’ z Freud had no help; no one to assist the undertaking in the slightest degree.

The Creative Illness, continued z Worse than this: the very thing that drove him onwards he must have dimly divined (however much he tried to conceal it from himself) could only result in profoundly affecting his relations - perhaps even severing them - with the one being to whom he was so closely bound and who had steadied his mental equilibrium. z It was daring much, and risking much. What indomitable courage, both intellectual and moral, must have been needed! But it was forthcoming. ” y. Jones, E. (1984). The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud, New York: Basic Books, p. 276

Descent and reintegration

The Freudian World

Some dynamic history z. By 1900 four functions of the unconscious had been described: y Conservative: the unconscious stores memories, often unaccessible to voluntary recall y Dissolutive: the unconscious contains habits, once voluntary, now automaticized, and dissociated elements of the personality, which may lead a “parasitic existence” y Creative: the unconscious serves as the matrix of new ideas y Mythopoetic: the unconscious constructs narratives and fantasies that appear mythic or religious in nature x Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York, Basic Books.

The dynamic unconscious z. The mind as a composite of contradictory drives ysex and aggression ythe psyche and its subpersonalities xmotivated states expressed in behavior

Idea/emotion as pathogen z. Two causes of mental disorders in the early 1900’s ysomatiker (physical) ypsychiker (mental) z. Freud was an adherent of the “psychiker” trend ythe pathology of belief

The idea of repression y. What is repressed? xunbearable memories, usually sexual • true or false: the role of childhood seduction in adulthood trauma ximpermissible desires • sexual urges • aggressive urges

Defense Mechanisms z repression y if you don’t like it, lie about it y especially to yourself z denial y the truth isn’t so bad z reaction formation y I really love my sister z displacement y My boss yells at me, I yell at my husband, my husband yells at the baby, the baby bites the cat

Defense Mechanisms, continued z identification – I want to be the bully z rationalization – we all know what this means z intellectualization – Woody Allen springs to mind z Sublimation – OK then, I’ll sculpt naked women z projection – it’s not me -- it’s you!

Neurotic Manifestations z“unconscious” ideas are at the core of psychological conflicts y. Incomprehensible distress y. Psychosomatic Symptoms y. Behavioral Anomalies y. Hallucinations and Delusions

Jokes z Jokes allow for the expression of repressed wishes and ideas. z For example, the Jester, or medieval court fool, was often the only individual in the kingdom who was allowed to tell the truth to the king. z Jokes express in playful language what culture will not allow formally expressed.

Parapraxes z Hans Gross, founder of judicial psychology, had noted during the 1880’s that witnesses and accused persons often betrayed themselves involuntarily while giving false testimony, often by a single word, or through attitudes, general bearing and gesture. z Freud, following Goethe, Schopenhauer and Von Hartmann, attributed the source of these disturbances to autonomous action in the unconscious, emergent as a consequence of emotional disturbance. y Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books.

The Royal Road to the Unconscious: The Dream z Dreams as Wish Fulfillment y A wish is a fantasy about gratified desire (pleasure) or cessation of pain. y “Freud considered as his major discovery that the dream is a fulfillment of a wish, or, to put it more accurately, the vicarious fulfillment of a repressed, unacceptable sexual wish, and this is why the censor must intervene, to keep it down or to allow its appearance only in disguised form. y Freud also defined the dream as the guardian of sleep: feelings that might awaken the dreamer are disguised in such a way that they do not disturb him. Should this mechanism fail, the dreamer has a nightmare and awakens.

Dreams as regressive z The dream is also, Freud says, a process of regression that manifests itself simultaneously in three fashions: y as topical regression from the conscious to the unconscious, y as temporal regression from the present time to childhood, y and as form regression from the level of language to that of pictorial and symbolic representations. ” x Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books, p. 492

Dream Processes in the Unconscious: z Latent Content: The repressed wish y the naked truth z Censor: repression (socially-determined? ) produces: x. Displacement x. Condensation x. Symbolization x. Dramatization z Preconscious Secondary Elaboration: Imposition of Conscious Logic z Consciousness and Manifest Content

The Dream Symbol z Dream study was popular with the late Victorians. z Karl Albert Scherner theorized that dreams spoke a symbolic language, and described typical symbols, as follows: y The body as a house y Masculinity: high towers, pipes, clarinets, kinves and pointed weapons, running horses y Femininity: narrow courtyards, staircases z Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York, Basic Books.

Libido Theory: The stages of psychosexual development z Libido is energy, manifested most particularly as sexual pleasure, with mental and physical aspects. x. Its source is internal, organic; it varies in pressure, or intensity; it has an aim (a teleology), which is removal of the pressure (the pleasure principle); it has an object, which may be a person, or more rarely, a thing. x. It begins its development in infancy (the infant is a sexual being) as unstructured, generalized desire, or polymorphous perversity. Acquiring aim and object requires development, through experience.

Childhood sexuality: development of the personality z the oral period (0 -1) y if it feels good, gum it y the oral character: passive, optimistic, and dependent z the anal period (2 -3): biology meets hygiene (the id meets the superego) y get rid of it (or hoard it) y the anal retentive miser: orderly, parsimonious, and obstinacy y the anal expulsive: disorderly, overproductive, generous to a fault z the phallic period (3 -5): the great and terrible penis y masturbation y penis envy x tough luck, girls. Maybe next time. x castration anxiety: a small price to pay for the possession of a penis

The Oedipal phase emerges during the ages of five and six. z. Hostility and erotic attraction towards the parents z. Boys develop castration anxiety fear of the father - as a consequence of their competition for mother.

Oedipus, continued z A girl discovers her lack of masculinity - that she is already castrated - and develops penis envy, and, perhaps, resentment towards the mother.

Oedipus, continued z The path to mature adult female sexuality means acceptance of union with a male, z emancipation from the father, z and development of a stable relationship with the mother.

The Oedipal complex z “On 15 October 1897, in [a] letter [to Wilhelm Fliess] Freud announced the two elements of the Oedipus complex: love for one parent, and jealous hostility towards the other; this discovery was more than incidental to theory of dreams, since it vividly illustrates the infantile roots of the unconscious wishes animating all dreams. ” – Jones, E. (1984). The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud, New York: Basic Books, p. 303

The Oedipal Myth z “Most famous of the ancient Greek heroes of Thebes, the unfortunate King Oedipus inspired Sophocles’great tragedies Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus. z The son of Laius, king of Thebes, and Jocasta, the infant Oedipus was ritually wounded in the foot (hence his name, which means "swollen foot") and exposed on Mount Cithaeron, because of a prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. z Rescued by a shepherd, he was brought up by King Polybius of Corinth.

z When grown, Oedipus heard the prophecy about himself and fled Corinth, believing that Polybius was his father. z While on the road he killed a stranger, not knowing that it was Laius. z Entering Thebes, he found the city dominated by a sphinx who killed anyone who could not solve her riddle: "Who goes on four feet in the morning, on two at noon, and in the evening on three? " z Oedipus vanquished her by replying, "Man, in the three ages of his life, " and won the hand of the widowed queen.

z Marrying Jocasta and thus fulfilling the prophecy, Oedipus reigned long in Thebes and raised two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene. z When the secret of his birth came to light, Jocasta hanged herself, and Oedipus blinded himself in remorse, or was blinded. z Under the regency of Jocasta's brother Creon, Oedipus was driven from Thebes. Antigone chose exile with him, the two seeking refuge at Colonus, near Athens. Both daughters helped prepare Oedipus for death in a grove sacred to the Eumenides. Many variations of the story occur in literature. ” • Norma Goodrich, Oedipus, in the Software Toolworks Multimedia Encyclopedia

Ellenberger’s commentary z “Actually, the mythological model of that complex is not so much to be found in the Oedipus drama as it is in the myth of Saturn and Jupiter. z Saturn was threatened with death by his father Uranus, the first god of the world, but was saved by his mother. Saturn then castrated his father. z Later, Saturn ate his own children except for the youngest, Jupiter, who was saved by his mother. Jupiter then supplanted his father. z The same myth has been found in India and among the Hittites. ” – Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books, pp. 507508.

The Oedipus theory, continued z Kill your father, marry your mother ybut Oedipus married his mother accidentally, and blinded himself in remorse y. Oedipus as failed hero z The primal horde theory: Freud’s anthropology y. Dad has all the women; kill him, and feel eternal guilt z How to solve it: become your father yidentification, remember?

More Childhood Sex z. The latency period (7 -12) ygirls are yucky yboys are yucky xcalm prevails ymemories of childhood sexuality vanish, into the unconscious. zthe genital stage ythe genital character: successfully integrated sexuality

Neuroticism may be traced to pathological sexual development. z Neurotics, victims of unconscious inhibitions, can not remember the source or the cause of their present difficulties. z They may be fixated - arrested in development at an early sexual stage- or may regress to an earlier stage, when pressured. z Anal fixation, for example, may emerge in miserliness, obsession with order, and procrastination. The miser “holds on” to money and other objects, like the anally retentive child holds on to his feces, in the course of toilet training.

The id, ego and superego z. The idea of the pleasure and reality principles

ID z. The id was not very different from what Freud had originally described as the unconscious, the seat of both the repressed material and the drives, to which had been added the unconscious fantasies and unconscious feelings, notably guilt feelings. z. The word "unconscious" was now an adjective, used to qualify not only the id, but parts of the ego and superego. z. The term "id" (das Es) could be traced to Nietzsche, but Freud admitted borrowing it from The Book of the Id, by George Groddeck, an admirer of psychoanalysis.

EGO z“The ego was defined as "the coordinated organization of mental processes in a person. " There was a conscious and an unconscious part in the ego. z. To the conscious ego belonged perception and motor control, and to the unconscious ego, the dream censor and the process of repression. z. Language was an ego function; unconscious contents became preconscious through the medium of words.

SUPEREGO z The most novel part of The Ego and the Id is that devoted to the third agency, the superego, though Freud had already touched on some of its aspects under the name of ego ideal. z The superego is the watchful, judging, punishing agency in the individual, the source of social and religious feelings in mankind. z Its origin was in the individual's former ego configurations, which had been superseded, and above all in the introjection of the father figure as a part of the resolution of the Oedipus complex. z The construction of the superego in an individual is thus dependent on the manner in which the Oedipus complex has been resolved.

Superego, continued z On the other hand, the superego receives its energy from the id, hence its frequently cruel, sadistic quality.

Superego, continued z This new concept explained the role of neurotic guilt feelings in obsessions, melancholia, hysteria, and in criminality. z The ideas of self-punishment and criminality because of guilt feelings were later to be expanded and emphasized in psychoanalysis and criminology.

Id, Ego and Superego: conclusion z Freud concluded that the "Id is quite amoral, the Ego strives to be moral, and the Superego can be hypermoral and cruel as only the Id can be. " y As a consequence of these new theories, the ego was now in the limelight of psychoanalysis, especially as the site of anxiety: reality anxiety, that is, fear caused by reality, drive anxiety from pressures from the id and guilt anxiety resulting from the pressures of the superego. y Freud concluded with a description of the pitiful state of the ego, suffering under the pressures of its three masters. y It was clear that the main concern of psychotherapy would now be to relieve the ego by reducing these pressures and helping it acquire some strength. – Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books, p. 516

Catharsis z. The talking cure z. Free association, resistance and transference

Free Association z The patient relaxed on a couch, and was told the basic rule, to tell whatever came to his mind, no matter how futile, absurd, embarrassing, or even offensive it seemed. z In trying to do so, the patient felt moments of inhibition and other inner difficulties, which Freud termed "resistance. " z As the sessions went on from day to day, the patient began to manifest irrational feelings of love or hostility toward therapist; Freud called them "transference. ” y Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books, p. 490

Philosophy of Religion and Culture

The Future of an Illusion (1927). z“His philosophy was an extreme form of positivism, which considered religion dangerous and metaphysics superfluous.

Illusion, continued. z In 1907, Freud compared obsessive compulsive symptoms of neurotics with religious rituals and creeds, and concluded that religion was a universal obsessional neurosis, and obsession an individualized religion. z Twenty years later, in The Future of an Illusion, Freud defined religion as an illusion inspired by infantile belief in the omnipotence of thought, a universal neurosis, a kind of narcotic that hampers the free exercise of intelligence, and something man will have to give up. z Freud no doubt believed that psychoanalysis could unmask religion as it could any neurotic symptom. y Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books, p. 525

Civilization and its Discontents (1930) z. Freud believed that primitive man had discovered that voluntary limits on instinctual drive enabled construction of powerful community. z. Such renunciation, however, leads inevitably to conflict between id, ego and superego, which increases, as civilization becomes more structured. z. Freud appeared partially convinced that the limits of such renuncation had been reached.

Eros and Thanatos: the life and death instincts

Conclusion: z Freud ended his life believing that psychoanalysis was more useful as a tool for determining the nature of the intrapsychic world, than as a adjunct to the cure of psychiatric disturbance. z “To undergo a successful psychoanalysis. . . amounts to a journey through the unconscious, a journey from which a man necessarily emerges with a modified personality. But this in turn leads to a dilemma.

Conclusion, continued z Psychoanalysts proclaim that their method is superior to any other kind of therapy, being the only one able to restructure personality. On the other hand, an increasing number of limitations, contraindications, dangers, have been pointed out by Freud and his successors. z Could it be that psychoanalysis, as a therapy, will come to be replaced by other less laborious and more effective therapies, whereas a few privileged men will afford it as a unique experience apt to change their outlook upon the world, their fellowmen, and themselves? ” y Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books, pp. 534525.

Conclusion z. Whatever the number of its sources and the intricacies of its context, the psychoanalytic theory is universally recognized as a powerful and original synthesis that has been the incentive to numerous researchers and findings in the field of normal and abnormal psychology. z. However, the problem of its scientific status is not yet clarified.

Conclusion, continued z Discoveries made in Freud's time in the field of endocrinology, bacteriology, and the like, are unequivocally integrated into science, whereas the validity of psychoanalytic concepts is still questioned by many experimental psychologists and epistemologists. z This paradox has brought many Freudians to view psychoanalysis as a discipline that stands outside the field of experimental science and more akin to history, philosophy, linguistics, or as a variety of hermeneutics. y Ellenberger, H. (1970). The Discovery of the Unconscious. New York: Basic Books, p. 549

The Scientific Legacy of Freud z. Drew Westen yin press, Psychological Bulletin

Five key propositions have stood the test of time y much of mental life is unconscious xthought, emotion, motivation y ambivalence is common in human mental life xparallel competition, compromise solutions y stable personality patterns begin in childhood xplay an important role in shaping personality and social relationships y mental representations of self, others, and relationships xguide interaction with others xinfluence form and expression of psychopathology y personality development entails xmanagement of sexual and aggressive feelings xmovement from immature dependence to mature interdependence

z. Freud was the first to build a systematic psychological theory devoted to the proposition that much of mental life is unconscious zthis idea was not given “scientific” status until 1987, with the heralding of the cognitive unconscious

Cognition z. Implicit and Explicit Memory z. Procedural, Episodic and Declarative

Motivation y “Of most relevance is research demonstrating that individual differences in unconscious or implicit negative racial attitudes are often uncorrelated with individual differences in conscious racial attitudes. y In a landmark study, Fazio Jackson, Dunton, & Williams (1995) measured implicit attitudes by presenting to subjects a series of black and white faces followed by either a positive or negative adjective. y The subject’s task was to press a key indicating the affective connotation of the word (good or bad). y Because negative attitudes toward blacks should facilitate (prime) responses to negative adjectives, response latency to negative words following priming with a black face can be used a measure of the affective quality of implicit attitudes— that is, the association of affects with representations of blacks.

y The investigators found that this measure of individual differences in implicit attitudes predicted an implicit behavioral index—the extent to which a black confederate of the experimenters rated subjects as friendly and interested in their interaction with her when she debriefed them about the study— but not their conscious attitudes about current events involving racial issues. y In contrast, a measure of conscious racism predicted subjects' responses to these conscious attitude questions but not their behavior with the black confederate. Similar findings emerge with gender stereotypes: y Implicit and explicit attitudes toward gender are uncorrelated (Banaji and Hardin, 1997).

z A recent study using genital plethysmography has breathed new life into the classic psychoanalytic theory of homophobia as a defense against threatening homosexual feelings (Adams, Wright, and Lohr, 1996). z Subjects identified as homophobic by questionnaire, unlike nonhomophobic comparison subjects, showed increases in penile circumference (indicating arousal) while exposed to sexually explicit videotapes showing male homosexual activity.

z More recent research has begun to track down individual differences in the tendency to see ourselves unlike others see us, and has found, as clinical observation suggests, that narcissistic people tend to hold defensively grandiose views of themselves and their accomplishments, and that this is not without substantial social and personal cost.

x In one study, MBA students ranked themselves and their peerson their contribution to a group problem-solving task, as did a group of psychologist observers (John and Robins, 1994). x Subjects' rankings of their peers were remarkably consistent with the psychologists' rankings, but their self-rankings correlated with peer and psychologist rankings of them at only about r=. 30; 60 percent overestimated their own performance, suggesting a self-serving bias. x. Subjects who showed the most substantial self-serving biases were significantly more narcissistic by both observerand self-report. Indeed, the tendency of subjects to selfenhance in this study correlated around r=. 50 with psychologists' ratings of their narcissism.

z. A longitudinal study compared two groups of college freshman who were matched in level of ability, based on high school grades and GRE scores (Robins and Beer, 1996).

z One group was strongly self-enhancing; their perceived (selfreported) level of academic competence was much greater than their actual past performance (based on records in the admissions office). z The other group was relatively accurate in assessing their own abilities. At the end of their sophomore year, the self-enhancers, who had expected much greater academic success than they had achieved, reported significantly higher subjective well-being. z A behavioral measure, however, suggested otherwise: They were 32 percent more likely to have dropped out of school.

z Other research demonstrates that people whose views of themselves are overly favorable relative to independent observers or peer informants show numerous psychological and social difficulties, both longitudinally and cross-sectionally (Colvin, Block, and Funder, 1995). z For example, men who were highly self-enhancing at age 18 were described by observer Q-sorts at age 23 as having fluctuating moods, being deceitful and distrustful, and having brittle defenses. Low self-enhancers, in comparison, were described as cheerful, . straightforward and forthright, and dependable y (The data are not yet in on whether some degree of self- enhancement, accompanied by “positive illusions” [Taylor and Brown, 1988] that foster hope and effort, is adaptive. )

z Research on repressive coping styles (which refers not to the use of repression but to a tendency to avoid feeling emotions as a way of managing distress) documents a direct link between defensive disavowal of affect, particularly anger, and physical illness (Schwartz, 1990; Weinberger, 1990, 1992). z Subjects characterized by this style report low anxiety but have high scores on the Marlowe-Crowne scale (Crowne & Marlow, 1960), which appears to measure some combination of defensiveness, social desirability, and overcontrol of affect. z Repressors, like avoidants in the Kobak study and the subjects with illusory mental health in the studies by Shedler and colleagues, report low levels of anxiety while demonstrating marked physiological reactivity.

z They also have difficulty retrieving unpleasant memories (Davis & Schwartz, 1987), as do people with avoidant attachment styles (Mikulincer and Orbach, 1995). z Weinberger and his colleagues (1990) have demonstrated a link between repressive coping (particularly suppression of aggressive or angry feelings) and both cholesterol levels and asthma. z Individuals with this coping style, like individuals who report high levels of anxiety, also show higher salivary cortisol levels than genuinely low-anxious individuals, suggesting hyperreactivity to potentially stressful encounters (Brown, Tomarken, Orth, Loosen, Kalin, and Davidson, 1996). z Other research has uncovered an association between repressive strategies and vulnerability to cancer (Jensen, 1987; Weinberger, 1992).

z. Apparently, inhibiting conscious access to one's emotions places the body, and particularly the heart and the immune system, under considerable stress. z. Freud may be dead, but his theories are proving increasingly useful in predicting who will be joining him sooner rather than later. y. Westen, D.

The Role of Mental Representations of the Self, Others and Relationships: Prototypes (Transference) z We exposed subjects to a description of a new, unknown person, allegedly seated next door. z The description resembled either a positively or negatively toned significant other from the subject’s own life, or from another subject’s life. z As predicted -- and replicating previous work -- subjects misremembered the target person as having more representationconsistent features when the target resembled their own significant other, rather than someone else’s. ” y Andersen, S. M. and Baum, A. (1994). Transference in interpersonal relations: inferences and affect based on significant-other representations

Catharsis z “For the past decade, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that when individuals write about emotional experiences, significant physical and mental health improvements follow. . . ” ximprovements in immune function, autonomic activity, grade improvement, laid-off reemployment, less absenteeism xmore observable, rather than less, with objective measures • Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Writing about Emotional Experiences as a Therapeutic Process. Psychological Science, 162 -166

Studies of the Oedipus complex z Watson and colleagues (Watson & Getz, 1990) asked parents of children age 3 -6 to record over 7 -days the number of affectionate and aggressive acts displayed toward same- and opposite-sex parents. y affection toward the opposite-sex parent and aggression toward the same-sex parent were significantly more common than the reverse. y This Oedipal pattern was strongest at age 4 and began to decline by age 5. y These findings are particularly important because they are neither intuitively obvious nor predictable from other theories; in fact, based on socialization, social learning, and reinforcement history on might expect more aggression toward fathers from children of both sexes.

Is Freud dead? z. Little modern concentration on ego, id, superego ztherapy is no longer an archaeological expedition for lost memories znot much belief in the singular role of aggressive and sexuality zbut accruing evidence for yunconsciousness, ambivalence, catharsis, transference