Dr. Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalytic Perspective“first comprehensive theory of personality”

(1856-1939)

Biography: Freud went toUniversity of Vienna 1873Was a Voracious Reader &Medical School Graduate

Specialized in NervousDisorders

Some patients’ disordersSome patients’ disordershad no physical cause!had no physical cause!

Why Psychoanalysis?Q: What caused neurologicalsymptoms in patients with no

physical neurological problems?

Freud felt he needed to access the Unconscious through Free Association

and analysis of discussions [psychoanalysis]

UnconsciousHypnosis

FreeAssociation

“Psychoanalysis”

The Unconscious“the mind is like an iceburg - mostly hidden”“the mind is like an iceburg - mostly hidden”

Conscious Awarenesssmall part above surface

(Preconscious)

Unconsciousbelow the surface

(thoughts, feelings,wishes, memories)

Repressionbanishing unacceptablethoughts & passions to

Unconscious revealed throughDreams & Slips

Freud & Personality StructureId - energy constantly striving to satisfy basic drives

Pleasure Principle

Ego - seeks to gratify the Id in realistic waysReality Principle

Super Ego- voice of consciencethat focuses on howwe ought to behave

Ego SuperEgo

Id

Freud & Personality Development“personality forms during the first few years of life,rooted in unresolved conflicts of early childhood”

“personality forms during the first few years of life,rooted in unresolved conflicts of early childhood”

Psychosexual StagesOral (0-18 mos) - centered on the mouthAnal (18-36 mos) - focus on bowel/bladder eliminationPhallic (3-6 yrs) - focus on genitals/“Oedipus Complex”

(Identification & Gender Identity)Latency (6-puberty) - sexuality is dormantGenital (puberty on) - sexual feelings toward others

Strong conflict can fixate an individual at Stages 1,2 or 3

Struggle of Id, Ego & Super EgoId

SuperEgo

Ego

Ego protects itself viaDefense Mechanisms

Defense MechanismsDefense Mechanisms reduce/redirectanxiety by distorting reality

When the inner wargets out of hand, the result is Anxiety

• Repression - banishes certain thoughts/feelings from consciousness (underlies all other defense mechanisms)

• Regression - retreating to earlier stage of fixateddevelopment

• Reaction Formation - ego makes unacceptable impulses appear as their opposites

• Projection - attributes threatening impulses to others• Rationalization - generate self-justifying explanations to hide

the real reasons for our actions• Displacement - divert impulses toward a more

acceptable object• Sublimation - transform unacceptable impulse into

something socially valued

Defense Mechanisms

Freudian Theories

• Oedipus Complex [Son fixated on Mother]

• Electra Complex [Daughter fixated on Father]

• Penis Envy [Girl wishing she were a Boy]

• Transference [Our traits we see in others but don’t recognize in ourselves]

Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective

Were Freud’s theoriesthe “best of his time”or were they simply

incorrect?

Current researchcontradicts

many of Freud’sspecific ideas

Development does notstop in childhood

Dreams may not beunconscious

drives and wishes

Slips of the tongue arelikely competing

“nodes” in memory network

Freud Today

• While still considered the father of modern psychology, many of Freud’s theories were never really tested or proven scientifically. – He utilized a few case studies, such as Dora that you read about in

your handbook, to create his theories.– From these few cases, he hypothesized to the many.

• Today, modern psychologists rely on more scientific approaches.– They create a hypothesis and use the scientific method to create an

experiment, using larger groups of subjects and holding as many variable stable as possible to focus on the one being tested.