TOP – LESSON 2 SIGMUND FREUD’S BIOGRAPHY Born in Freiberg Moravia (now the Czech Republic) in 1856 Spent most of life in Vienna Austria 1884 First born child of Jacob and Amalie Nathanson Freud Was the eldest son of 8 Studied medicine, specializing in psychiatry, interested in science After 1900 wrote developed international circle of followers (Adler, Jung and others) young, ambitious physician A scholarly, serious-minded youth, Freud did not have a close friendship with any of his younger siblings. He did, however, enjoy a warm, indulgent relationship with his mother Freud was drawn into medicine because he was intensely curious about human nature he preferred teaching and doing research in physiology discovered a drug - used successfully to energize soldiers suffering from near exhaustion the drug had a pleasant aroma and an unusual effect on the lips and mouth wild man, feeling the effects of the drug young doctor wrote a pamphlet extolling the benefits of the drug cocaine 1890s, Freud suffered both professional isolation and personal crises Freud regarded himself as his own best patient. his realization that he was now middleaged and had yet to achieve the fame he so passionately desired. at midlife, Freud was suffering from selfdoubts, depression, and an obsession with his own death OVERVIEW OF PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY Freud literally dreamed of making a monumental discovery and achieving fame twin cornerstones of psychoanalysis, sex, and aggression childhood sexual experiences were the source of adult hysteria - Studies on Hysteria turned into Psychoanalysis Freud’s understanding of human personality was based on his experiences with patients, his analysis of his own dreams, and his vast readings in the various sciences and humanities 3 Levels of the Mind theory followed observation Freud relied more on deductive reasoning WHY DID FREUD HAVE DIFFICULTIES WITH SO MANY FORMER FRIENDS? Freud himself answered the question, stating that “it is not the scientific differences that are so important; it is usually some other kind of animosity (hatred/dislike), jealousy, or revenge that gives the impulse to enmity (mutual hatred)” Freud was a sensitive, passionate person who had the capacity for intimate, almost secretive friendships. LEVELS OF MENTAL LIFE Freud’s greatest contribution to personality theory is his exploration of the unconscious and his insistence that people are motivated primarily by drives of which they have little or no awareness three levels of mental life are used to designate both a process and a location merely hypothetical and has no real existence within the body Unconscious o For example, a man may know that he is attracted to a woman but may not fully understand all the reasons for the attraction, some of which may even seem irrational o Freud believed that childhood experiences can appear in adult dreams even though the dreamer has no conscious recollection of these experiences Preconscious o contents of the preconscious come from two sources conscious perception unconscious Conscious o Ideas can reach consciousness from two different directions Perceptual conscious system Mental structure PROVINCES OF THE MIND three-part structural model merely hypothetical constructs Id o A newborn infant is the personification of the Id. The infant seeks gratification of needs without regard for what is possible o is illogical and can simultaneously entertain incompatible ideas o is primitive, chaotic, inaccessible to consciousness, unchangeable, amoral, illogical, unorganized, and filled with energy received from basic drives Ego o As children begin to experience parental rewards and punishment, they learn what to do in order to gain pleasure and avoid pain. o what they should and should not do. o must serve a third master Superego o 2 subsystems conscience ego-ideal o it has no contact with the outside world and therefore is unrealistic o not sharp and well defined DYNAMICS OF PERSONALITY Drives 2 major headings: o Sex or Eros (Libido) The ultimate aim of the sexual drive (reduction of sexual tension) cannot be changed can take many forms, including narcissism, love, sadism, and masochism o Aggression or Thanatos Characterization of Impetus o Impetus o Source o Aim o Object 3 KINDS OF ANXIETY are seldom clear-cut or easily separated Neurotic Anxiety Moral Anxiety Reality Anxiety Too much use of defense mechanism can lead to psychopathology. all defense mechanisms protect the ego against anxiety STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT developmental theory 3 primary erogenous Zones Infantile Period DEFENSE MECHANISMS the more defensive we are, the less psychic energy we have left to satisfy id impulses Oral Anal Phallic Psychosexual Stages Freud first elaborated on the idea of defense mechanisms in 1926 and his daughter Anna Freud further redefined and organized the concept. Repression Reaction Formation Displacement Fixation Regression Projection Introjection Sublimation first 4 or 5 years of life most crucial for personality formation. an interest in the genitals, delight in sexual pleasure, and manifest sexual excitement. Oral phase o As they grow older, however, they are more likely to experience feelings of frustration and anxiety o As they become adults, they are capable of gratifying their oral needs in a variety of ways, including sucking candy, chewing gum, biting pencils, overeating, smoking cigarettes, pipes and cigars and sarcastic remarks Anal Phase o Harsh or lenient toilet training can make a child either Anal Retentive or Anal Expulsive Freud became increasingly convinced that neurotic symptoms were related to childhood fantasies rather than to material reality, and he gradually adopted a more passive psychotherapeutic technique FREUD’S LATER THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUE The primary goal of Freud’s later psychoanalytic therapy was to uncover repressed memories through free association and dream analysis Free Association o transference and resistance Dream Analysis o dreams are wish fulfilments o Freud believed that dreams are formed in the unconscious but try to work their way into the conscious. o In interpreting dreams, Freud (1917/1963) ordinarily followed one of two methods. The first was to ask patients to relate their dream and all their associations to it Phallic Phase Latency Period Genital Period Maturity FREUD’S EARLY THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUE their ego functioning in the center of an ever-expanding world of consciousness APPLICATIONS OF PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY Freud was an innovative speculator, probably more concerned with theory building than with treating sick people Freud used a second method— dream symbols—to discover the unconscious elements underlying the manifest content. Freudian Slips o Freud believed that many everyday slips of the tongue or pen, misreading, incorrect hearing, misplacing objects, and temporarily forgetting names or intentions are not chance accidents but reveal a person’s unconscious intentions. CRITERIA OF EVALUATION - - - SEVERAL LIMITATIONS OF PSYCHOANALYTIC TREATMENT Not all old memories can or should be brought into consciousness Treatment is not effective with psychoses or with constitutional illnesses as it is with phobias, hysterias, and obsessions. A patient once cured, may later develop another psychic problem. - generate research o researchers have conducted studies that relate either directly or indirectly to psychoanalytic theory low on its openness to falsification o much of the research evidence consistent with Freud’s ideas can also be explained by other models, Freudian theory is nearly impossible to falsify very loose organizational framework o is so loose and flexible that seemingly inconsistent data can coexist within its boundaries not a good guide to solve practical problems o Freudian theory is unusually comprehensive, many psychoanalytically trained practitioners rely on it to find solutions to practical day-to-day low on internal consistency o Psychoanalysis is an internally consistent theory, if one remembers that Freud wrote over a period of more than 40 years and gradually altered the meaning of some concepts during that time. - theories are difficult to test o some words are not operationally defined o needlessly cumbersome - CONCEPT OF HUMANITY - - - deterministic o Humans have little control over their present actions because many of their behaviors are rooted in unconscious strivings that lie beyond present awareness Pessimistic o we come into the world in a basic state of conflict, with life and death forces operating on us from opposing sides causality over teleology o Freud believed that present behavior is mostly shaped by past causes rather than by people’s goals for the future - - unconscious over conscious o unconscious motivation. Freud believed that everything from slips of the tongue to religious experiences is the result of a deep-rooted desire to satisfy sexual or aggressive drives biology over culture o Because Freud believed that many infantile fantasies and anxieties are rooted in biology equal emphasis on uniqueness and similarity o Humanity’s evolutionary past gives rise to a great many similarities among people. Nevertheless, individual experiences, especially those of early childhood, shape people in a somewhat unique manner and account for many of the differences among personalities.
