Chapter 3: The Psychoanalytic Approach: Freudian Theory, Application and
Assessment
The first comprehensive theory of personality was developed by Sigmund Freud about
100 years ago. After working with hypnosis to help patients suffering from hysteria,
Freud came to understand the power of unconscious influences on behavior.
Personality can be divided into conscious, preconscious, and unconscious parts.
Also--- personality can be divided into the id, ego, and superego.
Psychological activity is powered by psychic energy, called libido.
Intrapsychic conflict creates tension, and the goal of human behavior is to return to a tensionless state.
Freud's theory---a healthy personality is one in which the ego controls id impulses and superego demands. To do this, ego often uses defense mechanisms--which include repression--in which traumatic information is pushed out of awareness.
Other defense mechanisms include sublimation, displacement, reaction formation, denial, intellectualization, and projection. With the exception of sublimation, the ego uses these defense mechanisms at a cost.
Psychosexual stages of development.
Freud maintained that young children pass through stages of development characterized by the primary erogenous zone for each stage. Children pass through oral, anal, and phallic stages on their way to healthy sexual expression in the genital stage.
Excessive trauma during these early years may cause psychic energy to become fixated.
An important step in the development of adult personality takes place with the resolution of the Oedipus complex at the end of the phallic stage.
Psychoanalysts developed several methods for getting at unconscious material.
Freud called dreams the "royal road to the unconscious." He interpreted the symbols in his patients' dreams to understand unconscious impulses.
Freudian psychologists use projective tests, free association, and hypnosis to get at this material.
Clues about unconscious feelings also may be expressed in Freudian slips, accidents, and symbolic behavior.
Freud developed the first system of psychotherapy, called psychoanalysis. Most of the time in this lengthy therapy procedure is spent bringing the unconscious sources of the clients' problems into awareness.
A Freudian therapist actively interprets the true (unconscious) meanings of the clients' words, dreams, and actions for them. One of the first signs that psychoanalysis is

progressing is resistance, in which a client stops cooperating with the therapeutic process in order to halt the therapist's threatening efforts to bring out key hidden material.
Many Freudian psychologists rely on projective tests to measure the concepts of interest to them. test takers are asked to respond to ambiguous stimuli, such as inkblots. Because there are no real answers, responses are assumed to reject unconscious associations.
Srengths of the Freudian approach is the tremendous influence Freud had on personality theorists.
Freud developed the first system of psychotherapy and introduced many concepts into the domain of scientific inquiry.
Critics point out that many of Freud's ideas were not new and that many aspects of his theory are not testable.
Others criticize his use of biased data in developing his theory.
Many of those who studied with Freud also disliked his emphasis on instinctual over social causes of psychological disorders and the generally negative picture he painted of human nature.

Chapter 3: The Psychoanalytic Approach: Freudian Theory, Application, and Assessment
1.
Give three examples of ways in which Freudian theory has influenced our culture. Tell the story of how Freud discovered the unconscious.
2.
Describe the topographic model proposed by Freud. State the divisions of the human personality in the topographic model and give an example of material from each.
3.
Describe the structural model of personality proposed by Freud. Define each division and state the objective of each structure and the principles on which each rests.
Explain where in the topographic model each of the three parts of the structural model can be found.
4.
Give the name and meaning behind each of the two major categories of instinct.
Explain how psychic energy and each of these drives are involved in psychological functions, according to Freud.
5.
List by name each of the Freudian ego defense mechanisms and give a definition and example for each. Identify the most and least successful defense mechanisms.
6.
Describe each of the stages of psychosexual development. State the tenets upon which
Freud's theory of personality development rests. Give the approximate ages and an example of a fixation related to each stage.
7.
Describe the various techniques for getting at unconscious material. Specify the importance and function of dreams according to Freud. State the ways in which the unconscious is revealed in projective tests, free association, and in everyday life.
8.
Discuss Freud's system of psychotherapy to treat psychological disorders. Explain the basis of psychoanalysis and describe the techniques used to get and interpret unconscious material.
9.
Explain the role of resistance and the roles of transference and countertransference in the therapy process. State the optimal outcome of treatment using psychoanalysis.
10.
Discuss the use of projective tests as a means of personality assessment. Give the names and a description of three projective tests. State the criticisms that have been made and potential misuses of projective tests.
11.
Indicate the strengths of the psychoanalytic approach to personality, including the benefits for which we can give Freud credit and Freud's place in history.
12.
Identify three general criticisms that can be made of Freud's theory of personality.
Explain why some argue that Freud's ideas do not make a valuable scientific theory.