Class 4

Relational Matrix /

Ego Psychology

Brain selected by culture

1. Adaptive value of sharing, empathy, cooperation

2. Language produces meaning, rather than is the "ink" through which meaning is conveyed.

3. Brain requires cultural context to function.

Freud: Focused too much on individual, neglected "social field"

Mind Arise From Culture

Relational By Design

Humans genetically wired to be relational

Bowlby--attachment a biological imperative.

a. Need for mom eclipses all other needsb. Mom only needs to be there. c. Attachment doesn't come from other needs, it is itself a primary need.

Attachment evidenced behaviorally: sucking, smiling, clinging, crying, following.

Evidence that Attachment is Hard-Wired

1. Infants seek out social relations from Day 1Prefer human face over other forms AT BIRTH

2. Infants show selective preferences for:* Human voice* Human form* Focus first at 8" away, not 1" away. Indicates?

Focuses on face (social) not breast (sustenance)

* Can distinguish scent of mom's milk from other moms'* Mom's face becomes familiar "gestalt" w/n week.* Within weeks shows repertoire of social behaviors

Matrix POV Suggests All Mental Content Comes from Social Field

Freud: People born with certain "meanings" that shapeidentity, personality

Neo-Freudians: Social field, culture, provides meanings.

Moana and Tikiti

Up and down arrows

Bomb whistle

Entering and Leaving arrows

Ant emotional signals: http://home.olemiss.edu/~hickling/

Relational by Intent(Fairbairn)

Humans crave relatedness

Seek social contact at any price.

Abused children, abused spouses loyal to abusersPlease principal (Freud, Skinner) can't explainSocial contact therefore an "Unconditioned Stim"

At core of repressed is not trauma, but a relationship

Prospect of "getting better" (rejecting bad rels) terrifying. Why?

The Therapist as a "good bike"

Relational By Implication(Winnicott, Kohut)

The self as developmental goal

Sense of self a complex achievement, requires others

Psych problem: Self, world always changes, BUT needsteady orientation point. A "core" self = compass

Core self occurs thru primary relationships with parents* Reflect self back to infant* Be idealiaziable

Mother (parent) needs to be "good enough mom"

D.W. Winnicott1896-1971

Career first as pediatrician. Keen observer.

Paradoxes of development:

Separation necessary for union

Communicate w/o depletion

Be touched w/o being exploited

Be total self w/o being isolated

Development of the Person

Freud assumes personhood. Winnicott does not.

Development of "person", aka of "self" is central developmental goal.

Notes that some people are not persons. What does this mean?

* Too compliant to others; live with "as if" self--adapted to others'wishes, needs.

* Not connected to others: Unable to extend self to others, isolated.

"Good Enough" MotherMother brings the world to infant. What does this mean?

Important tasks of mother:

a. Experience of omnipotence

b. Reflect baby's experience back to baby--serves as a mirror

c. Allows the baby to be alone. Does not intrude.

d. Holding --> "containing" --> integrity. Why?

Failure in these tasks lead to "impingement" by mother --> fragmentation

a. Split btwn true self (based on real needs), and false self (basedon external compliance).

Infant becomes mother's image of him/her, not who he/she truly is.

Transitional Objects

Question: Are there "adult" versions of transitional objects?

Serve to move infant from "hallucinatory omnipotence" to objective reality.

Parent must be complicit in "magical realism" of objects.

* Doesn't question origin of object.* Does not question baby's special rights to object.* Does not push "reality" of object.

Mother as Object

Mom's resilience to child's anger, usage: * "non-retaliatory durability" * Should provide opportunity for reparation

Why is this important to child?

* Others "not destroyed" by him* Others have own reality, outside of him* Can learn how and when to experiment, to test* Self lovable (understandable) across different moods, actions.

Object Relations, Emotional Illness, and Treatment

Health: Spontaneous and integrated self

Psychopathology: Corruption of, constriction of, self.

Psychopathology = "Environmental Deficiency Disease"

Regression = point where environment failed child

Unmet needs dominate current motives, personality

Psychotherapy is NOT based on insights, but instead by addressing unmetneeds. Therapist must become "good enough mother."

Winnicott's radical notion: Neurosis sign of healthy personality!!! Why?

Relevance to Social Psychology

1. Role of "healthy self" and conformity.

2. How do infancy/early childhood relations affect how we behave to others?How and what we see in others?

3. Relation between Winnicott's "unmet needs" and Zeigarnik effect?

4. How does "relational matrix" relate to loyalty to: clan, nation, fraternity, football team, etc?