module 33: psychoanalytic perspective intro psych dec 2, 2009 class #39

Module 33:Psychoanalytic Perspective

Intro Psych

Dec 2, 2009Class #39

I’m just the messenger…

To the women in our class, don’t take it out on me… Freud’s views are considered by many to be

sexist in nature but lets try to find both the good and bad in his theories and maybe come to some conclusions when we’re finished…

THE ASSAULT ON FREUD

Watson commonly referred to as “The Father of Behaviorism” spent much of his career attacking Freudian views… In 1930, he predicted “20 years from now

Freudian Theory will be placed on the same plane as a phrenologist?”

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Background Information

1881: At age 25, earned MD and went into private practice specializing in neurological disorders Became interested in hidden aspects of

personality when he found himself confronted with patients whose apparent disorders made no neurological sense

Example: Anna O.

Classic Freudian Setting

What is the classic setting? Why this set-up?

Used hypnosis and then free association Classic Freudian setting Freud felt nothing was accidental – dreams, slips of

tongue, slips of pen, etc.

Iceberg Theory of the Mind

Freud’s Life

1884: Began to experiment with cocaine Felt that this “magical substance” relieved depression Deeply scarred by this “cocaine episode”

1885: He bounces back and gets grant to study hysteria and hypnosis under Jean Charcot in Paris Major break in his career All of psychology might be different today These five months changed his life and maybe ours

forever

Freud’s Life

1902: Vienna Wednesday Psychoanalytic Society Initially took place in

Freud’s apartment Founded officially in

1910 and Alfred Adler became first president

After a dispute with Freud, Adler resigned and Freud took over as president of the Society until 1938

Agree or be uninvited next week…

Freud saw himself as the leader, teacher, and prophet of this group of intellectuals

Freud’s Life

1906 Begins correspondence with Carl

Jung From “crown prince” to traitor Freud couldn’t deal with Jung’s

belief in mythology and the collective unconscious and ghosts

1913 Breaks all ties with Jung and his

followers 1918

Loses entire fortune which was tied up in Austrian State Bonds

Freud’s Life

1923 The first signs of Freud’s

oral cancer are detected 1920’s

Honors, honors, and more honors

1930 A heart attack forces him to

give up smoking (for awhile anyway)

1930’s More honors

1939 Freud dies

Freud’s Authoritarianism

Freud was authoritarian and paternalistic… Unable to tolerate disagreements Examples: Adler, Jung, Ferenczi, and others They were his children, his disciples, and they

were to accept what he said without question Disagreements were an act of treason

Rigid Authoritarianism

This problem of Freud’s has been well documented

He was intolerant of others opinions and refused revision of his theories

He never accepted any significant suggestions for change in his theoretical work

Either one had to be completely in favor of his theory or it was taken as a personal attack on him

A drastic example…

Sandor Ferenczi was a loyal pupil of Freud who at the end of his life mentioned to Freud certain beliefs concerning therapy

He felt the patient needed to feel that the therapist really cared about him

Freud became increasingly impatient and warned that Ferenczi was “on dangerous ground” and was departing from the fundamentals of psychoanalysis

Discussion over!!!

Freud felt that all this will do is cause the patient to become dependent on the therapist – “your ideas are wrong” The interview ended with Freud ready to blow

a gasket Ferenczi was hurt by this reaction and held

out his hand in an affectionate adieu Freud disgustedly turned his back and walked

out of the room

Freud’s Personality Structure

For Freud, personality was composed of three interacting systems: id, ego, and superego

Freud’s Personality Structure

Id Operates on the “pleasure principle” Immediate gratification

Ego Operates on the “reality principle” Seeks to gratify id’s impulses in realistic ways that will

bring long-term pleasure rather than pain and destruction

Superego Operates on the “ideal principle” What is morally correct

Freud’s Personality Development:The Psychosexual Stages

Freud’s analysis of his patient’s problems and memories convinced him that personality is decisively shaped in the first few year’s of life He felt that his patient’s symptoms stemmed from

unresolved conflicts that originated in early childhood He concluded that children pass through a series of

psychosexual stages of development – stages during which the Id’s pleasure-seeking energies are focused on pleasure-sensitive areas of the body called erogenous zones

The Psychosexual Stages

Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genital

Freud’s Oral Stage

About first 12-18 months of life Focus: sucking, biting, etc.

According to Freud, a fixation here causes which problems as an adult?

Freud’s Anal Stage

Approx. 18 months to three years of age Anal region is focus

Toilet-training, etc.

Fixation causes???

Freud’s Phallic Stage (3-6yrs old)

Children realize anatomical difference – up to this point Freud feels that children thought that the other had the same “equipment” they did…

Boys: Initially think girls are hiding penis; then think its been

cut off (ouch!) According to Freud, at this point in the phallic stage

the boy has discovered masturbation and wants to direct this phallic activity towards his mother

Freud’s Phallic Stage: Boys

At this point, boys enter Oedipus complex and are in a “sexual love” with mother and want to kill father and marry mother

They want sole sexual possession “Castration anxiety” ends this…

Fear of their father creates the superego Desires for mother goes deeply into unconscious and

creates strong superego He identifies with dad and incorporates many of his

values


Basically, he abandons the incestuous desires of the Id (under the threat of castration) and subdues the pleasure principle… He does however understand that his time will

come…he’ll get a woman someday hence he just has to wait to fulfill his libidinal urges


This ends the Oedipus complex for boys… Their desires for mom go deeply into the

unconscious…later on in life other unfulfillable and inexpressible wishes will follow into this repressed area – like prohibitions on behavior from parents, teachers, police, religious authorities, etc.

Freud’s Phallic Stage: Girls

The path for girls is less clear: First of all, Freud believes that all girls

suffer from “penis envy”…

She has seen it, and knows that she is without it, and she wants to have it…


Freud feels that girls try to deal with these feelings in three possible ways: Denial – she persists in her thinking (at least

for awhile) that she has a penis and this leads to psychosis later in life

I’ll get one somehow – she may somehow fixate on the idea that she will someday get a penis by whatever means possible

The normal route – accept the fact that she has been castrated


According to Freud, many girls believe they have been castrated, probably as a punishment for masturbating…

Well, regardless of the route taken… Inferiority complex develops which carries into adulthood Furious with mother

Anger and hatred for not giving her a penis Contempt for entire female sex Also, she feels the clitoris is inferior to the penis…so much

so that she gives up masturbation entirely…even the idea disgusts her


Ok, so what happens next… Her father becomes a love object…

Since I can’t get a penis – I’ll have dad’s baby instead

At this point, Freud announces, “the girl has turned into a little woman”

Mother is rival The mother becomes solely the object of

jealousy and rivalry


So then, how does the Oedipus (Electra) complex end for girls??? Freud struggles with explanation… Basically, somehow (???) its repressed

But not deeply into unconscious… Girls don’t ever develop strong superego Thus, they are not as moral as men Aren’t suitable to be leaders, rulers (someone better

tell Hillary)


Basically, girls never formed the strong superego – its not anchored like the boys and thus their unconscious wishes are more likely to rise up into consciousness during adulthood


Many girls stay in Oedipus complex forever… Nothing really ever ended it for them Marry guys like dad

Latency Period(Age 6 to puberty)

Now, with sexual feelings are repressed we see sexually-dormant children playing mostly with same-sex friends

Genital Stage(Puberty)

Youths begin to experience sexual feelings towards others

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms

Freud believed we protect ourselves from anxiety by using these: Repression Regression Reaction Formation Projection Rationalization Displacement

module 33: psychoanalytic perspective intro psych dec 2, 2009 class #39

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