Daniel J. Pool

Senior Seminar

Dr. Weber

August 5, 2010

Abstract

The intent of this paper is to explore the philosophical and psychological aspects of

modern thought using popular culture as a medium through the television program SpongeBob.

This is important as a civilization’s ideology can often be discovered in even seemingly mundane

entertainment. Within the characters and places of Nickelodeon’s programming giant, it is

believed that certain forces; personality types, social roles, love, hate, friendship, and even belief

structures interplay unnoticed by most casual observers. These themes, common to adults, are

now being displayed to younger audiences to good ends, in a society that discusses such social

forces less.

Pool 2

Daniel J. Pool

Senior Seminar

Dr. Weber

August 5, 2010

SpongeBob on the Couch; a Psychological and Philosophical Examination of the Post-

Millennium Human Condition

“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” The answer may be harder than one would

think. While seeming innocent, SpongeBob SquarePants has become a symbol of the

Millennials; nurtured, independent, and “ready to go”. In order to better understand inter and

intra socio-behavior and ideology of modern youth one must study the media which represents

and reflects them. To begin the inner journey through Bikini Bottom it would be important to

learn the history of the program, its cast of characters, and to look closely at the area of Bikini

Bottom itself.

Nickelodeon premiered SpongeBob SquarePants on July 17, 1999 (Brown 1). For over a

decade it has entertained youths with brightly colored characters and adolescent situational

comedy. The fry cook boasts over 70 million viewers monthly and was invented by marine

biologist turned cartoonists and writer Steve Hillenburg (Brown 1).

For the purposes of this paper the first three seasons will be focused on primarily. To date

eight seasons have been aired (Parker 1), six released on DVD. Though surrounded in much

confusion, it is surmised that after season three the principle creator, Steve Hillenburg, left the

show as a writer and with him much of the deeper episodes; also it would be near impossible to

cover the colossal amount of SpongeBob media that exists in the confines of this present work.

Pool 3

The average episode features anywhere from six to sixty characters. Three principle

characters however will be discussed heavily; Patrick Star, Squidward Tentacles, and of course

SpongeBob SquarePants. These three are the cornerstone of the SpongeBob universe. It is also

arguable that they represent three important facets of modern thought, and possibly much more.

SpongeBob himself (itself) is an asexual yellow sponge. Youthful and fun-loving

(Shrinkette), his greatest life accomplishment is getting to work at a fast food dinner ("Employee

of the Month"), he lives in a humble pineapple ("Reef Blower"), and his favorite hobby is

catching and releasing jelly fish ("Jellyfishing"). He has untold amounts of optimistic energy and

is a symbol of the American Dream (Parker 2). Mr. SquarePants is the model of a simple man

with simple dreams.

Patrick Star is the best friend and local loveable pink dunce of Bikini Bottom. Patrick has

no goals, no dreams, and no aspirations. In fact the only thing that does drive him is the search

for a quarter for the local mechanized seahorse ride. While SpongeBob is a simple man, Patrick

is just plain simple.

Squidward Tentacles is the local bitter failed artist and cephalopod. Though he wants to

achieve greatness, fame, and fortune in his many hobbies and art forms, he never finds the

appreciation or recognition that he desires. Over the course of multiple rejections he has become

numb to the world’s problems and settled into a dead-end job at the Krusty Krab.

Looking at the characters we initially see silly cartoon marine life forms, however much

more is just below the surface. First it is important to note that the three live on the same street.

Squidward lives between Patrick and SpongeBob on a lone track of road. Many episodes revolve

around the fact that Squidward does not enjoy the company of his giggly neighbors.

Pool 4

Throughout several episodes observers discover that SpongeBob cannot drive a boat.

That is to say that though our perky hero is our model of adulthood independence and yet has not

completed the rather universal rite of passage for modern teenagers, driving. Modern teenagers

see this as the passage into adulthood or the Formal Operations Period (Phillips 164) as Piaget

would say. Formal Operations is the fourth level of Piaget’s development model and is the point

in which an individual can use abstract thought.

Here it would be imperative to make a distinction. SpongeBob is an abstract thought

(even for Bikini Bottom), but he has trouble thinking in an abstract manner. When told by Mr.

Krabs to, “Say hello to my daughter Pearl.” in his gruff seamen’s way, SpongeBob misinterprets

his meaning and, “Hell-o, Pole.” shakes hands with a ceiling beam. Thus SpongeBob is abstract

but has trouble understanding what that even means.

This means SpongeBob is caught in the third stage of Piaget’s theory of Cognitive

Development, Concrete Operational Stage (Phillips 99). In this stage the individual can use

transitive properties (if X then Y them Z), classification, and develop methods of problem

solving. SpongeBob is said to be here as he is intelligent but not fully developed.

His teacher is Ms. Puff, a somewhat tortured individual ("Doing Time"), who tries to

endlessly instruct SpongeBob (it is as if the information just goes in one pore and out another).

She uses the traditional classroom approach (Hill 2) and a “hands-on” student driver approach.

She tries to reinforce SpongeBob’s learning with complements and awards (such as getting to be

the hall monitor for a day) in a Skinnerian fashion (63) as well as build cognitions between

logical concepts with essay assignments (103) but nothing seems to sink in.

SpongeBob never masters the skill of boat driving probably for several reasons, but here

are two of the most evident. First, according to Vygotsky driving is obviously outside of Mr.

Pool 5

SquarePants’ “zone of proximal development” (Walker). That is to say that SpongeBob just does

not have the ability-even with lots of help by the instructor-to be able to decontextualize the

meditational means to perform the actions it takes to drive a boat. The second factor is the state

of SpongeBob’s developmental stage, Concrete Operations Stage (Phillips 99) as discussed.

Because SpongeBob takes most commands literally, as seen whenever he is given a

command ("Pizza Delivery"); it can be summarized that the fry cook is torn between stages of

life (Phillips 114). Learning to drive a boat would be his final ascension into adulthood, as he

would be able to perform and interpret abstract tasks, such as “Put it in reverse.”—Ms. Puff

("Boating School"), as ‘put your foot on the brake, look behind you, change gears, release the

brake slowly and turn the wheel slightly…”. The later is what actually occurs while the first is

what is stated. This shows the learning principle of scaffolding (Walker). If the teacher wants

success with their learner then they will need to “build” scaffolding that the learner can use to

perform the task with help.

This follows the four steps of Vygotsky’s classroom (Walker 1). The teacher models the

wanted tasks and the student watches. Ms. Puff drives and talks about what she is doing to

SpongeBob. 2) Then the apprentice stage, where teacher asks the student for help. So Ms. Puff

would ask SpongeBob to tell her what she is doing while driving. 3) The teacher tests the

scaffolding by observing as the student performs the task. So Ms. Puff lets SpongeBob drive and

she gives occasional added insight. 4) The independent use stage, the student performs the task

while the teacher watches, or the driving test.

In Patrick one would expect to find a very shallow well of knowledge. His brain is as

hard as the rock he lives under, yet he too has layers of meaning. Patrick may struggle with

Pool 6

simple tasks such as opening jars of pickles ("Big Pink Loser") but displays several emotions and

drives common to young men of every and any generation: the need to please his parents.

In the episode entitled "I'm with Stupid", Patrick is in a fury of cleaning and picking

(making) up of his home when SpongeBob comes over to visit. After calming down (to a

degree), Patrick explains that his parents are coming over. He is worried as they are critical of

him for being unintelligent. To help him, SpongeBob offers to act like an imbecile to take the

heat off of Mr. Star.

When Patrick’s parents arrive they make cutting remarks about their son’s home (a rock)

and about him ("I'm with Stupid"). SpongeBob arrives and begins to humor Patrick’s mother and

father with acts of intelligential depravity. The couple laughs at his acts and congratulates their

son on being smart in comparison. As the laughter and insults pile on, SpongeBob asks Patrick if

he could be nicer, and begins to act normal. Patrick’s parents think the sudden change in

behavior is because their son must have taught him to speak while having their heart to heart.

This adds insult to injury and tension escalates.

Finally after tension between parents, child, and sponge break, Patrick tells his parents to

be kinder, making a stand before those he wishes to have acceptance from ("I'm with Stupid").

The victory is short lived as his parents finally arrive, that is his actual parents. The first couple

was just lost and not Patrick’s parents at all. They in fact comment that they forgot that they did

not have children at all.

This seems bizarre, at first glance. To the casual audience this might be just a silly way to

end conflict, but it says more for the individual need for parental acceptance. Immediately an

oblivious question is “Why doesn’t Patrick notice that those weren’t his parents?” The answer

lays in social interaction.

Pool 7

Five of the major motivational theories1 all list relatedness and belonging as a major

factor of motivation. That said, Patrick’s need to be accepted and belong with his parents is so

strong that he wants that acceptance from any figure that even remotely resembles his parents to

fulfill that wish (Freud 532). To Maslow, Patrick, is displaying higher level motivational needs

(Maslow 97). Because he has progressed in Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs, need for physiological

and safety are satisfied (51) and he moves into social needs and personal esteem (98).

It would seem that Patrick has accepted his faults or is just ignorant of them. Because of

his great self confidence he may have reached and be preparing for the final level of needs in

Maslow’s Hierarchy Self-Actualization. This level is reserved for those that satisfied every need

in their life and have moved on to the betterment of the soul and individualism (Maslow 100).

For Patrick this would be a great achievement, or anyone as Maslow estimates only two percent

of people ever satisfy enough levels of needs to become self actualized. This is why he is so

quick to join his perceived parents in making fun of SpongeBob.

Not fulfilling his need for belonging creates a threat to his self (Maslow 108). This

episode uses the vehicle of stupidity to display how an individual can turn on their friends if it

aids them in need satisfaction. Within society the individual may replace their parental figures,

but still crave their satisfaction like they were their parents as they adjust to adult life.

This extreme need for parental acceptance may grow from an intense relationship with

his parents based on his birth order (Forer 3). If he is an only child (which will be assumed being

that he may have forgotten brothers or sisters anyway) he would likely have been treated with

constant and close relationships with his parents growing up. Due to anxieties that can grow in a

single child home, as the parents wonder if they have the ability to raise the child correctly, the

child may carry these anxieties into adulthood and second guess if they are acting appropriately

1 Maslow, Alderfer, McClelland, Vroom, Deci & Ryan

Pool 8

(67). Another reason for this anxiety could be Patrick’s inexperience with interpersonal

relationships as a whole (83).

Other characters in Bikini Bottom such as Sandy Cheeks, a Texas squirrel who lives in an

underwater bio-dome, Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob’s boss and occasional friend, Plankton, evil

mastermind and half-crazed archaea, also lead important roles in the life of cartoon marine life.

The sea life of the television show is even more diverse than that of the human realm.

Sandy Cheeks is met early in the first set of episodes (“Tea at the Treedome”). She and

SpongeBob met when she is wrestling an oversized clam and soon become fast friends. Anytime

that she is outside her “Treedome” she has to wear a breathing apparatus and pressure suit to

protect against the sea from crushing her. She practices weight lifting and extreme sports. A foil

to SpongeBob’s physically weak body and grounded sense of realty, Sandy seems an odd choice

for friends, but then again she is a squirrel living a mile or more beneath the surface of the ocean.

When they first met, SpongeBob and Sandy, she invites him to her Treedome for tea

(“Tea at the Treedome). In a moment of wanting to fit in, SpongeBob tells Sandy that he loves

air, but immediately has to ask Patrick what this “air” is. Patrick tells him it means to be proper

(“airs”) and to just hold his pinky up. Of course when SpongeBob does go to meet Sandy he

cannot breathe in her environment and dries out before getting his tea. After understanding her

little “sea critters” problem she fashions them water-bowl helmets and their problem is solved.

At first it would appear that this is not such a strange series of events (considering the

context) and is rather tame, but with the lens of philosophy a very different story emerges. First it

is assumed that SpongeBob is infallible in his doing of good. At the start of the episode he comes

to Sandy’s aid though he cannot physically aid her. So though he has the right motives he is

physically unable to help. Also it is Sandy undergoes a transformation from between being out in

Pool 9

the sea and going into her Treedome. Putting on a massive pressure suit that restricts some of her

movements, the water makes walking and moving more labored and dream-like, yet her

personality is the same throughout.

These ideas could lead one to think of the ocean like a dream, fugue-state, or mental

construction (Maggiolini 2). After defeating a creature much larger without help, possibly a stage

in development, Sandy meets SpongeBob who tried to help her, just as man meets new ideas and

theories throughout life. Then when taken out of the mental “fluid” SpongeBob dries out. He

cannot exist in the physical (dry) land. SpongeBob takes on the identity of morality or pure

reason (Kant 19). A tangible force that affects what we do, but cannot physically aid us in what

we do. Outside of the mind it quickly dries up, just as ideas cannot last in a physical realm. So

by donning a water bowl SpongeBob is able to not only survive in the physical realm but also

converse openly without the threat of drying out.

Bikini Bottom is not always peaceful, however. It is haunted by evil forces. Plankton, a

half-pint thief, constantly tries to steal the Krabby Patty formula (a clandestine recipe that makes

the Krusty Krab so popular) and use it at his restaurant the Chum Bucket (“Plankton!”). Though

it is a fairly silly problem2 it is serious to the inhabitants and represents a greater threat—the

arrival of evil to Bikini Bottom. Other villous characters do exist such as the Dirty Bubble and

Man Ray ("Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II"), but Plankton is of greater concern—he is the

seed of evil for all of Bikini Bottom.

Everywhere Plankton goes he is hated, but he is not thrown out of town. He is not

imprisoned for his crimes (most of the time). He simply exists. He is a microscopic green bean

that convinces SpongeBob on occasion to do evil acts (“Plankton!”) but afterwards disappears

without recourse. Based on this one could conclude that Plankton is the Shadow personality of

2 He could order take out rather than try and steal a patty every day.

Pool 10

the group (Jung 76), a reappearing malignant force that creates chaos only to melt back into the

background after performing his evil acts.

Eugene Krabs is the greedy owner of the Krusty Krab and boss of SpongeBob and

Squidward. Over the course of many episodes of we see Mr. Krabs display his love for money

and even resorts to extreme measures to retain his love of money ("Nasty Patty"). His place in

the show is very important as he is representative of the capitalist society and in many ways a

father figure to SpongeBob (Shrinkette).

The implications of Mr. Krabs are somewhat alarming. As par for life, the individual

replaces parents with managers. The idea that mothers’ hugs could be replaced with paychecks

seems like science fiction, but here it is in a cartoon. SpongeBob has found that moving away

from home does not always mean true freedom. In fact often the opposite, he became chained to

work and friends. In many ways this probably protects him in a Hobbes mentality from harming

himself under the protection of the fast-food leviathan. It still is an idea that does not sit well.

This does provoke a question to the nature of SpongeBob’s character as to why he would

stay at the Krusty Krab if it is a sort of social prison. The answer comes with what SpongeBob

values; his relationships, his home, and his job. A not entirely unfamiliar list than would be held

by a modern individual. It is in his routine of life however that something worth remembering

exists.

Everyday SpongeBob will do one or more of three things; goes to work, plays/visits with

friends, or helps an individual in need. Stuck in a cycle of work and play one would think that he

would grow weary with boredom. Every day, with the howling of a fog horn, he awakes and

greets the day with a cheery disposition. This can be explained with another laborer stuck in an

endless cycle, Sisyphus.

Pool 11

Camus’s Myth of Sisyphus paints the picture of the Greek hero Sisyphus, the fabled king

who for his trickery to the gods is punished to rolling a boulder up a hill only to watch it fall

back to the beginning for eternity (Camus 119). SpongeBob as well forever flips krabby patties

every day for almost no material gain. SpongeBob is an absurd hero; his job has no chance for

advancement, he makes the same old burgers every day, yet he loves his job.

In "Squid on Strike", Squidward and SpongeBob go on strike. When SpongeBob learns

that means not working he is destroyed. He has no routine and his absurd meaning in life is

removed (Camus 122). Without his boulder to push, SpongeBob has to find new meaning in life

and turns to actually ripping up the Krusty Krab as an act of misguided protest. Eventually he

regained his job (to pay for the building), which not surprisingly filled him with great joy.

Other ideas are expressed within SpongeBob. Social dynamics are examined when the

community is endangered. Existential psychodynamic issues arise between neighbors, mental

disorders and neurosis are treated, and postmodernism spills into the sea. The underwater world

of SpongeBob grows to be more than just splatters of color and childhood angst.

In "Texas"; SpongeBob, Patrick, and even Squidward show that they do care for the

overall welfare of the community. The episode revolves around Sandy Cheeks feeling home sick

for dry land. So resolved to leave she packs her things and says her farewell. Wanting her to stay

the inhabitants put together a party for her.

Thus SpongeBob and Patrick go to catch her at the bus station. She has however

determined to not stay. Only by insulting Texas do they get her to chase them back to the party

being held at the Krusty Krab. After beating the aquatic pair she sees that they were trying to

make her feel at home. Even Squidward attends the party to convince her to stay and in doing so

Pool 12

shows that the Social Interest of the community is to keep all of its members together (Ansbacher

& Ansbacher 45).

Reflecting the transcendental nature of thought after the turn of the millennium,

SpongeBob holds some ideas that are more out there than an ordinary cartoon can claim. One

such “transcendental” thought that runs through the program is the postmodern ideology that is at

the core of SpongeBob. Using a mixture of Existentialism and Psychoanalytic philosophical

theory it could be proposed from this that SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick are in actuality a

single person.

Patrick lives by and for pleasure. No thoughts of repercussions or danger ever enter his

mind when he decides to act. Thusly he embodies Freud’s Id (702); a mindless pleasure seeking

being. For Jung this would be the childish or “unbearable age” (99) as it is a time of no

responsibility and is governed by impulse.

SpongeBob is the opposite. He wants nothing more than to do right and uphold good,

working tirelessly for almost nothing in return. He is then a perfect example of Super Ego (Freud

703) in current society.

Then there is Squidward. He is the middle ground between the two principles. He does

what is best for himself, but not if it would hurt another. He strives for more out of life and

craves to be better. At times however he can do erroneous acts, but he can also do what is right.

He is the everyman. Squidward reflects the tired generation X, a culture that hurried into life

rejecting that he would be anything less than the best, only to give up hope and work at a fast

food restaurant; and thusly is our Ego (Freud 702). Striving to put aside his feelings of

inferiority, which cause him constant neurosis (Jung 101), Squidward exemplifies an individual

Pool 13

who “clings to illusions that contradict reality” which then correlates to his mental problems

(Jung 100).

This is a rather extensive jump to make from funny situational cartoon to existential

homologous creature. To illustrate this point then the episode “Naughty Nautical Neighbors” will

show this dynamic of a conflicted individual. The episode starts with Squidward tucked away in

his castle like stone house. From outside he hears the giggling of Patrick and SpongeBob.

Looking outside Squidward witnesses the pair blowing bubbles to each other across his

backyard (“Naughty Nautical Neighbors”). As the bubbles reach the other side of the fence they

pop releasing whatever secrete another whispered into the bubble. Deciding to have some fun

Squidward begins intercepting and soliciting false bubbles insulting each of his neighbors.

Before long the two begin yelling at each other and storm off to their homes, leaving Squidward

alone outside to eat.

He begins to laugh about the pair’s fight so hard he swallows his fork (“Naughty Nautical

Neighbors”). Without much thought Patrick helps the choking squid, which leads to Squidward

thanking him profusely. Wanting to spurn SpongeBob, Patrick invites himself to be Squid’s new

best friend, but eventually ends up hurting Squidward by accident. This formula is repeated with

the sponge and ends up driving Squidward half mad (a fairly common plot element). So

Squidward forces the two to sit down and talk out their problems, so that they will be friends

again and stop bothering him.

Many underlying principles are at work here in “Naughty Nautical Neighbors”. Firstly

harmony is reached when SpongeBob and Patrick are separated and only able to communicate

via “bubbles” of insight across Squidward’s yard. This is an excellent allegory for how the

higher and lower thought principles are filtered through Freud’s the Ego and expressed through a

Pool 14

group (Freud 667). The signals were passed using a fluid, which could not directly processed by

the Ego. This would make the water of the cartoon universe a stream of consciousness, which is

then passed in smaller condensed pockets of consciousness, like the unconsciousness (669).

Freud is however not exactly as academic psychologically. Also terms such as

unconsciousness and Ids are hard to define and test in real world situations. Thusly what other

concepts can be found within a pair of SquarePants?

Looking around the cartoon-ocean blue the observer immediately notices several strange

properties of SpongeBob’s world, and then quickly dismisses them. Watching any episode of

SpongeBob will show that the external world is a boundless green-blue with colored flower-

shaped petals throughout (Parker). The ocean has no boundaries, just as the mind has no

boundaries. Though pain exists, nothing short of erasing3 ("Artist Unknown") one from realty

can destroy psychic force (as its shape may change or be completely dismantled) that is each and

every character.

Taking another look around Bikini Bottom an observer is bombarded by the total

emersion into a fantastical world of postmodernism (Brown 1). Floating blue and green flower

pedals are suspended in blue paint. Though surrounded by water, sinks and facets are emplaced

throughout every home and business. There is a beach, underwater.

At first this seems absurd, but over time the viewer comes to just accept it. It is a

disjunctive open world were only sand and seaweed exists outside the murky blue backgrounds.

The world is minimally filled; all qualities of postmodern art (Sandler 11). Bright vibrant colors

ooze from the television when the show airs, just as Robert Colescott’s Les Desmoiselles

d’Alabama (323). Both the painting and the show are fuzzy boarders between reality and dreams.

Darks and lights form a narrative of a fugue.

3 Literal erasing; using a pencil.

Pool 15

This style of unrealistic cartoon grew out of the American “folk” tradition and the

postmodern movement (Sandler 329). The SpongeBob SquarePants show seems like a Richard

Prince panel come to life. Just like the humorist, the show deals with topics greater than expected

and follow simplicity as a rule.

What does this all mean? How can a children’s show being used to explain modern

thought be of any use? Is there any meaning in all this?

The simple answer is that it is all a mistake. They are just random accidents that just

happen to explain modern ideas of the world. The very fact however that a children’s show can

display this much perceived truth by a casual viewer does mean something: that society believes

and demonstrates its culture passively. No matter the real reason for a joke or gag on SpongeBob

it can be concluded that some level of meaning is built into that reason, even by accident.

Art is the vehicle of the soul to express itself. Thus it only makes sense that even a yellow

sponge can mean something in a modern society. Just as any work from any age betrayals some

level of truth from its culture. For example the works of Ancient Greek thinkers told the reader

about their life, or fictitious works about poets going on a road trip through Hell’s circles tells the

modern reader about the religious and moral structure its creation.

Though its principle characters SpongeBob displayed elements of existential

psychoanalysis, its teachers taught the viewer about learning theory and motivation, in its

families the viewer discovered the truths of love and acceptance, and even Hobbesian theories

can be ascertained from this simple children’s television program.

In regards to the youth of Generation Y; what conclusions can be draw from this work if

it is a reflection of their culture? In more ways than one it means nothing radical has changed or

will. If this many nuances of reality and theory from hundreds of years ago can be found in a

Pool 16

children’s program, and it is assumed this program is representational of their beliefs then

nothing should change. In fact in many ways their beliefs, based on the show, would offer a

much less rebellious and calm philosophy than that of the last sixty years of children.

Though examining the world of SpongeBob and Bikini Bottom it has become apparent

that a lovably energetic fry cook can much more than simply a distraction from life. It is the

intention that reading this paper has shown that a simple children’s cartoon can contain vast

amounts of wisdom, reflecting the inner beliefs and ideals of modern society. By comparing

SpongeBob and his world to layers of psychology, philosophy, sociology, psychodynamics,

existentialism, and morality it becomes obvious that life—fictional, imagined, created, or in

reality—is more than just one theory, one explanation. It takes several schools of thought and

several voices and several minds (as absurd as they may be) to produce a work of reality and

truth. So, “who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” We do, we do.

Pool 17

Works Cited

Adler, Alfred. Superiority and Social Interest, a Collection of Later Writings. Ed. Heinz Ludwig

Ansbacher and Rowena R. Ansbacher. Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP, 1964. Print.

Brown, Melinda. "Nickelodeon Celebrates Pop Culture Icon SpongeBob SquarePants Decade |

Media News International." Media News International | Pulse of Media Industry. 24 June

2009. Web. 05 July 2010. <http://www.mnilive.com/2009/06/nickelodeon-celebrates-

pop-culture-icon-spongebob-squarepants-decade/>.

Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus, and Other Essays. Trans. Justin O'Brien. New York:

Vintage, 1991. Print.

Dupré, Kathryne E., et al. "Workplace aggression in teenage part-time employees." Journal of

Applied Psychology 91.5 (2006): 987-997. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Web. 14 June 2010.

Erikson, Erik H. Identity, Youth, and Crisis. New York: W. W. Norton, 1968. Print.

Erickson, Thane M., Michelle G. Newman, and Aaron L. Pincus. "Predicting unpredictability:

Do measures of interpersonal rigidity/flexibility and distress predict intraindividual

variability in social perceptions and behavior?." Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology 97.5 (2009): 893-912. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Web. 14 June 2010.

"Existential Psychology." Eastern Illinois University :: Charleston, Illinois. Web. 05 July 2010.

<http://www.eiu.edu/~psych/spencer/Existential.html>.

Forer, Lucille K. Birth Order and Life Roles. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas, 1969.

Print.

Freud, Sigmund. The Major Works of Sigmund Freud. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1952.

Print.

Pool 18

Greenfield, Susan, ed. The Human Mind Explained: an Owner's Guide to the Mysteries of the

Mind. New York: Henry Holt, 1996. Print.

Hart, Daniel, et al. "The relation of childhood personality types to adolescent behavior and

development: A longitudinal study of Icelandic children." Developmental Psychology

33.2 (1997): 195-205. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Web. 14 June 2010.

Hill, Winfred F. Learning: a Survey of Psychological Interpretations. 7th ed. San Francisco:

Chandler Pub., 2002. Print.

Jung, C. G. Modern Man in Search of a Soul. Trans. W. S. Dell and Cary F. Baynes. San Diego:

Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1985. Print.

Kant, Immanuel. Great Books of the Western World: The Critique of Pure Reason; The Critique

of Practical Reason and Other Ethical Treatises; The Critique of Judgement by

Immanuel Kant. Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1952. Print.

Lao-tzu, Jane English, and Gia-fu Feng. Tao Te Ching. New York: Vintage, 1989. Print.

Maggiolini, Alfio, et al. "Content analysis of dreams and waking narratives." Dreaming 20.1

(2010): 60-76. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Web. 14 June 2010.

Martin, Rod A. The Psychology of Humor: an Integrative Approach. Amsterdam: Elsevier

Academic, 2007. Print.

Maslow, Abraham H. Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper & Row, 1970. Print.

Sandler, Irving. Art of the Postmodern Era: from the Late 1960s to the Early 1990s. New York:

IconEditions, 2004. Print.

Phillips, John L. Piaget's Theory, a Primer. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1981. Print.

Piaget, Jean. The Child's Conception of the World. Trans. Andrew Tomlinson and John

Tomlinson. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967. Print.

Pool 19

 Parker, James. "SpongeBob's Golden Dream the Mysterious Allure of the Fry Cook from Bikini

Bottom." The Atlantic June 2009. Web. 28 June 2010.

<http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/06/spongebob-apos-s-golden-

dream/7432/>.

Shrinkette. "The Psychology of Spongebob." Web log post. Shrinkette. Blogspot, 4 Oct. 2004.

Web. 07 July 2010. <http://shrinkette.blogspot.com/>.

SpongeBob SquarePants Season 1. Prod. Stephen Hillenburg. By Paul Tibbitt, Doug Lawrence,

and Ennio Torresan. Perf. Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass. Nickelodeon,

2003. DVD.

SpongeBob SquarePants Season 2. Prod. Stephen Hillenburg. By Paul Tibbitt, Doug Lawrence,

and Ennio Torresan. Perf. Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass. Nickelodeon,

2004. DVD.

SpongeBob SquarePants Season 3. Prod. Stephen Hillenburg. By Paul Tibbitt, Doug Lawrence,

and Ennio Torresan. Perf. Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass. Nickelodeon,

2005. DVD.

Walker, Chris. "Lev Vygotsky: Social Constrcutionalsim." Summer 2010 Learning and

Motivation. Davis 205, Chickasha. 29 June 2010. Lecture.

Weigel, John A. B. F. Skinner. Boston: Twayne, 1977. Print.

Wilkowski, Benjamin M., and Michael D. Robinson. "Associative and spontaneous appraisal

processes independently contribute to anger elicitation in daily life." Emotion 10.2

(2010): 181-189. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Web. 14 June 2010.