Freud (week2) Flashcards

Question

Fixation and regression

Answer 1

Fixation occurs when an individual’s psychological development becomes partly stuck at a particular stage. Person behaves in manner appropriate to earlier stage , to avoid facing challenges of next developmental stage. Sucks thumb beyond 1 years old. Too much energy remains invested in the objects of a particular stage, energy should be going to objects in next stage. Retarding effect on child’s development. Develop certain persoanlity characteristics of the stage he or she is fixated on. Resgression is close linked to fixation, freud said a person would regress to the stage he was fixated on. Regression is a partial or total return to the behaviour of an earlier stage of development in which less anxiety were experienced (alcoholic)

Answer 2

when a person symbolically respresents him or herself within another person, due to an unconscious desire to be like that person. Significant during phallic stage (boy with Oedipus complex will be like his father)

Answer 3

boy’s sexual desire towards the mother and hate towards father.

Answer 4

- by forces in the psyche - repression of desires, which because of influence from superego can only be fufilled in a distorted way during sleep - rperesent repressed desires, fears and conflicts - in sleep the preconscious conserng fuction of the ego is less effective, repressed desires break through to conscious in disguised forms - manifest content- actual events in dream - latent content- hidden meaning - dream work- forbidden content undergo a transformation to represent themselves in disguised form as the manifest part of dream. - Important matters sometimes represented in dreams as unimportant - keep us from knowing the real reason= protects sleep - Dream work also after waking up- forget or distorts it

Answer 5

error in speech, memory or physical action due to the interference of the unconscious repressed wishes, conflicts or thoughts surfacing to the conscious. Mild form of psychopathology found in every person- normal. Forget a name or bump into something- isn't accident according to Freud. “Accidents” usually the outcome of guilt feelings about repressed desires, which try to reach conscious and regarded then as sort of self-punishment.

Answer 6

Focuses in particular on the development of the sex drive in the context of societal norms His theory is thus often referred to as a *psychosexual theory* of development 1. Oral stage (first year of life) 2. Anal stage (second year of life) 3. Phallic stage (3-6) 4. Latent stage (6-12) 5. Genital stage (puberty onwards)

Answer 7

- first year of life - lips and mouth main erogenous zone or source of sexual drive energy - not just hunger drive - mother is crucial figure in baby’s development - weaning is accompanied by frustration of the oral sexual drive and experiences as punishment - see interrupted feedings or impatience as rejection and punishment for their sexual sucking actions - displacement as defence mechanism and uses pillow, thumb or dummy but never as satisfying - society eventually rejects these as well - always excess oral sex drive energy Excessive cuddling and mother love could lead to child seeing next stage as threat Three causes of fixation at this stage: 1. A little boy who is too pampered by the mother and is given untrammelled freedom to satisfy oral urges will be reluctant to enter the next (the anal) stage of development. 2. When a child is given little opportunity for drive satisfaction (weaned too soon), the child may experience frustration and become fixated 3. Fixation can occur as a result of any experiences that cause the child anxiety concerning the demands of the next developmental stage (as when a child is harshly punished or mocked for toilet mishaps, or when the parents demand too much from a child at too early an age, or set their expectations too high above the child’s capabilities) There is also development related to the death drive. The death drive, which is at first turned against the individual, is directed at external objects. The mother is one of the primary objects of this aggression and the baby expresses the aggression by biting the mother. Mother will interrupt the feeding or wean the child, and the baby interprets this action as punishment. From the first year of life, then, aggressive drive energy, too, creates psychic problems Ego and superego start to develop in contrast to the id, which is inborn. feeding times and edible things form ego and behviour that is allowed forms superego. Fixation or partial fixation leads to pesonality type= Oral personality type - dependence on other people - narcissism - optimism - jealous and envious As result of reaction formation= could be opposite: selfishness, self-loathing, pessimism and exaggerated generosity

Answer 8

- 2nd year of life - anus and the excretory canal constitute the most important erogenous zone - sexual pleasure in excretion, as well as in retaining excretion (masochism) - The superego undergoes further development as a result of parents’ punishment and rewards in the context of toilet-training - can withhold to punish parents Fixation or partial fixation in the anal stage produces an ‘anal personality’, - excessive neatness, thriftiness and obstinacy, or their opposites The development of sadism and masochism (the tendency to derive sexual pleasure by hurting others or oneself), and the development of obsessive compulsive neuroses, are likewise associated with fixation in the anal stage

Answer 9

- three to five or six years of age - boys and girls for first time different development - derives its name from the male sex organ (phallus, meaning ‘penis in erection’) - precisely the absence of this organ that is the basis of psychosexual development in a girl - no longer just physical sexual drive energy - Deep and complex psychic wishes are now the basis of psychosexual development, namely sexual wishes related to the parents, the penis and, in the case of girls, the absence of a penis For boys The penis is the main source of drive energy, fondles it= masturbation Develops sexual desires in relation to his mother and wants his father’s sexual function Father has sexual relationship with mother and he cant replace his father in that way= jealous and acute hatred to his father Peeping or outbursts of anger lead to punishment= experinces threat of castration = castration anxiety Oedipus complex: maze of prohibited desires and intense fear Tries to cope with it: repression and identification The boy would like to be as big, strong and manly as his father and therefore enjoy the love and respect of his mother Assumes some of his father’s characteristics, especially the moral codes of society that are represented by the father. By means of this identification, the superego attains its final development. Freud once said that the repression of the Oedipus complex is the first great achievement of the superego and the final stage in its development For girls - Similar but clearly different, Electra complex/female Oedipus complex - observes that mother does not have a penis, as a result of which she experiences anger and hatred towards her mother, whom she holds responsible for this defect - envies her father for possessing a male sexual organ (penis envy) - sexual desires with her father as object because she thinks that she can acquire a penis from him - remain unconscious as a result of repression - Identification with the mother causes the daughter to imitate the sexual role of the mother in the family. Because the girl is not subject to the great pressure of castration anxiety, she does not develop as strong and relentless a superego as a boy’s --- Fixation or partial fixation in the phallic stage is related to a large variety of neurotic characteristics (Kaplan, Freedman & Sadock, 1980). According to the psychoanalytic theory, castration anxiety and penis envy are at the core of most of the problems arising out of this stage, for example sexual adaptation problems in general and especially homosexuality (Rychlak, 1981). This stage is extraordinarily important in the genesis of mental disorders, because the superego – which is involved in all mental disorders – undergoes its major development during this stage: it is precisely an overly strict superego that can cause problems later on in life. There are three main ways in which an overly strict superego can develop: * If a father is too strict, the son may internalise the father’s strict, rigid rules through his identification with the father. * A child’s superego may become unyielding in cases where the father is often or permanently absent. * A harsh superego may develop when the father is not strict enough. In the latter two cases, a strong superego will develop because the son cannot express sufficient aggressive drive energy outwards (towards the father), with the result that the excess of aggression is directed internally against himself. (One must bear in mind that the superego functions with the aid of death drive energy.)

Answer 10

five or six years of age to the start of puberty - new physical source of sexual drive energy comes to the fore - As a result of the repression of the Oedipus complex and the child’s identification with the parent of the same sex, children of both sexes are concerned mainly with learning their gender role, and hence they show little interest in the opposite sex - want to consolidate their acquisition of appropriate sex-role behaviour - Freud sometimes calls this stage the homosexual stage

Answer 11

- commences with puberty, is for Freud the final stage of psychosocial development and lasts until the end of a person’s life - physiological changes that increase the amount of sexual drive energy - source of this energy is now the entire sexual apparatus of the individual, which includes the pre-genital sources (mouth, anus and phallus), as well as the sexual glands - characterised chiefly by a reawakening of the sexual wishes of the pregenital stages, particularly those of the phallic stage - repression of sexual urges, which occurred during the phallic stage, is no longer sufficient to cope with the conflict between sexual urges and the moral code of the superego, so the individual must begin finding new ways of coping - Persons who deal successfully with the reawakened sexual conflict have particular recourse to the defence mechanisms of displacement and sublimation (satisfy without guilt) - Pre-genital sexual urges (that is, oral, anal and phallic drives) experienced during this stage are at least partially satisfied through heterosexual relationships (especially through actions such as kissing and caressing, which play an important role in sexual foreplay), and also by using substitutive sexual actions and objects - man falls in love with a woman who reminds him of his mother and in this sense his wife is a substitute for his mother - A woman, chooses a man who is a substitute for her father. She would like to have a child (especially a son) who is a symbolic substitute for the penis she lacks - Prohibited aggressive urges are at least partially satisfied through activities such as work and sport - nobody is so healthy as to satisfy all his or her urges without any conflict at all Child at any stage experiences grave problems with canalising the sexual energy, he or she might use regression as a defence mechanism to cope with the anxiety associated with the prevailing stage of development

Answer 12

the healthy are better at conflict resolution than the disturbed Although Freud believes that a completely conflict-free existence is not possible, it is clear that what he called the genital character is the personality type that comes closest to representing the ideal of balanced conflict management. This type of personality can be described from developmental, structural and dynamic perspectives. 1. Developmental viewpoint: Looked at from the perspective of Freud’s developmental theory, the genital character is characterised by the fact that the genital stage of development is attained without any fixations on pre- genital stages (Maddi, 1980). There is thus no regression to pre-genital stages of development. 1. Structural viewpoint: From a structural point of view, this ideal personality type has a strong ego and a superego that is not overly strict. These characteristics are what determine how the genital character functions 1. Dynamic viewpoint: Although the basic psychodynamic is the same as with all other individuals in the sense that the same sexual and aggressive drives come into conflict with moral rules, the genital character type’s ego is capable of effective reality testing. These types of people use the most effective defence mechanism; namely sublimation. This implies that such persons are able to satisfy their sexual and aggressive urges in socially acceptable and appreciated ways which, in turn, implies that they will have a satisfactory sexual relationship with someone of the opposite sex and will find fulfilment in their work. Freud once summarised these attributes as ‘the ability to love and to work’. Freud’s view of optimal development thus points to a well-adjusted person who manages his or her life according to the overt moral prescriptions of the society of his Victorian time.

Answer 13

Freud regards his psychoanalytical theory as an explanation for both normal and abnormal behaviour; therefore, he views abnormal behaviour as merely an extreme and exaggerated form of normal behaviour. Psychological disorders, according to Freud, are caused by an imbalance in the structure of the personality. Basically this means that the ego is too weak to handle conflict between the id and the superego effectively. 1. Historical causes: Fixation in a stage, The development of too weak an ego, The development of an overly strict superego 1. The contemporary contributory causes: These causes may stem from any changes or crises that upset the person’s balance between the fulfilment of drives and guilt feelings. These changes or crises are usually brought about by the transition from one stage to another or by a radical change in the person’s lifestyle. When the ego can no longer cope with the anxiety that results from the conflict between the id and the superego by means of the usual defence mechanisms, it resorts to pathological ways of handling conflicts. Freud regards pathology as a desperate effort to escape from this conflict situation (Freud, 1953c, Vol.7). Although Freud distinguishes three types of mental disorder; namely neuroses, personality disorders and psychoses, his main focus, however, was on the treatment of neuroses. His theory, to a large extent, developed in order to explain this kind of behaviour, with the result that he pays almost no attention to the other types of mental disorders. Neuroses, according to Freud, develop because of the ego’s inability to cope with the conflict between the id and the superego. As a result, the ego produces a symptom in a desperate effort to save the situation. The direct cause of this condition is often a specific incident that brings an underlying conflict to the surface. Personality disorders are, according to Freud, deeply-rooted disturbed ways of dealing with conflict and the satisfaction of drives. The personality disturbance is the result of fixation and the consequent regression to the appropriate pre-genital development stage. Psychoses are, for Freud, the result of a complete inability to deal with anxiety on the part of the ego, resulting in a total withdrawal and distortion of reality. The ego disintegrated to such an extent that it could not function according to the reality principle any more.

Answer 14

The purpose of psychoanalytic therapy is to discover the causes of the patient’s problems and to enable the patient to overcome the problems through more constructive ways of dealing with the underlying conflicts. Freud once described psychotherapy as follows: ‘Where id was, there shall ego be. It is a reclamation work, like the draining of the Zuyder Zee’ (Freud, 1964a:111–112). This quotation is often misinterpreted as meaning that it is sufficient if the repressed urges of the patient are simply made conscious. It should be noted, however, that the ego, which must replace the dominance of the id, is characterised by its efforts to serve three masters (the id, the superego and external reality) simultaneously by bringing about a balance in their demands. free association (relax and lay back), is the most basic technique of psychoanalysis Another was his identification of patients’ resistance to becoming aware of unconscious elements. This resistance manifests itself in different ways, for example: * when the patient suddenly changes the topic * when the patient indicates that his or her free associations are interrupted because he or she cannot remember * when the patient is late or cancels an appointment. Transference is a form of displacement that emerges when the patient displays attraction or aggression towards the therapist, for example when the patient falls in love with the therapist. As the therapist deliberately demonstrates a neutral attitude, the patient’s behaviour is not elicited by the therapist’s behaviour. Freud interprets these feelings as originating from the patient’s childhood, and thinks that the therapist is merely a substitute object. Freud sees the nature of the patient’s behaviour and the feelings expressed towards the therapist as a good indicator of the nature of the feelings and memories that form the essence of the problem. For therapy to be successful, it is necessary for the patient to work through the repressed memories and to acquire more efficient means of coping with conflict. Freud maintains that merely recalling past life events is not enough. To achieve success, these memories have to be relived in the therapeutic situation. Freud contends that transference is an ideal opportunity for re-experiencing past events and that it assists the patient in acquiring new and more efficient behaviour. Transference, therefore, can be regarded as one of the core processes of psychoanalytic therapy. in conclusion, that psychoanalytic therapy is a demanding and prolonged process. Often the patient is expected to undergo therapy five times per week, each session lasting about an hour. Sometimes the whole therapy may continue for several years. Also, the therapy does not guarantee a final solution to the problem, nor does it promise that the underlying conflict will be eliminated. The more immediate goal of therapy is to help patients develop more effective ways of coping with their problems. A person’s basic problem – the conflict between the id drives and the moral demands of society – is not ultimately solved by psychotherapy

Answer 15

Freud contends that aggression is the result of the inherent death drive that is diverted to the outside in the form of aggression and violence, and there is not much we can do to reduce violence.

Freud (week2) Flashcards

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