Personality1101 Flashcards
(29 cards)
What age does the oral stage commence
What behaviours are included
What are the wider issues
What is the cause of fixation
What is the nature of fixation
Age: 0-18 months
Behaviours: Child explores world through mouth
Wider issue: Dependence and trust. (
Cause of Fixation: Dissatisfaction or discomfort
Nature of fixation:
Clinginess, dependence
Exaggerated need for approval, love and nurturance
Thumb sucking
Nail biting etc.
What age does the anal stage commence
What behaviours are included
What are the wider issues
What is the cause of fixation
What is the nature of fixation
Age: 2-3 years
Behaviours: Child becomes aware of and explores anus.
Wider issues: Orderliness, cleanliness, control, compliance.
Contradiction between child’s pleasure with anus and social disapproval/disgust
Cause of Fixation: Conflicts about toilet training and conflicting attitudes toward anus
Fixated Behaviours:
Overly orderly, neat, punctual
Very messy, stubborn; constantly late
Conflicts about giving; Meanness
Conflicts about compliance, obedience
Find anal humour particularly compelling
What age does the phallic stage commence
What behaviours are included
What are the wider issues
What is the cause of fixation
What is the nature of fixation
Age: 4-6 years
Behaviours: Child becomes aware of genitals; may masturbate
Wider issues:
Identification with others; Establishment of conscience
Oedipus/Electra complex
Wanting an exclusive ‘sexual’ relationship with opposite sex parent
Boys fear father will castrate them because of these desires (castration complex)
Girls fear losing mothers love because of these desires
Such wishes quickly repressed
Child then identifies with same sex parent (hoping that if they become like that parent they will one day obtain someone like the opposite sex parent)
Penis envy: Belief by girls that their penis was lost as punishment for misbehaviour; Girls mourn the loss and believe that lacking a penis makes them inferior
Modern psychoanalysts treat this more metaphorically – envy that men have more power and are more valued rather than of the penis itself
Cause of Fixation: Conflicts about genitals, sexual behaviour
Fixated Behaviours:
Preoccupation with attracting mates
Take on stereotypical aspects of same sex (macho man; girly girl)
Take on stereotypical aspects of opposite sex (e.g., transvestitism)
What age does the latency stage commence
What behaviours are included
What are the wider issues
What is the cause of fixation
What is the nature of fixation
Age: 7-11 years
Behaviours:
Child represses sexual urges and continues to identify with same sex parent.
Channels sexual energy into socially acceptable pastimes such as hobbies, sport, games, creative pursuits.
Represses memories from first 5 years of life (any such memories likely to be false)
Wider issues: Sublimation of aggressive and sexual impulses
Fixated behaviours: Becoming asexual
What age does the genital stage commence
What behaviours are included
What are the wider issues
What is the cause of fixation
What is the nature of fixation
Age: 12+ years
Behaviours:
Conscious sexuality emerges
Genital sex the primary goal of sexual activity
Relate to and love others in a mature way
Adult responsibilities
Wider issues:
Maturity in sexuality
Maturity in relationships
Responsibility
Other issues:
Some oral and anal components retained in sexuality
Least elaborated stage (Freud felt that earlier stages were more critical)
What is repression
keeping out of our consciousness) thoughts or memories that are too painful, disturbing or threatening to acknowledge.
What is denial
Refuse to acknowledge painful or threatening external realities, or painful emotions.
What is projection
A person attributes his/her own unacknowledged feelings or impulses to others
Good evidence for this defence. Research shows that the process of keeping a thought suppressed seems to keep it chronically activated at an implicit (non-conscious) level; this keeps the mind ‘looking out’ for it (and thus more likely to see it in others).
What is reaction-formation
Turns unacceptable feelings or impulses into their opposites.
Another example: What might Freud suggest is going on here:
“Anti-gay leader takes rent boy on vacation”
What is sublimation
Converting aggressive or sexual impulses into socially acceptable activities such as sport, art, music, etc.
What is rationalisation
Explains away actions in a seemingly logical way to avoid uncomfortable feelings, especially guilt and shame
What is displacement
Directing emotions (like anger) away from the real target to a substitute
Usually when the person feels powerless to display that emotion to the real target
What is regression
As already noted, returning to behaviours from an earlier stage of psychosexual development, usually when stressed
What is passive aggression
Indirect expression of anger toward others
E.g., Squeezing the toothpaste from the middle of the tube knowing this is one of your partner’s pet hates ….
What is isolation
Separation of unacceptable act from emotions
The act is not ‘forgotten’ exactly but is separated from the emotions linked to it.
In classic psychoanalysis is linked with obsessional neuroses
What is undoing
Usually in children
Try to ‘undo’ the unpleasant outcome of some act by mentally replaying it (or ritualistically re-enacting it) with a different, more acceptable outcome
What is identification with the aggressor
Empathising, sympathising with a person who is treating you brutally
What is reversal
The turning about of an instinct
For example, moving from sadism to masochism
Anna Freud believed this defence may underlie reaction formation
What are object relations theories about
It is thought that the way people relate is shaped by family experiences on infancy - not by drives.
An Object is internalised image of someone in child’s life eg mother.
Can exert influence on behaviour throughout life.
Internalised objects determine development of self and personality. They impact child’s ideas of who they are and how they fit in? Can my care givers feed and comfort me, am I worthy of of love of others? Where do I fit?
Understand themselves in relation to others. Trust or mistrust develop; self-esteem develops.
Early relationships are important to develop representations of themselves, others, and how they fit.
What are some psychanalytic testing methods
Aim to uncover unconscious thoughts
Word-association test
Life-history methods
Projective tests
Analysis of transference
Hypnosis
Dream interpretation
What are word association tests
Allows access to unconscious processes
Remember, that part of the unconscious involves associative links that are not necessarily logical. For example, young children do not have the critical capacity to know whether things should be associated or not.
Getting the person to give the first word they associate with another word gives some insight into how these links are configured.
What is life-history tests
Through interviews gain a thorough understanding of the person and their life experiences
What are projective tests
These allow the analyst/psychologist to draw inferences about unconscious processes by analysing the person’s cognitive and emotional responses to ambiguous stimuli (like an emotive photograph).
Rorschach inkblots
What is Analysis of transference
Transference is when a person relates to another person as if that person is a person from their past
For example, if a therapist reminds a patient of their father, then that patient may treat the therapist as if they were the father (e.g., be afraid that the therapist will punish or abandon them and respond accordingly).
