The Intrapsychic Domain: Psychoanalytic Approaches to Personality

Question 1

What is the basis of psychoanalytic theory?

Answer 1

1. Psychic energy is the source of energy in everyone that fuels motivation.
2. This energy is governed by the law of conservation of energy.
3. Personality change is seen as a redirection of psychic energy.

Question 2

What are the instincts associated psychoanalytic theory?

Answer 2

Libido - life - Includes not just sexual energy but any life-sustaining or pleasure-seeking urges.
Thanatos - death - Expressed as aggression toward others or self.
Both instincts can act at the same time.

Question 3

What is the conscious mind?

Answer 3

Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions currently in awareness.

Question 4

What is the pre-conscious mind?

Answer 4

Memories and thoughts easily brought to mind (e.g., remembering what you wore yesterday).

Question 5

What is the unconscious mind?

Answer 5

According to freud, the largest part of the mind, containing repressed urges and desires.

Question 6

What is psychic determinism?

Answer 6

Freud believed that every action, thought, or feeling has a reason, and all are driven by unconscious motivations. Therefore, the mind is a deterministic system.

Question 7

What are Freudian Slips (Parapraxes)?

Answer 7

Everyday mistakes (e.g., calling someone by the wrong name, forgetting an appointment) reveal hidden unconscious desires.

Question 8

What is Freud’s legacy?

Answer 8

Freud built on Breuer’s observations to create a comprehensive theory of personality.
His ideas on the unconscious mind remain influential in psychology.

Question 9

What is Psychoanalytic Structure of Personality?

Answer 9

Id, ego, and superego

Question 10

What is the Id?

Answer 10

Primitive & dominant in infancy
Drives all urges

Question 11

What is the pleasure principle?

Answer 11

Seeks immediate gratification without concern for reality, logic, or morality.

Question 12

What is primary process thinking?

Answer 12

A type of irrational and fantasy-driven thought that lacks logical structure.
Fantasies, dreams

Question 13

What is wish fufillment?

Answer 13

Creating mental images or fantasies to provide temporary satisfaction.

Question 14

What is the ego?

Answer 14

Constraints “id” within reality
Develops around 2-3 years of age

Question 15

What is the reality prinicple?

Answer 15

Mediating between the impulsive id and the constraints of the external world.

Question 16

What is secondary process thinking?

Answer 16

Trying to find strategies fulfill needs in a way that is based in reality

Question 17

What is the super ego?

Answer 17

Internalizes values, morals (around age 5)
The conscience
Punishes wrongdoing with guilt and shame.
The ego-ideal
Rewards moral behavior with feelings of pride and accomplishment.
Not necessarily reality-based
People can set their own standards

Question 18

An overly strict superego can lead to what?

Answer 18

Excessive guilt and anxiety

Question 19

Weak superego can result in what?

Answer 19

A lack of moral responsibility.

Question 20

What is Objective Anxiety?

Answer 20

Real threat
Here, the ego’s control is threatened by an external force rather than an internal conflict.

Question 21

What is Neurotic Anxiety?

Answer 21

Id-ego conflict
It arises from the fear that the ego may lose control over an unacceptable desire of the id

Question 22

What is moral anxiety?

Answer 22

Id/ego & super ego conflict
A person suffering from chronic guilt or shame over failing to meet high moral standards, even unattainable ones, experiences moral anxiety.

Question 23

The ego functions to minimize anxiety & cope with threats via?

Answer 23

defense mechanisms

Question 24

What is repression?

Answer 24

Preventing unacceptable thoughts, feelings, urges from reaching conscious awareness
People tend to recall pleasant memories more easily than unpleasant ones due to repression.

Question 25

What is denial?

Answer 25

Insisting that things are not as they seem by refusing to see facts, which keeps memories unconscious, denial distorts perception. A person in denial may dismiss unflattering feedback, minimize health risks, or fantasize about alternative realities.

Question 26

What is displacement?

Answer 26

A threatening/unacceptable impulse is directed from its source to non-threatening target

Question 27

What is rationalization?

Answer 27

Generating acceptable reasons for outcomes that otherwise appear socially unacceptable

Question 28

What is reaction formation?

Answer 28

To reduce an urge, one may show an opposite reaction

Question 29

What is projection?

Answer 29

Project own unacceptable desires, urges &/or qualities onto others Related to False Consensus Effect.

Question 30

What is sublimation?

Answer 30

Channeling unacceptable instincts into a socially desirable activity. Sublimation allows for controlled expression of the id’s urges, preventing them from becoming destructive.

Question 31

What is the oral psychosexual stage of development?

Answer 31

0 - ~1.5 yrs Mouth Weaning Outcome is smoking, nail-biting, over-eating

Question 32

What is the anal psychosexual stage of development?

Answer 32

~1.5 - 3 yrs Toilet-training & self- control Orderliness OR messiness

Question 33

What is the phallic psychosexual stage of development?

Answer 33

3 -5 yrs Genitals Sexual desire toward opposite-sex parent Sexual dysfunction Oedipus Complex Electra Complex

Question 34

What is the latent psychosexual stage of development?

Answer 34

6 yrs - puberty Focus on learning, skill & social development Little psychological development

Question 35

What is the genital psychosexual stage of development?

Answer 35

Puberty- adulthood Genitals – but different than phallic None Personality development & sexual maturity due to completing prior stages

Question 36

Personality is determined by what according to Freud?

Answer 36

Conflict resolutions, the balance of pleasure vs. demands, people’s defense mechanisms, & the (psychosexual) stages reached

Question 37

What is psychoanalysis?

Answer 37

A form of psychotherapy used to treat mental health difficulties/disorders & to restructure personality by making the unconscious conscious

Question 38

What are the goals of psychoanalysis?

Answer 38

1st Goal: Identify unconscious thoughts/feelings 2nd Goal: Once patient is aware of this material, help them deal with it maturely/realistically

Question 39

What are techniques for revealing the unconscious?

Answer 39

Free association, dream analysis, projective tests

Question 40

What is the Process of Psychoanalysis?

Answer 40

Interpretation(s) -- (by psychoanalyst) Leads to insight by patient

Question 41

What is resistance?

Answer 41

Patient sets up unconscious obstacles that work against progress

Question 42

What is transference?

Answer 42

Reaction (displacement) toward therapist as if therapist were someone in patient’s life

Question 43

What are criticisms of Psychoanalysis

Answer 43

Lack of Scientific Rigor: Freud did not use experimentation or hypothesis testing. Psychoanalysis is not subjected to falsifiability, making it more a belief system than a science. Issues with Evidence: Freud’s research was based on case studies of wealthy, highly verbal women. His observations were made only during therapy sessions.

Question 44

What are Specific Disagreements with Freud’s Theories?

Answer 44

Overemphasis on sexual drives in childhood development. Personality development does not stop at age 5 (adolescence and adulthood bring major changes). His negative view of human nature (selfish, aggressive) is disputed by psychologists who propose a more positive or neutral perspective. Freud’s views on women