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Chapter 2

The document outlines the foundations of Freudian psychoanalysis, focusing on the unconscious mind and its influence on behavior, as well as Freud's theories on mental illness, dreams, and personality structures. It discusses Freud's collaboration with Breuer, the development of key concepts such as the Oedipus complex, and the structural model of the mind, which includes the Id, Ego, and Superego. Additionally, it covers defense mechanisms and the role of anxiety in human behavior.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
13 views37 pages

Chapter 2

The document outlines the foundations of Freudian psychoanalysis, focusing on the unconscious mind and its influence on behavior, as well as Freud's theories on mental illness, dreams, and personality structures. It discusses Freud's collaboration with Breuer, the development of key concepts such as the Oedipus complex, and the structural model of the mind, which includes the Id, Ego, and Superego. Additionally, it covers defense mechanisms and the role of anxiety in human behavior.

Uploaded by

bsmaldo.11
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

1

The Psychoanalytic paradigm focuses on the unconscious mind and


emphasizes unconscious mechanisms.

2
• The slide above shows a caricature of Freud smoking a cigar and a picture
of the instructor in front of Freud’s house in Vienna, Austria.
• Freud came into the forefront of psychology in a time when physical causes
were sought for explaining mental illness, and sexuality was taboo. His
theories searched for mental causes and made sexuality the central
motivation for all actions. This shocked the Victorian society in which he
lived, but at the same time it intrigued them in a way sexuality still
captivates the people of today.
• Early influences on Freudian theory included Charcot and Bernheim who
used hypnosis to treat variety of conditions.
• Freud collaborated with Josef Breuer who discovered that encouraging
hysterical patients to talk uninhibitedly about the early occurrences of
symptoms, the symptoms gradually abated. While working with Breuer,
Freud formulated ideas that neuroses developed from traumatic experiences
that are now forgotten. Freud and Breuer concluded that hysterics suffer
mainly from reminiscences.

3
The film, Freud—The Hidden Nature of Man, lasts 29 minutes and presents
many topics that students ought to know about Freud. The URL for this film
is [Link] (you may need to copy and then paste
the URL onto your browser). If you have difficulty getting the URL to work,
you may need to try logging in and entering the URL from the library web
page ([Link] I hope that won’t be necessary, but
sometimes there is a proxy server issue. The quality of one’s education relies
heavily on student initiative. Thus, I’d like for students to be active while
watching this film by addressing the following 17 questions (feel free to pause
the film and write down the answer—you can also play it back to repeat a
scene that contains the answer). Please, either write down your answers on a
piece of paper or type them into a WORD document. These questions are not
for extra-credit and students will not submit them to the instructor; however,
feel free to reach out to the instructor if you are unsure of how to answer them.

Freud’s World
1. What was Vienna like just before World War I?
2. What kind of professional training did Freud have?
3. How was mental illness treated in those days?
4. What made Freud question the way mental illness was treated?

4
Theory of the Unconscious
5. When Freud’s patients suffered without apparent physical cause what did he find
relieved them of their symptoms?
6. At first, what did Freud think was the cause of his patients’ suffering?
7. What discovery disproved this early idea?
8. What was the reaction of Freud’s colleagues to the theory that the unconscious
mind, repressing painful memories, caused physical pain?

Dream Analysis
9. Why did dreams interest Freud?
10. How did he approach his study of dreams?
11. What are the two levels of meaning in a dream?
12. What did Freud’s analysis of dreams show him about the unconscious?

Infant Sexuality, the Oedipus Complex


13. What is the Oedipus complex?
14. What did Freud see as the infant’s situation in its family?
15. What happens to this pattern as the child grows older?

Human Personality
16. What are the three structures of personality according to Freud?
17. How did David’s Oedipus complex show in the two scenes with his employer and
girlfriend?

4
• The picture above shows an iceberg, which Freud (1915) used as an analogy
to describe the three levels of the mind (i.e., the topographical model of the
mind).
• The conscious level is analogous to the tip of the iceberg that is visible
since it is above the water level. Psychologically, consciousness consists of
all the mental processes of which a person is aware of at any given moment.
• The preconscious level contains thoughts and feelings that a person is not
currently aware of, but which can easily be brought to consciousness when
needed (1924).For example, you are presently not thinking about your
mobile telephone number, but now that it is mentioned you can recall it
with ease. The preconscious is just below the level of consciousness
(analogous to being just below the sea level using the iceberg idea).
• The unconscious level comprises mental processes that are inaccessible to
consciousness but that influence people’s judgments, feelings, and behavior
(Freud, 1915); for example, traumatic experiences are not easily accessible.
They remain in the unconscious, which comprises the bulk of the iceberg
that is deep underwater. Freud emphasized the unconscious, which governs
behavior to a greater degree than we realize.

5
• Freud’s (1910) structural model has three divisions of the mind. The Id is
the oldest, consists of instinctual energy, and is completely unconscious.
Thus, the Id is irrational, seeking pleasure and operating by the pleasure
principle. The Id uses the primary process, including innate reflex actions
(i.e., automatic reflexive responses to remove a source of irritation) and
wish fulfillment (i.e., forming a mental picture to satisfy a bodily need),
which is ultimately ineffective in satisfying biological needs.
• The Ego represents rational thinking. It tries to conform (match) the Id's
mental pictures to objective reality. The Ego operates by the reality
principle (things in the real world) and the secondary process (plans of
action and reality testing). The secondary process formulates a plan of
action; reality testing is when different methods are used to accomplish the
same goal and the best method is selected for use in the future.
• The Superego represents moral standards that have been internalized and
has two parts: Its conscience punishes “wrong” behaviors through guilt, and
its ego ideal rewards “right” behaviors through pride. In other words, the
conscience is the part of the Superego that refers to the capacity for self-
evaluation, criticism, and reproach. The ego ideal is the part of the
Superego that consists of an idealistic internal measure or standard of what
one should be. Note that the Superego strives for perfection; thus, it
represents the ideal rather than reality.

6
• Freud’s Structural Model shows a short video that explains the interaction
between these structures of the mind. The URL for this video is
[Link] (you may need to copy
and then paste the URL onto your browser). The video reiterates the picture
above, with the Id saying, “I want to do that now!” while the Superego is
saying, “It’s not right to do that.” The Ego tries to mediate by saying,
“Maybe we can compromise.”
• Consider partaking of activity 2.1 of your textbook (see page 27): Think of
a scenario where you may experience some conflict or anxiety. An example
might be seeing a “frenemy” from years ago. Outline how your Id, Ego,
and Superego may respond to the situation.

7
The picture above summarizes Freud’s structural model with the Id saying, “I
want it now!” and the Ego saying, “I need to do a bit of planning to get it.”
The Superego says, “You can’t have it. It’s not right.” Moreover, the picture
illustrates that the Ego is not the master since it operates in the service of the
Id (the Ego attempts to obtain in the environment what the Id wants without
upsetting the Superego); thus, the Id is the energizer of personality (Freud,
1917). The Ego tries to do its best to reconcile the demands of three “masters”:
the external world, the Superego, and the Id (Freud, 1932).

8
The above picture shows the two models together. The Id is entirely
unconscious (submerged deep in the sea using the iceberg model), whereas the
Ego (ruled by the reality principle and using the secondary process thinking)
and Superego (moral imperatives) have conscious, preconscious, and
unconscious aspects.

9
• The investment of energy in an object, idea, or person that will satisfy a
need is known as cathexis. For example, the Id cathects, or invests psychic
energy in, any object that seems to gratify its needs. The Ego invests energy
in real need-satisfying objects and in dealing with the id and superego. It
also uses excess energy to develop other psychological processes (e.g.,
abstract thinking). The Superego invests energy in building and maintaining
moral standards. Both the Ego and the Superego use psychic energy to
restrain unacceptable idinal demands. When energy is used this way, it is
then called anti-cathexis. That is, anticathexis controls how the Id utilizes
its energy.
• The unconscious mind contains our biologically based instincts (Eros and
Thanatos) for the primitive urges for sex and aggression (Freud, 1915). Eros
refers to all life instincts, such as hunger, thirst, and sex. Eros seeks to
preserve the person and the species. The psychic energy associated with
Eros is called libido. Freud’s earlier writing described libido as sexual
energy. Later, Freud expanded his notion of libido to include energy
associated with all of life instructs, including hunger and thirst. The death
instincts (Thanatos) embody the organism's wish to die. For Freud, “the
goal of all life is death”; thus, humans have invented the tools to completely
exterminate themselves. The aggressive drive is self-destruction turned
outward.

10
For Freud, all aspects of human personality are derived from biological
instincts. The four characteristics of an instinct are source, aim, object, and
impetus. For example: A hungry person will need food (source), will want to
eliminate the need for food (aim), will seek and ingest food (object), and the
intensity with with these activities happen will depend on how long the person
has been hungry (impetus).

11
The function of anxiety is to warn us that if we continue thinking or behaving
in a certain way, we will be in danger. Freud described three types of anxiety:
• Reality anxiety is the fear of a real danger in the external world. The cause
of this anxiety is usually easily identified. For example, a person might
fear getting bitten by a dog when near a menacing dog. Fight or flight
responses, e.g., one way of reducing this anxiety is to avoid the threatening
object.
• Neurotic anxiety results when the Id’s impulses threaten to break through
and cause the person to do something that may bring punishment from an
imaginary external source. This is a form of anxiety which comes from an
unconscious fear that the basic impulses of the Id (the primitive part of our
personality) will take control of the person, leading to eventual punishment
for impulsive, animalistic actions. It is the fear of becoming animal-like.
• Moral anxiety involves a fear of violating our own moral principles
(Superego), appearing as feelings of guilt. In other words, moral anxiety is
the fear of self-punishment that is derived from one's own conscience.

12
Look for the origin of anxiety: Reality à the origin is the environment (i.e., a
real danger like a burning house as shown in the picture above to the left).
Neurotic à the origin is the Id taking over (and behaving like a murderous
angry animal as shown in the cartoon above). Moral à the origin is from the
Superego (feeling guilty for watching a movie rather than working as shown in
the top cartoon above). Freud gave the name “neuroses” to the conditions that
reflect a state of anxiety and the ego defense mechanisms (see next section)
that surround it (e.g., repression, projection, etc.).

13
The Ego attempts to deal with excessive anxiety by means of ego defense
mechanisms, which share two common properties: 1) They all occur
unconsciously. 2) They distort, falsify reality.

14
• Repression is the most basic and widely used defense mechanism because
for any of the other ego-defense mechanisms to occur, it must occur first.
Repression involves keeping distressing thoughts and feelings deep in the
unconscious, so that it cannot be experienced consciously or directly
expressed in behavior. For example, soldiers suffering from post traumatic
stress disorders commonly use repression as a defense mechanism.
• Projection refers to the unconscious attribution of an impulse attitude or
behavior to someone else or some element in the environment. In other
words, anxiety-provoking truths about oneself are attributed to others or to
some element in the environment. For example, Mrs. Brown often accuses
other women of gossiping too much and spreading rumors. It is rather
obvious to those who know her that she is revealing her own inclinations in
that area.
• Reaction formation reduces anxiety by expressing the opposite feeling,
impulse, or behavior. In the cartoon above, the girl secretly loves the boy,
but beats him up instead. Another example, the mother of an unwanted child
may feel guilty about not welcoming her child. As a result, she may try to
prove her love by becoming overindulgent and overprotective of the child.

15
• Regression entails reverting to earlier forms of behavior used in earlier
development when confronted by stressful events. For example, when an
eight-year old child resumes bed-wetting after the birth of a sibling.
• Rationalization involves explaining an unacceptable behavior or feeling in a
“rational” (although faulty) manner, avoiding the true explanation for the
behavior. For example, a person who is turned down for a date might
rationalize the situation by saying he or she wasn’t attracted to the other
person anyway. Another example is a man with a drinking problem who
insists that he really doesn't care much for the taste of alcohol but feels that
he is obliged to drink with friends "just to be sociable."
• Identification involves incorporating into one’s own personality
characteristics of someone else in order to solve some emotional difficulty.
In other words, identification reduces anxiety by modeling one’s behavior
after that of someone else or increasing one’s worth by affiliating oneself
psychologically with a person, group, or institution. The picture above
shows the feeling of pride when the team wins a game (note that the fans
are wearing jerseys just like the star football player). Another example is
when the boy resolves the Oedipus complex by identifying with his father
(this will be mentioned during the phallic psychosexual stage).

16
Displacement is the substitution of one need satisfier for another. Specifically,
displacement is used to satisfy an impulse with a substitute object, either
because such an outlet is unavailable or because it is forbidden. With
displacement there is a substitution for what a person truly desires (in the
picture above it is sex) with something safer (in the picture above, dancing is
acceptable to both the Ego and Superego). In other words, the picture above
shows that the need (object) is to have sex (cathexis is used by the Id), but the
Superego and Ego join forces and use anti-cathexis to inhibit the idinal
impulses of sexual intercourse, heavy petting, and masturbation, respectively.
Finally, a suitable substitute is found, dancing, which does not necessitate anti-
cathexis.

17
Displaced aggression involves taking one’s frustrations on people, animals, or
objects that are less threatening. For example, in the picture shown above
rather than expressing his anger in ways that could lead to negative
consequences (e.g., like talking back to his boss and being fired), the man
instead expresses his anger by kicking his dog at home. Another example, Mrs.
James can't understand why her husband has been so grumpy and irritable with
her for the past week. It certainly isn't her fault that he didn't receive the
anticipated promotion at the factory where he works. Her husband's behavior
toward Mrs. James exemplifies displaced aggression.

18
• Sublimation is a type of displacement that is beneficial to society, such as
re-channeling sexual impulses into scientific, artistic, or ideological
activities that make civilization possible. For example, satisfying one’s
sexual curiosity by becoming a psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of
sexual fetishes. Many students confuse sublimation with displacement.
Think this way: Sublimation re-channels intense sexual feelings in a manner
that is advantageous to society, whereas displacement of aggression is
maladaptive because it causes problems somewhere else (see previous
slide). Sublimation is often considered to be the only "successful" defense
mechanism.
• Denial of reality is when a person is not in touch with a part of reality. It is
an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is
currently occurring despite evidence to the contrary. For example, drug
addicts or alcoholics often deny that they have a problem.
• Intellectualization works to reduce anxiety by thinking about events in a
cold, clinical way. It allows people to avoid the emotional aspect of the
situation by focusing only on the intellectual component while isolating
their emotion. For example, a person who has just been diagnosed with a
terminal illness might focus on learning everything about the disease in
order to avoid distress and remain emotionally distant.

19
The following ego defense mechanisms were added by Freud’s daughter, Anna
Freud:
• Undoing is an attempt to make up for, atone, take back, or negate one’s
unacceptable act (this is what the picture above is trying to convey with the
man bringing a huge flower to his wife, saying: “Is this flower big enough
to get me out of trouble?”); another example: When an abusive romantic
partner tries to undo the abuse by apologizing profusely or buying an
expensive gift.
• Altruistic surrender occurs when a person attempts to fulfill his or her own
needs vicariously through others. For example, when a person puts the
responsibility of making a decision into the hands of an esteemed colleague.
The person just follows the decision of the colleague.
• Identification with the aggressor occurs when individuals adopt the values
and behaviors of a person who is more powerful and hostile toward them.
Historical examples include the Stockholm Syndrome, which is named after
a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden. The victims became emotionally
attached to their victimizers, and even defended their captors after their
release. A more recent case involved a young woman named Patty Hearst
who was captured by a small group of self-proclaimed revolutionaries. She
was kept in closets, raped, and otherwise mistreated. Yet, she decided to join
them, making little propaganda videos for them, and even waving a

20
machine gun around during a bank robbery. At her trial, she was acquitted because
she was a victim suffering from the Stockholm Syndrome. In sum, if you are afraid
of someone, you can minimize that fear (anxiety) by becoming more like them.

20
• An erogenous zone is an area of the body that gives maximum pleasure
during a particular stage of development (to be explained shortly), which is
named after the erogenous zone associated with it.
• Fixation occurs because of either too much or too little gratification,
resulting in arrested development with an adult having trait characteristics
of an early stage. That is, fixation is a persistent focus on an earlier
psychosexual stage. Until the conflict is resolved, the person will remain
"stuck" in such a stage. Note that fixation and regression go hand-in-hand.
You will see examples of fixation next.

21
• According to Freud, personality develops through a series of five
psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. The first three
stages are crucial to personality development. They lead, after a period of
relative calm, to the appearance, in the fifth stage, of the mature, socialized
adult (if fixation has not occurred).
• The oral stage takes place during the first year of life (infancy) when the
mouth is the primary erogenous zone that gives maximum pleasure. The
mouth is vital for eating and drinking, with the infant deriving pleasure
from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and
sucking. The major conflict is weaning. Early fixations result in oral-
incorporative character. As an adult, he or she will spend considerable time
engaged in oral gratifying activities, such as drinking, eating, kissing, and
smoking (as exemplified by the middle-aged man in the top picture
smoking a pipe and the little girl asking her mother, “Why is he still using a
pacifier?”). Later fixations result in oral-sadistic character. Such a person is
orally aggressive, as depicted by the bottom picture with the woman being
sarcastic (a biting remark) by saying to the man pressing the elevator
button, “Congratulations. You broke the code. If you press the elevator
button 3 times after it’s already been pressed, it goes into ‘hurry’ mode.”
The man pressing the elevator button says, “Really?”

22
The anal stage occurs during the second to the third year of life (toddlerhood)
when the anus is the primary erogenous zone, giving maximum pleasure (e.g.,
letting go or holding on to feces). The major conflict is toilet training.
• Early fixations result in anal-expulsive character. Such a person may have
problems with bowel control (enuresis) or may be overly generous.
• Later fixations result in anal-retentive character. Such a person may suffer
from constipation (holding on to feces), stinginess, too orderly or a
tendency toward perfectionism.

23
The phallic stage occurs approximately from age 3 through 5 (early childhood)
and the erogenous zone is the phallus (male penis or female clitoris). The
name “phallus” applies to girls, too, because Freud believed that the female
clitoris was a small penis. During this stage, libido is focused on the child’s
genitalia.
• The Oedipus complex is normal. Imagine this scenario: “Mom, I love you. I
want to marry you,” says a four-year-old boy after planting a kiss on his
mother’s cheek. When his father comes home, that same endearing little
boy launches an angry campaign against him, all the while sweetly holding
his mother’s hand. The Oedipus complex is named after an ancient play by
Sophocles in which Oedipus, as an adult, kills his father and marries his
mother. Such a complex is an unconscious psychological conflict in which
the child loves the parent of the opposite sex. For instance, the male child
loves his mother and wants to replace his father who is perceived as a rival
to the mother’s affections; this is what the top picture exemplifies when the
boy tells his father: “Know what, Daddy? I love your wife.” However, the
male child also fears being punished by his father for having these feelings,
a fear Freud termed castration anxiety. The conflict is resolved through the
defense mechanism of identification. This is what the bottom picture
exemplifies, with one boy, dressed like a Superman, listening to another boy
dressed like his father saying, “I am a REAL superhero. I’m Daddy,” while

24
his father watches from a corner. Through identification with the father, the father’s
morality becomes the male child’s morality (Superego). According to Freud, adult
sexual orientation is determined during the phallic stage.
• Note that the Electra complex (after another play from Sophocles in which Electra
causes her brother to kill her mother) is a term that some critics have used to
explain the female version of the Oedipus complex. Freud, however, preferred to
use the concept of the Oedipus complex for both boys and girls. The situation is
more complicated for girls who discover that they do not have a penis and blame
their mother for that while becoming attracted to their father who has the valued
organ. Freud called this situation penis envy, which is a concept that girls view
themselves as castrated males and envy the father’s penis. Freud believed that penis
envy was not fully resolved until much later when she would have a child of her
own. The implication is that all women remain somewhat fixated at this stage,
resulting in a less developed Superego compared to men whose castration anxiety
was quickly resolved in childhood through identification with the father. Female
fixation also includes becoming promiscuous or a seductress, which are penis-
related activities (i.e., seeking to share a penis with a man). Male fixation includes
brashness and overconcern with masculinity and virility.

24
• Latency period lasts from about 6 years of age (when most children enter
school) to the beginning of puberty. During this calm period of childhood,
libido is sublimated into intellectual pursuits. Thus, there is no erogenous
zone associated with this period.
• Genital stage is the final psychosexual stage, beginning around puberty
(about age 12), when the Ego and Superego have become fully formed, and
lasting until death. The erogenous zone is the genitals. During adolescence,
the teenager reaches sexual maturity, seeking pleasure by having sexual
intercourse with another person rather than just self-pleasure (masturbation)
like during the phallic stage (Freud, 1905). The conflict is commitment
versus noncommitment. If the other stages have been completed
successfully, the individual should now be well-balanced and, according to
Freud, able to love and work.

25
• Anna O. (her real name was Bertha Pappenheim) suffered from hysteria, a
condition in which the patient exhibits physical symptoms (e.g., paralysis,
convulsions, hallucinations, loss of speech) without an apparent physical
cause. Her doctor, Josef Breuer, succeeded by helping her to recall
forgotten memories of traumatic events under hypnosis. Anna had
developed a fear of drinking when a dog she hated drank from her glass.
Her other symptoms originated when caring for her sick father. Josef
Breuer collaborated with Sigmund Freud in publishing Studies on Hysteria
(1895). They discovered that encouraging Anna O. to talk uninhibitedly, the
symptoms gradually abated. Thus, Freud formulated ideas that neuroses
developed from traumatic experiences that have been forgotten. Anna O.
called her treatment, the “talking cure,” creating the cathartic method of
treatment in which the venting of emotions is thought to eliminate
hysterical symptoms.
• Breuer noticed that Anna O. began transferring to him the feelings that she
had toward her father; such a phenomenon is called transference.
• Countertransference occurs in treatment when the analyst has an emotional
reaction to or involvement with a patient.

26
Freud’s major methods for investigating the unconscious mind were free
association, dream analysis, and analysis of everyday life experiences.
• Free association was a method used by Freud in which the patient was
asked to say, openly and honestly, the first thoughts and ideas that would
come to mind, without editing anything. The pressure technique was used to
break resistance in which Freud would place his hand on a patient’s
forehead while assuring that relevant memories would return.

27
• Freud (1900) believed that dreams were the royal road to the
unconscious because while dreaming the ego defenses have been lowered,
allowing the dreamer to become aware of some repressed material, albeit in
distorted form. For Freud, dreams were hallucinations (fantasies or wish
fulfilment) that occurred during sleep. In other words, dreams were
manifestations of the unconscious mind. Thus, dream analysis would give
clues to the patients’ unconscious mind. While analyzing dreams, Freud
made two distinctions between the contents of a dream:
• Manifest content refers to the actual images, thoughts, and content
of a dream as experienced by the dreamer; it is the surface
(conscious) meaning of what the dream appears to be all about upon
waking up.
• Latent content is the hidden (unconscious) meaning of dreams that
has been repressed.
• Dream work refers to the mechanisms that distorts the true meaning of the
dream; it includes:
• Condensation which refers to two or more latent thoughts
“condensing” onto a single manifest dream symbol).
• Displacement (in dreams) means a substitution to something
symbolically related to anxiety-provoking events rather than

28
dreaming about the anxiety-provoking events themselves.
• Secondary revision is resynthesizing dream elements after they have been
distorted by dream work. This resynthesizing gives the distorted dream
elements enough meaning to be accepted into consciousness upon waking
up.

28
Freud studied everyday life experiences, including humor and parapraxes:
• Humor allows expression of repressed thoughts in a socially acceptable
way. For Freud (1960), jokes (the verbal and interpersonal form of humor)
are ‘funny” because the conscious part of the mind is allowed the
expression of thoughts that society usually finds disturbing or inappropriate.
• Parapraxes (“faulty acts”) refer to the manifestations of repressed material.
They are errors in everyday living, such as slips of tongue or pen,
“accidents,” lapses of memory, that reveal what is in a person’s unconscious
mind. Colloquially, such errors are called “Freudian slips.” An embarrassing
example of a slip of the tongue includes addressing one's spouse by an ex-
lover's name.

29
Freud was on the cover of Time magazine many times, as depicted in the
picture above with the caption: Is Freud Dead?

30
• The criticisms include postdiction, which is an explanation after the fact.
Freud's theory is not good at predicting behavior. According to Popper (see
chapter 1), Freud's theory is unfalsifiable because it cannot be refuted;
thus, it is pseudo-science. In fact, Freud’s relied solely on the clinical case
study method and his ideas were based on a small sample of mostly upper-
class Austrian women who showed similar symptoms.
• Freud’s concepts are vague, lacking clear operational definitions. Thus, his
ideas are mostly untestable, with little attention paid in current psycho-
analytic journals (Robins et al., 1999).
• Freud showed male chauvinism (e.g., penis envy), claiming that women
have underdeveloped Superegos compared to men.
• Overemphasis on sexual and unconscious motivation. Freud focused too
much on sexuality, reflecting a Victorian era when sex was taboo. For
Freud, most problems were the result of repressed sexuality. Also, we have
no free-will since our behavior is governed largely by the unconscious
instincts of Eros and Thanatos.
• Freud had a pessimistic view of human nature, viewing humans as
basically aggressive and irrational. In other words, humans are like
subhuman animals in that our master motive is the satisfaction of
biological needs.

31
• The contributions include being the first comprehensive theory of
personality. He was a pioneer, with all theories following him being
reactions, favorable or unfavorable, to his ideas.
• Current research has identified unconscious processes, such as procedural
memory (Tulving, 1972), automatic processing (Bargh & Chartrand, 1999;
Stroop, 1935), and social psychology has shown the importance of implicit
biases (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). Such empirical findings have
demonstrated the role of unconscious processes in human behavior.
• Freud identified anxiety as a determinant of human behavior and described
ego defensive mechanisms to cope with excess anxiety.
• Along with Breuer, Freud developed psychoanalysis as a psychotherapy
(“the talking cure”) to alleviate psychological disorders.
• Freud’s impact goes beyond psychology. He has had a tremendous influence
on Western thought, including art, literature, history, anthropology,
sociology, the study of religion, and popular culture today.

32
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