Freud Readings

• Who founded the psychoanalytic approach to personality?

  Sigmund Freud
• What is the core belief of the psychoanalytic approach?


  Most of our behavior is driven by unconscious motives.
• What are the key themes of the psychoanalytic approach?


  Freud, levels of consciousness, dreams, human nature, personality structure, defense mechanisms, clinical applications, evaluation.
• What are the learning outcomes of studying Freud's psychoanalytic approach?


  • Understand the psychoanalytic method
  • Grasp Freud's view of human nature and motivation
  • Comprehend psychoanalysis' approach to behavior
  • Recognize Freud's personality structure and development
  • Appreciate clinical applications of Freudian theory
  • Critically evaluate Freud's work
• What does Freud's theory of personality include?


  Levels of consciousness, human nature, motivation, personality structure, and development.
• What was the predominant view of human beings before Freud's theories?


  Human beings were seen as rational creatures controlled by will and conscious goals.
• How did Freud view the unconscious mind?


  As a source of motives that influence behavior without our awareness.
• What might Freud suggest if someone forgets to attend a meeting they found boring?


  They were unconsciously motivated to forget about it.
• What is repression according to Freud?


  A process of keeping unacceptable thoughts and urges in the unconscious.
• What are the three levels of consciousness described by Freud?


  Conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.
• What is the difference between conscious and preconscious thought?


  Conscious thought is actively aware, while preconscious thought can be easily recalled.
• What does the unconscious mind consist of?


  Thoughts, memories, feelings, urges, or fantasies that are actively kept out of awareness.
• How does Freud describe the process of repression?


  As an active, continuous process of keeping material unconscious.
• How does Freud compare the content of the mind to an iceberg?


  Conscious and preconscious thought are like the small sections above the surface of the iceberg.
• What is the function of dreams according to Freud?


  To preserve sleep by representing wishes as fulfilled.
• What are the two important elements of dreams identified by Freud?


  Manifest content and latent content.
• What is manifest content in dreams?


  The description of the dream as recalled by the dreamer.
• What is latent content in dreams?


  The true meaning of the dream that is often censored by the dreamer.
• How did Freud use dream diaries in therapy?


  Patients reported the manifest content, which Freud analyzed to uncover latent content.
• What is primary process thinking according to Freud?


  It is irrational mental activity represented in dreams.
• What is secondary process thinking?


  Rational thought that is logical and organized.
• What drives behavior according to Freud's pleasure principle?


  An urge to have drives met and avoid displeasure.
• How does the reality principle differ from the pleasure principle?


  The reality principle is learned and considers the actual situation in the external world.
• What drives human motivation according to Freud?


  Libido and basic biological drives.
• How did Freud's views relate to Darwin's evolutionary theory?


  Freud believed that human infants share basic biological drives with animals.
• What term did Freud use to describe the mental energy that becomes the basis of adult sexual drives?


  Libido
• What are the key components of Freud's theory of personality development?


  • Levels of consciousness
  • Nature of human beings
  • Source of human motivation
  • Structure of personality
  • Development of personality
• What was the dominant theory in the scientific culture during the time discussed?

  Darwin's evolutionary theory
• How was the human infant perceived in relation to apes and human adults?


  The human infant was seen as being between apes and human adults in terms of development
• What were considered the most important drives for animals and human infants?


  Hunger and sexuality
• What did Freud assume about the mental energy each child is born with?


  Freud assumed that each child was born with a fixed amount of mental energy called libido
• What does the term 'libido' refer to in Freud's theory?


  Libido refers to the mental energy that becomes the basis of adult sexual drives
• What two types of drives did Freud initially describe?


  Sexual drives and life-preserving drives
• What is the death instinct, according to Freud?


  The death instinct, or Thanatos, is a self-destructive instinct observed in humans
• How does Freud explain human motivation?


  Human motivation is explained by attempts to satisfy basic instinctual drives
• What are the three basic structures of personality in Freud's theory?


  The id, the ego, and the superego
• What does the id represent in Freud's structural model of the mind?


  The id represents the basic storehouse of raw, uninhibited, instinctual energy
• What principle operates in the id?


  The pleasure principle operates in the id
• What is the role of the ego in Freud's model?


  The ego mediates between the id and the outside world
• What principle does the ego operate according to?


  The ego operates according to the reality principle