General Psychology (PSY2200 MBAC)

1. General Psychology(PSY2200 MBAC) Chapter 01: Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

2. Psychoanalysis A Theory with Interesting Roots

3. The Story Begins…Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 – 1815) • Mesmer: Medical degree from University of Vienna, 1766 • Maximillian Hell, Jesuit priest, spoke of using magnets to effect medical cures • Mesmer began using the technique, eventually dropping the use of the magnet – his own animal magnetism was sufficient to influence (note that he always told his patients what outcome he expected) • A commission appointed by the king of France investigated Mesmer’s techniques and attributed the benefits of animal magnetism to the imagination (Franklin, Guillotin)

4. The Story Continues…Marquis de Puységur • Refined Mesmer’s technique, decreasing the drama • Could induce a peaceful, sleeplike trance • Artificial Somnambulism • Suggestibility • Induced paralysis • Induced anaesthesia • Emotional experience • Posthypnotic Amnesia • Posthypnotic Suggestion

5. HypnosisJames Braid (1795 – 1860) • A skeptic of magnetism • Argued that the phenomenon was a product of suggestibility • Renamed the process neuro-hypnology, then shortened to hypnosis (hypnos: Greek – sleep) • Made the phenomenon more respectable among the medical community

6. Video Hypnosis

7. HysteriaJean-Martin Charcot (1825 - 1893) • Hysteria: (Hyster: Greek – uterus) paralysis and numbness, disturbances of sight and hearing • Greek view of hysteria • “Theory is fine, but it does not prevent things from existing”

8. HysteriaJoseph Breuer (1842 – 1925) • Anna O. • 21-year-old • Paralysis of arms or legs • Disturbances of sight and speech • Nausea • Memory loss • Mental disorientation

9. Anna O. and Breuer • Using hypnosis, Breuer discovered Anna had had to keep vigil by dying father’s bedside • Pathogenic ideas: Each of Anna’s symptoms had a relationship to trauma in this situation • Cathartic Method: Relief following emotional release • Aristotle: Catharsis – emotional release and sense of purification by the audience while watching a drama • The Talking Cure (“Chimney Sweeping”): talking about painful things can bring emotional relief

10. Anna O.The Outcome • Actually named Bertha Pappenheim (1859 – 1936) • Admitted to a sanatorium immediately following Breuer terminating treatment • Ultimately became a leader in the European feminist movement • Playwright • Author of children’s stories • Founder of several school and clubs for the poor, illegitimate, or wayward young women • Effective spokesperson against white slavery and abortion • “If there is any justice in the next life women will make the laws there and men will bear the children”

11. PsychoanalysisSigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) • Birth in clinical practice, rather than academic or experimental psychology • Emphasis on unconscious processes

12. Psychoanalytic Theory Reality Principle Pleasure Principle

13. Psychoanalytic TheoryAnxiety and Defense Mechanisms • Anxiety • Objective Anxiety: real-world threats • Neurotic Anxiety: ego feels that it is going to be overwhelmed by the Id • Moral Anxiety: when an internalized value (from the superego) is about to be violated • Defense Mechanisms: a means for the Ego to cope with neurotic or moral anxiety

14. Defense Mechanisms • Sublimation: substituting a nonsexual goal for a sexual one • Projection: attributing blame to someone or something else (“the devil made me do it”) • Identification: if one does not live up to an internalized value, indentifying with someone who does (e.g. logos, hairstyles, choice of music) • Rationalization: manufacturing a rational reason for something when that isn’t the case • Reaction Formation: doing the opposite of what you really want to do (the homosexual man becomes a super Don Juan)

15. Back to Hysteria • In 1895, Charcot and Freud together argued that hysteria is caused by traumatic experience that is not allowed adequate expression and comes out instead in a physical manifestation • According to Freud, the experience is repressed because of Id/Ego/Superego conflicts • The Seduction Theory: In 1896, Freud goes further and suggests that in 18 of 18 cases, his patients all had histories of a sexual attack in childhood

16. A Controversy Emerges • Freud and Charcot were stating all of these things publicly in late 19th Century Europe • Freud’s patients were the children of the wealthy elite in Vienna • This is at the height of the Victorian Era • The Victorian Era was characterized by strict moral standards, especially regarding sex • The idea that the social elites were sexually victimizing their children was entirely unpalatable

17. The Outcome • Essentially, Freud withdrew his argument • He substituted the idea that his patients were fantasizing about sex and that the Id/Ego/Superego system repressed these fantasies, which emerged as hysteria • The result: Oedipus and Electra Complexes

18. Psychoanalytic Theory and Science • Psychoanalytic theory was developed via individual clinical observations and introspection by clinicians • The theory is minimally tied to formal science; Freud largely departed from his training in science in developing psychoanalytic theory • More recently, psychology as a discipline has developed theory on science

19. Evaluating Psychoanalysis

20. Psychology as Science As Presented in Your Text

21. Video Affiliation Experiment Dr. Stanley Schachter

22. Accumulation and Application of Scientific Knowledge

23. Basic and Applied ScienceThe Third Brake Light The Theory John Voevodsky, a Psychologist (1974) Taxicabs in San Francisco • Basic Science • Experimental Group: Taxicabs with a third brake light • Control Group: Taxicabs without a third brake light • Results: Fewer accidents (rear end collisions) in experimental group • Applied Science • A third brake light is now standard • Fewer accidents as a result

24. Basic and Applied ScienceMaterialism and Happiness The Theory Edward Diener, David Myers, Tim Kasser Relationship between material wealth and happiness • Basic Science • Diener and Myers: Once basic needs are paid for, money does little to improve happiness • Kasser: • People who buy into the consumer culture report lower personal well-being • Individuals who say that money, image, and popularity are important are less satisfied, more depressed and more anxious • Applied Science • Parent-training programs to teach learning through play • Would this effect your behavior or choices with your children?

25. Basic and Applied ScienceMake-Believe and Learning The Theory Singer and Singer Relationship between make-believe in three to five year olds • Basic Science • Experimental Group: Trained parents, teachers, home care providers in playing make-believe games that teach about numbers, colors, shapes, vocabulary, and reading • Control Group: No training • Results: • Children make gains in readiness skills • Fun • Easier to teach • Effective in preparing children for school • Applied Science • “Voluntary Simplicity” movement • Maximizing “time affluence” rather than material affluence • Would knowing this effect your choices?

26. Basic and Applied ScienceThe Polygraph The Theory Relationship between physiological responses (heart rate, respiration, perspiration, muscle tension, etc) and deception • Basic Science • Results: • No pattern of physiological response unique to deception • Placebo effects (belief that the polygraph is a “lie detector”) account for many of effects • Most lie detection is the product of expectation and making confessions • Applied Science • Courts have rejected the use of polygraphs as evidence of deception due to unreliability • Would you allow someone to polygraph you to “prove” your innocence?

27. Evaluating Psychology as Science