After Psychoanalysis

1. AfterPsychoanalysis Chapter 14

2. Splintered movement • Within 20 years of its founding • Freud never again spoke to the rebels • Carl Jung: supposed to be Freud’s “heir” • Alfred Adler • Karen Horney

3. Psychoanalysis after Freud • de-emphasize biological forces; emphasize social and psychological forces • minimize the import of infantile sexuality • more independent role for ego

4. Anna Freud (1895-1982) • Her life • The youngest of Freud’s six children; not a welcomed child • least preferred daughter, lonely and unhappy childhood • became her father’s favorite child • early interest in her father’s work • attended meetings of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society from the age of 14

5. Contributions to psychoanalysis • pioneered psychoanalysis of children • considered children's relative immaturity • considered children’s lack of verbal skills • innovative methods • the use of play materials • the observation of the child in the home • responsible for elaborating defense mechanisms

6. Carl Jung (1875-1961) • Background • Lonely childhood, filled with fantasy • professional reputation established before he met Freud • 1906: began correspondence with Freud • Supposed to be Freud’s successor and heir • age 38: severe emotional problems for 3-year period

7. Carl Jung • autobiographical influences, particularly with regard to views of about sex • Oedipus complex not relevant to his childhood experience • no major adult sexual hang-ups • preferred company of women • had affairs • isolation as child reflected in his theoretical focus on inner growth rather than social relationships • sex plays a minimal role in explaining human motivation

8. Forces that influence personality • Freud • Jung

9. Archetypes: • inherited tendencies within the collective unconscious • predispose one to behave in a manner like one’s ancestors • Examples: • Shadow

10. Introversion and extraversion • Extravert • Introvert • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

11. Alfred Adler (1870-1973) • Background • Sickly as child, poor student • Closer to father than mother

12. Individual psychology • Some of his ideas: • Social interest • Inferiority complex

13. Comment So, how did Adler differ from freud? • much more optomistic, • sex not important • social, not biological motivators • emphasized conscious thoughts over unconscious ones

14. The Evolution of Personality Theory: Humanistic Psychology • Some 15 to 20 theories represent were derived in some respect from Freudian psychoanalytic theory • Like Wundt, Freud presented a system of thought that both brought followers and motivated revolt • Freudian theory was a point of revolt, not a base, for humanistic psychology

15. The Zeitgeist: the 1960s • protest against Western mechanism and materialism • emphasis on • the present • hedonism and personal fulfillment • belief in human perfectibility • tendency to self-disclose

16. In general, humanistic psychology… • intended to replace other two main “forces” in psychology • Behaviorism • Psychoanalysis • Humanistic psychology • Not just a revision or adaptation of prior schools

17. The nature of humanistic psychology • Criticisms of behaviorism • narrow, artificial, sterile • too deterministic, no free will • reduces humans to animal-like S-R components, dehumanizing

18. The nature of humanistic psychology • Criticisms of Freudianism • also deterministic and mechanistic • minimization of consciousness • exclusion of normals from study

19. The nature of humanistic psychology • basic themes of humanistic psychology • emphasis on the positive rather than the negative in human traits and goals • focus on conscious experience • belief in free will • confidence in unity of human personality

20. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) • Overview • spiritual father of humanistic psychology • garnered academic respectability for the movement • goal: • to understand the highest achievements of which humans are capable • research: • Identify characteristics of healthy people • Wertheimer: prototype of healthy person

21. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) • the hierarchy of needs • physiological • safety • belonging and love • esteem • self-actualization

22. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) • Self-actualization: • involves active use of all of one’s traits and talents • involves the growth and realization of one’s potential • peak experiences • self-actualized persons: free of neurosis, middle-aged or older

23. Comment • criticism • small sample sizes preclude generalizability • subjects selected according to Maslow’s subjective criteria • terms are ambiguous and inconsistently defined • rebuttal: no other way to study self-actualization; perceived work as preliminary

24. Carl Rogers (1902-1987) • Overview • developed person-centered therapy • client is responsible for change • assumes one can consciously and rationally alter one’s thoughts and behavior

25. Self-actualization • a drive to make oneself better • unconditional positive regard: • love and acceptance regardless of your behavior • leads to self-acceptance (healthy) rather than conditions of worth (unhealthy) • mother-child relationship: key to actualization

26. Humanistic psychology • Did not become a part of the mainstream of psychological thought • Why? • Practitioners in private practice rather than academia • Comparatively little research and few publications • No graduate training programs • Ill-timed attacks on the psychoanalytic and behaviorism, schools already in decline

27. The changing zeitgeist in physics • Rejection of the mechanistic model of the universe • Shift of focus of scientific investigation • From an independent and objectively knowable universe • To one’s own subjective observation of that universe • I.E., objective knowledge is really subjective • Scientific psychology resisted the new physics for at least 50 years

28. The founding of cognitive psychology • No single founder • Two scholars contributed groundbreaking work: • George Miller • Ulric Neisser

29. George Miller (1920- ) • His life • Behaviorism • Miller accepted it as the primary school (had no choice) • Mid-1950s: determined behaviorism was inadequate • 1956: classic article “the magical number seven, plus or minus two: some limits on our capacity for processing information”

30. The nature of cognitive psychology • Differs from behaviorism • Focus on the process of knowing • Interest in how the mind structures or organizes experience • The person actively and creatively arranges the stimuli received from the environment

31. Unconscious cognition • The new unconscious or nonconscious • Not the same as Freud's concept • More rational than emotional • Is involved in the first stage of human cognition • The response to a stimulus • An integral part of information processing

32. Subliminal perception • We can be influenced by stimuli that we are not aware of • Process of acquiring knowledge • Occurs at both conscious and nonconscious levels, but mostly at the nonconscious level • Nonconscious information processing is faster and more complicated

33. Current status • Cognitive psychology is a success • Its impact is felt by most areas of psychology • It has influenced psychology in Europe and Russia • It has influenced areas outside psychology

34. Criticisms • Opposed by behaviorists • Considerable confusion about terminology and definitions • Overemphasis on cognition • Ignored other influences such motivation and emotion • Became fixated on thought processes

35. Schools of Thought in Perspective • All earlier schools (except psychoanalysis) absorbed into mainstream

36. How did each school of thought contribute to the science of psychology? • Wundt’s psychology & Structuralism • Functionalism • Behaviorism • Gestalt psychology • Psychoanalysis • Humanistic psychology • Cognitive psychology