Introduction to Freudian
Psychology
Sigmund Freud
1856 - 1939
• An Austrian Neurologist and
Psychologist, Freud is widely
considered the founding father of
psychoanalysis, and studied the human
mind more thoroughly than any before
him.
• Freudian Theory emphasizes the
unconscious mind as central to human
psychology, and suggests that the
interpretation of dreams reveals one’s
true psychological structure.
Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, 1922
The Case of Anna O.
Anna O. suffered from hysteria, including convulsions, paralysis, hallucinations,
and loss of speech, with no apparent physical cause.
• Josef Breuer, Anna’s doctor, successfully
treated her by helping her identify forgotten
memories of traumatic events which caused
fear and anxiety – a phobia of drinking due
to a feared dog who once drank from her glass,
an anxiety of illness from caring for her ill father.
After identifying these causes, symptoms subsided.
• Sigmund Freud, a friend of Joseph Breuer, was
fascinated by this, and so investigated the case,
eventually writing Studies in Hysteria (1895). In it,
he proposed the three levels of the human psyche,
and revolutionized psychology.
Freud posited that humans are largely unaware of our
true selves, unintentionally causing self-deception
through constant rationalization of our own conduct.
Thus, people fail to recognize
the true motivations of our
behavior.
From this, Freud began to map*
the mind. His works published
between 1900-1915 discuss
as the mind’s three levels.
Three levels of the human mind
Conscious Mind
• Conscious
Sub-conscious Mind
• Preconscious
• Unconscious
Conscious
• Surface-level thoughts, consisting of those
thoughts that are the focus of our attention now.
• We are aware of these thoughts.
• In the iceberg model, this level is seen as the
visible part above water -- the tip of the iceberg.
Preconscious
• The preconscious consists of all which can be
retrieved from memory.
• We will or can become aware of these thoughts
through accessible memory, as these thoughts
move from sub-conscious to conscious mind.
• In the iceberg model, this level is the segment
just beneath the surface of the water, ready to
rise up above the surface at any time.
Unconscious
• The most significant level of the mind, the place of deepseated motives that are most responsible for shaping
behavior and personality.
• Acts as a repository of primitive wishes and impulse kept at
bay and mediated by the Pre-conscious.
• A primary assumption of Freudian theory is that the
unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater degree
than the individual suspects. Indeed, the goal of
psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious conscious.
Unconscious
• We are mostly unaware of these thoughts.
• Like an iceberg, most of the mind is not seen.
Examples
Conscious: I am feeling angry right now.
Preconscious: I must be angry because I lost my tennis
match yesterday.
Unconscious: My culture has instilled in me the belief
that winning is part of being successful in life. Instincts
have led me to believe that being athletic is necessary
to being seen as sexually attractive to potential mates.
I am angry because I fear being unsuccessful, sexually
unattractive, and alone.
Did Freud get it right?
Yes and No.
*While modern neuroscience does not support
a topographical view of the mind in three
physical layers, it has given some support to the
mind’s distinctions discussed by Freud. Magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) show that locations of
brain activity vary for pleasure, critical and guilt.
Psychoanalysis
Freud was the founding father of psychoanalysis, a
method for treating mental illness and also a theory
which explains human behavior.
• Psychoanalysis is often known as the talking cure.
Typically Freud would encourage his patients to
talk freely regarding their symptoms, and to
describe exactly what was on their
mind in order to identify thoughts
and motives of the unconscious.
Free-Association
Free association is a technique used in
psychoanalysis which was originally devised
by Freud out of the hypnotic method of his mentor
and coworker, Josef Breuer.
• The importance of free association is that the
patients spoke for themselves, rather than
repeating the ideas of the analyst; they work
through their own material, rather than parroting
another's suggestions.
Transference
Transference: A phenomenon characterized by
unconscious redirection of feelings and desires
from one person to another, especially of those
unconsciously retained from childhood toward a
new object.
• In psychotherapy, free association was used
to identify transference, which aided in
revealing the hidden unconscious.
Constructing Identity
After mapping the levels of the psyche, Freud
then developed a more structural model of the
mind’s systems in 1923.
• He called it “The Psychic Apparatus,” and it
went further in explaining his view of how the
mind operates and an individual constructs
identity.
Three systems of the human psyche
(or “The Psychic Apparatus”)
• Id
• Ego
• Superego
Id
• Consists of all inherited biological components of
personality.
• Acts on the impulsive, unconscious part of the
psyche which responds directly to instinctual
desires to experience immediate pleasure.
• Operates on the pleasure principle, which holds
that every wishful impulse should be satisfied
immediately, regardless of consequences. When
the pleasure principle is denied, one experiences
unpleasure (Freud, 1920).
Id
• Demands immediate satisfaction and instant
gratification.
• Is unaffected by logic or rational thinking.
• Does not plan for the future, or consider
future consequences.
• Human babies are born with only the id
system, and only later develop ego and
superego.
Id
The Id operates on two biological instincts:
• Eros: The life instinct, in place to help the individual
survive. Drives life-sustaining behavior like respiration,
eating, and sex.
• Thanatos: The death instinct, it is the destructive forces
of human nature. Drives aggression and violence.
Freud believed Eros is stronger than Thanatos, explaining
why the human mind does not self-destruct.
Id Examples?
Ego
• Functions mostly on reason.
• Develops to mediate between the unrealistic
id and the external world in a safe and socially
acceptable way, “…that part of the id which
has been modified by the direct influence of
the external world” (Freud 1923).
Ego
• Operates according to the reality principle, which
holds that the id’s demands are best satisfied in
realistic ways, often by compromising or
postponing satisfaction.
• Like the id, ego also seeks pleasure and avoids
pain. However, the ego is most concerned with
devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure
rather than obtaining it as immediately as
possible.
Ego
• Often the ego is weak compared to the
instinctual id. Often the ego serves to simply
steer the id in the best possible direction.
• Has no concept of right or wrong; something is
good simply if it achieves its end without causing
harm to itself or the id (Egoist, anyone?)
• Develops from the id during infancy through the
first three years of life.
Ego Examples?
Superego
• Incorporates values and morals as learned from
life experience (i.e. from family, religion, rules,
cultural norms).
• Main function is to control the id’s impulses,
especially those which society discourages (e.g.
sexual or violent behavior).
• Persuades the ego to turn to more moralistic
goals rather than simply realistic ones.
• Consists of two systems: conscience and the ideal
self.
Superego
• Conscience: The moral compass of the mind.
Punishes or rewards ego through feeling guilty
or proud.
• Ideal Self (ego ideal): An imaginary picture of
how the self ought to be, such as future
aspirations, treatment of others, and public
behavior.
Superego
• Behavior which falls short of the ideal self may
be punished through guilt; behavior which
meets the ideal self is rewarded through
feeling proud.
• Development begins at about age five.
Superego Examples?
Examples
Id: I want to win this tennis match -- it will feel good
and it would be fun to humiliate my opponent. Arrgh!
Ego: I want to win this tennis match, but to do so I
need to calm down, compose myself, play smart, and
focus on one point at a time.
Superego: But, should I win? My opponent, Jessica,
recently lost her dog. Maybe she needs to win this
match more than I do.
Review:
Id: Aims to achieve immediate pleasure.
Ego: Persuades id to achieve pleasure in a
realistic way.
Superego: Persuades ego to achieve pleasure in
a moralistic way.
Review in silhouettes form
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html
…in Simpsons form
http://img09.deviantart.net/
… in voices in your head form
Putting together levels and systems
Id: Operates at the unconscious level which we are
largely unaware of.
Ego: Operates at all levels of consciousness.
Superego: Operates at all levels of consciousness.
The Complete Iceberg Model
The Psyche’s Dilemma
Due to the fact that these interests have competing desires,
Freud believes that the human psyche will always be in
tension. The basic dilemma of all human existence is that
each element of the psychic apparatus makes demands
upon us that are incompatible with the other two.
• For example, the superego can make a person feel guilty
if rules are not followed. When there is conflict between
the goals of the id and superego, the ego must act as a
referee and mediate this conflict. The ego can deploy
various defense mechanisms (Freud, 1894, 1896) to
prevent it from becoming overwhelmed by anxiety.
Psychological Defense Mechanisms
References
Freud, S. (1899). The Interpretation of Dreams.
Freud, S. (1920). Beyond the pleasure principle. SE, 18: 1-64.
Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. SE, 19: 1-66.
Thurschwell, Pamela. (2009) Sigmund Freud: 24
McLeod, S. A. (2008). Id, Ego and Superego. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html, 2015
Kapelovitz, Leonard H. (1987). To Love and To Work/A Demonstration and Discussion of Psychotherapy.
p. 66.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (8th ed. 1976).
Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (2nd College Ed. 1970).
Links:
Audio: Listening to Freud
Article: Listening to Freud
Article: Do Psychologists Still Listen to Freud?
Video: Freud Biography
Freud Museum, London