psyc 240-18.docx

2 characteristics common in all Denials or distortions of reality Operate unconsciously Repression Involuntary removal of something from conscious awareness Unconscious type of forgetting of the existence of something that brings us discomfort or pain Most frequently used Operate on memories of situations or people on our perception of present Once it is operating, difficult to eliminate b/c we use repression to protect from danger, we can remove it only by knowing the idea or memory is no longer dangerous How can we find that danger no longer exists unless we release the repression first? Denial Related to repression & involves denying existence of external threat or traumatic even that occurred Reaction Formation Actively express the opposite impulses Involves expressing id impulse that is the opposite of the one that is truly driving the person A person who is strongly driven by threatening sexual impulses may repress those impulses & replace them w/ more socially acceptable behaviors A person disturbed by extreme aggressive impulses, may become overly solicitous & friendly Projection Attributing them to someone else ?I don?t hate him, he hates me? Impulse is still manifested but in a way that is less threatening to individual Regression Person threats or regresses to earlier period of life that was more pleasant & free of frustration & anxiety Manifest behaviors displayed at earlier time (childish & dependent behaviors) Rationalization Involves reinterpreting behavior to make it seem more rational & acceptable to us Excuse or justify thought/action by persuading ourselves there is a rational explanation Person who is fired from job may rationalize by saying the job wasn?t good anyways Less threatening to blame someone else than ourselves Displacement If object that satisfies impulse is not available- shift impulse to another object Express hostility to someone else who is not a threat Sublimation Altering id impulses Diverted into other channels of expression (society considers acceptable/admirable) Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development Driven by same id impulses but there is not the same universality in the nature of the ego & superego- content varies from everyone B/c they are formed through experience, no two people have same experiences even siblings Personality if formed on basis of unique relationships we have as children w/ various people & objects Develop a personal set of character attributes that defines us each as individual Freud noticed that each body region assumed a greater importance as a center of conflict at a different age----psychosexual stages of development (each stage is defined by erogenous zone of the body)?in each developmental stage, a conflict exists that must be resolved before the infant or child can progress to the next stage Sometimes, a person does not move on b/c the conflict has not been resolved or they are fixated at a stage (portion of libido or psychic energy remains invested in that developmental stage, leaving less energy for following stages) Adult personality is determined by interactions that occurred before we were 5, at a time when we had limited control