Assignment #4
Sigmund Freud developed a very dynamic theory of psychoanalysis from which many modern psychoanalytic theories have developed. Freud’s theories, however, were based largely on his interactions with his own patients as opposed to clinical studies. Thus, some theories have fallen apart over the years, as they are difficult to prove. Regardless of this, the impact of his research lives on, and many of his ideas have evolved to shape a large portion of the modern world of psychology.
At the time of their origin, many of Freud’s ideas were considered extremely controversial. His theory of the development of personality was based on infantile sexuality and lust for one’s parents. He proposed that women suffered from what he called “penis envy” and that homosexuality was a normal twist of sexual development. His ideas caused quite an uproar in the psychological community, and many of them are still shrouded in controversy and debate today.
Freud’s theories, in part, caused such an upheaval because they were largely based on a person’s unconscious motives and unbidden sexual desires. At the time, the general population was uncomfortable with the proposal that many of a person’s actions may be due to forces perceived beyond their control. The most common, simple explanation of Freud’s theory of unconscious motives is found in an analogy to an iceberg (Wade 13). In this analogy, the visible tip of the iceberg represents what a person is actively aware of, and the rest of the iceberg, the much larger portion lurking deep below the surface of the ocean, represents a person’s unconscious motives.
To understand the origin of these unconscious motives and how they affect an individual, it is important to understand fir...
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...oach, where the doctor would sit behind the client and quietly take notes, modern psychoanalysts actually face the patient and actively participate in the therapy (Cherry).
Works Cited
AROPA. "Sigmund Freud - Theory." Sigmund Freud - Life and Work. 2008. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. .
Cherry, Kendra. "Psychoanalytic Theory - The Conscious and Unconscious Mind." Psychology - Complete Guide to Psychology for Students, Educators & Enthusiasts. July 2010. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. .
Thornton, Stephen P. "Freud, Sigmund [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 29 Dec. 2010. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. .
Wade, Carole, and Carol Tavris. Invitation to Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print
Freud believed that a human must go through certain stages in their lives or they will not socially develop to their full extent. He also made claims that a human is always struggling between their human, and instinctual nature. This was a very controversial topic because Freud concluded there was a lack of individuality of the human race. If Freud’s theory was the case then humans would have less of a choice in their life, and are truly slaves to their instinctual nature. While an intelligent figure of his time, I believe that Freud went in the wrong direction when approaching his theory. While humans do have a large amount of urges that he described, the person themselves can choose what to do based not solely on society, but their wants and needs as well. Had Freud been alive today I’m sure that his theory would have theorized much different things about the human nature. I think it is important to analyze the distinct cultural setting behi...
Sigmund Freud is considered to be one of the most studied and respected historical figures in psychology. Freud has had a huge impact on the way we think today. He also is responsible for creation psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud is even known as the “father of psychoanalysis”. Through endless contentious theories such as, the Case of Anna O, the Unconscious Mind, the Psyche, and the most infamous of his theories, the Psychosexual stage, Freud has generated many fans and supporters. His works has earned him a place in the list of psychology legends today.
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Freud has multiple known theories all describing the unconsciousness, the human defense mechanism, the clinical conversation between patients and psychoanalyst, and most prominently he discussed about sexual desire. He explained sexual desire as the key motivating energy for humans, and he discussed about its magnitude. On the same topic of sexual desire, Freud also discussed about homosexuality and how it’s acquired (Freud’s View of Homosexuality, 2013). Sigmund Freud discussed the concept of homosexuality as deterministic. According to Feud, human beings are born with unfocused sexual libidinal d...
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The aim of this essay is to clarify the basic principles of Freud’s theories and to raise the main issues.
Sigmund Freud is one of the founders of psychology, and he came up with the theory of psychoanalysis and psychodynamic in the field of psychology. This school of thought is about the-the unconscious mind on a person’s behavior, and he believed that human beings are composed of three elements the ego, the ID and the superego. The theories
There have been many theorist in psychology such as Erik Erickson, Gordon Allport, and Raymond Cattell, among others. They have all made significant contributions to psychology and understanding human behavior. However, two theorist have distinguished themselves over the rest of them. Sigmund Freud is known as the father of psychoanalysis. He developed numerous theories to facilitate the understanding of the different stages humans go through. As well as Freud, Karen Horney also created her own theories. Her theories were relatively similar to Freud’s, however, they also have their differences. It is essential to have general knowledge of their background and to understand both of their theories before we begin contrasting them.
Sigmund Freud is psychology’s most famous figure. He is also the most controversial and influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Freud’s work and theories helped to shape out views of childhood, memory, personality, sexuality, and therapy. Time Magazine referred to him as one of the most important thinkers of the last century. While his theories have been the subject of debate and controversy, his impact on culture, psychology, and therapy is cannot be denied.
For Freud, psychosexual theory occurs when personality arises, as it tries to resolve conflicts between unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses and the societal demands to suppress these impulses. In general, psychoanalytic theorists are permeated with notions of human development, and how the child changes during the course of his maturation, in an explicit and implicit perspective. Unconscious and Conscious In terms of the unconscious and conscious, Freud situates these conceptions in a topographic model of the mind. He divided it into two systems, called the unconscious and the preconscious.
Freud believed that humans develop through stages based on particular erogenous zones. Freud theorized that to gain a healthy personality as an adult, a person would have to successfully complete a certain sequence of five stages. Within the five stages of Freud’s psychosexual development theory, Freud assumed there would be major consequences if any stage was not completed successfully. The stages, in order, were the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage, and the genital stage. In general, Freud believed that an unsuccessful completion of any stage would make a person become fixated on that particular stage. The outcome would lead the person to either over indulge or under indulge the failed stage during adulthood. Freud truly believed that the outcomes of the psychosexual stages played a major part in the development of the human personality. Eventually, these outcomes would become different driving forces in every human being’s personality. The driving forces would determine how a person would interact with the world around them. The results from Freud’s theory about the stages of psychosexual development led Freud to create the concept of the human psyche; Freud’s biggest contribution to