Key Concepts
1. Unconscious Mind: The part of the mind that contains thoughts, memories, and desires
not within the conscious awareness. It influences behavior significantly.
2. Id, Ego, and Superego:
o Id: Instinctual drives and desires, operates on the pleasure principle.
o Ego: Rational part that mediates between the id and reality, operates on the reality
principle.
o Superego: Moral conscience, incorporates societal and parental standards.
3. Psychosexual Stages of Development:
o Oral (0-1 year): Pleasure centers on the mouth (sucking, biting).
o Anal (1-3 years): Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination, coping with
demands for control.
o Phallic (3-6 years): Pleasure zone is the genitals, coping with incestuous feelings
(Oedipus/Electra complex).
o Latency (6 to puberty): Dormant sexual feelings.
o Genital (puberty onwards): Maturation of sexual interests.
4. Defense Mechanisms:
o Repression: Banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts from consciousness.
o Denial: Refusing to believe painful realities.
o Projection: Attributing one's own unacceptable feelings to others.
o Displacement: Shifting impulses to a more acceptable target.
o Sublimation: Channeling unacceptable impulses into socially approved activities.
5. Dream Analysis: Dreams are the "royal road" to the unconscious. They represent
repressed desires and unresolved conflicts. Freud distinguished between manifest content
(actual storyline) and latent content (hidden meaning).
6. Neurosis: Results from unresolved unconscious conflicts, typically originating in
childhood. Symptoms are a compromise between repressed desires and the ego's
defenses.
Applications and Critiques
• Therapeutic Techniques:
o Free Association: Patients talk freely to uncover unconscious thoughts.
o Transference: Patients transfer feelings about significant others onto the
therapist.
o Interpretation: The therapist explains the underlying meanings of thoughts and
behaviors.
• Popper’s Critique:
o Freud’s theory is not falsifiable, meaning it cannot be empirically tested and
potentially disproven, which Popper argued disqualifies it as a scientific theory.
Debates and Controversies
1. Scientific Status: Debate over whether Freud’s theory qualifies as scientific due to its
lack of falsifiability.
2. Impact on Psychology: Despite criticisms, Freud’s ideas have profoundly influenced
psychology, psychiatry, and broader culture.
3. Misunderstanding Freud: Some argue Freud misunderstood the nature of his theory,
overestimating its scientific rigor and underestimating its interpretive aspects.
4. Value of Theory:
o Pros: Provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the unconscious,
has therapeutic success, and offers cultural insights.
o Cons: Lacks empirical support, relies on subjective interpretation, and has limited
predictive power.
