PSYCH 2B03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Cathexis, Fire Hydrant, Libido
12 Jan 2016
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Lecture 3: Freud and Psychoanalysis
Motivation: Why do we do the things we do?
Goal in life: to maximize feelings of pleasure and minimize feelings of unpleasure
Hedonism: e do hateer e do eause it gies us pleasure
• There are two instincts that guide us:
• Sexuality (Eros)
• Aggressive (aka. Thanatose – death instinct)
•
• Libido: Source of energy that powers both sexual and aggressive instincts. Everything we do
that is pleasurable is either sexual, aggressive or both. Pleasures we think of that are
separate fro se are ot E. “all’s orgas.
Id: at birth the mind consists only of the id, contains all of our libido and goal is to use it up
o Pleasure principle – If it feels good, do it ad do it o
o Primary processes – When the id feels an impulse or urge it hunts through memory
looking for an image that has been associated with need or drive (Ex. If a baby is
hunger is searches for bottle or breast). Id uses up sexual libido holding on and
thinking about that image, therefore doing that uses up libido it produces pleasure.
o Predicate thinking – The id has difficulty distinguishing images that are similar
therefore you can substitute one image for another an the id wont notice.
Symbolism – we see symbols in religion, myths, dreams that carry sexual meaning
for the id because they are indistinguishable in the id from other sexual images
(penis vs. fire hydrant).
• Translates need into drive – feel psychologically that we are driven to get something
• Knows only images – The id has no sensory contact with the outside world (blind, deaf,
dumb). It only has access to memory images that are stored in the brain, so it can see things
that we have experienced by calling up images of those things.
• No sense of cause and effect – Id has no idea how the world works and can only act
through reflexes and instincts.
• No past or future, only now – Id does not understand time, especially that there will be a
future. There is only one time, which is now, which is why pleasure must be achieved now.
For this reason the id is an unchanging structure, the things you want now are the same as
efore. “eek pleasure i the oet.
Ego (Latin – I): as soon as we are born the part of the id differentiates into ego
Purpose: to help the ego release liido ore effiietl, to eet the id’s goal ith a koledge
of the outside world
o Reality Principle – If it feels good, do it now, if it does not get us into trouble. Can I
do things that will produce pleasure without causing myself pain, loss etc. The egos
job: realize the ids desires in the real world in a realistic fashion.
o Secondary process – The ego looks to see the image that the id is cathecting libido
to and it searches the real world for the thing depicted in the image. Replacing the id
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Document Summary
Goal in life: to maximize feelings of pleasure and minimize feelings of unpleasure. Hedonism: (cid:862)(cid:449)e do (cid:449)hate(cid:448)er (cid:449)e do (cid:271)e(cid:272)ause it gi(cid:448)es us pleasure(cid:863: there are two instincts that guide us, sexuality (eros, aggressive (aka. Thanatose death instinct: libido: source of energy that powers both sexual and aggressive instincts. Everything we do that is pleasurable is either sexual, aggressive or both. Pleasures we think of that are separate fro(cid:373) se(cid:454) are (cid:374)ot (cid:894)e(cid:454). If a baby is hunger is searches for bottle or breast). There is only one time, which is now, which is why pleasure must be achieved now. For this reason the id is an unchanging structure, the things you want now are the same as (cid:271)efore. (cid:862) eek pleasure i(cid:374) the (cid:373)o(cid:373)e(cid:374)t. (cid:863) Ego (latin i): as soon as we are born the part of the id differentiates into ego.
