Psychology 110

Neil Lutsky, Carleton College:

Class Outline: Personality in the Clinical Tradition


I. Why study psychoanalysis?

     
      

II. The grounds of psychoanalysis.

  1. Scientific interest in cases of hysteria.
    1. The case of Fraulein Elisabeth von R.
    2. The dynamic model of the psyche.
    3. Is reality or fantasy the basis of disturbing reminiscences?
      The
      seduction theory vs. Oedipal theory controversy.

  2. Psychoanalysis and "normality". The analysis of errors.
    1. Why meaning is individual.
    2. Why Freudian symbols are not Freudian.

  3. Freud's self-analysis, dream theory, and The Interpretation of Dreams.

  4. Transference.

III. Four fundamental claims of Psychoanalysis.

  1. The significance of unconscious motivation.

  2. The nature of the unconscious: infantile, erotic, and instinctual.
    1. The ID.
    2. The psychological dynamics of childhood.
      • The Superego.
      • Psychosexual development.

  3. The child in the adult: Are adult behaviors symbolic fantasies serving defensively to fulfill childhood wishes?
    • The Ego.
    • Ego defense mechanisms.
    • An application: Robert Waite's The Psychopathic God Adolf Hitler.

  4. Motivated unawareness.

IV. Criticisms and appreciations of psychoanalytic theory: What are we to make of psychoanalysis?

  1. Clinical issues.
    1. The challenge of alternative clinical theories.
    2. How generalizable are clinical claims?
    3. Are the basic facts accurate? e.g., Kershaw on Hitler's alleged Jewish grandfather.
    4. Is clinical interpretation reliable and valid?

  2. Scientific issues.
    1. Can psychoanalysis be tested? The elasticity of its concepts and hypotheses.
    2. The state of the evidence:
      • Psychoanalytic processes and hypotheses.
      • Outcome research in psychotherapy: Freud's Tally Argument.

  3. What themes and contributions will endure?