A prevalent 19th-century belief was the notion of "psychic energy" (also known as "subliminal self"), which lay behind our motivation to behave a certain way. Freud believed not only in the existence of this psychic power but also that it continued to exert a strong...
Psychology
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Psychosexual stages of development
A significant part of the positive psychic energy of the Id is the libidinous drive or desire for sexual pleasure. Freud thought this was an innate drive, affecting people differently at different stages of development. He thought the libidinous impulse centered on a...
Repression
Freud argued that frustrations of the libido can cause anxiety that remains throughout one’s lifetime. He believed that the roots of these frustrations were often due to the conflict between the pleasure drive and societal norms. These conflicts often lead to feelings...
Analysis (Psychoanalysis)
To treat the psychological disorders caused due to conflict between the unconscious and the conscious mind, Freud developed methods to access the repressed thought, memories, and feelings in one's unconscious and subject them to a series of analytical sessions. The...
Free association
Talking cures were pioneered by Austrian psychoanalyst Josef Breuer and his patient Anna O, who coined what we now call the talking cure. They discovered that allowing patients to speak freely about their problems relieved their symptoms. This was later developed into...
Dreams and dream analysis
When we sleep, we often dream about things that aren’t happening. These dreams represent our subconscious desires, fears, and anxieties. Sometimes these dreams are vivid and realistic, while others may be bizarre and nonsensical. Dreams help us to understand ourselves...
The collective unconscious
Freud’s earliest and most influential student, Carl Gustav Jung, quickly criticized his mentor’s views on the unconscious mind. Jung’s theory of the three parts of the psyche – the ego, the personal (unconscious), and the collective (unconscious) – would go on to...
Archetypes
According to Jung, symbols, characters, and myths shared across cultures arise because they reflect universal archetypes that exist in our minds. These archetypes can help us make sense of the world and give meaning to events that occur around us. For example, the...
Inferiority complex
Alfred Adler was in the early twentieth century one of Sigmund Freud’s most important students. He presented an alternative version of psychoanalysis, which emphasized the importance of understanding the role of social forces in shaping individuals. Rather than...
Psychoanalysis and children
Even though Freud’s psychodynamic theories stressed the importance of the early stages of development, it was not until subsequent generations that his psychoanalysis techniques were first applied to children. Melanie Klein‘s work with very young kids led to ideas...
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Skinner boxes
Skinner arrived at his theories of operant conditioning from observations made on animals in various devices he invented himself. These devices, which came to be known as "Skinner Boxes," were similar to Thorndike’s' "puzzle boxes" but were often far more...
Animal experimentation
The saying that ‘psychology is the science of pulling habits out of rats’ is based on the extensive animal experimentation carried out by behaviorists. Except for Watson’s Little Albert experiment, behaviorist theories resulted from and have been tested by experiments...
Skinner’s teaching machine
Although Skinner initially focused on learning, he later expanded the concept into a broader theory of behavior known as the three-component system. In this view, behavior results from a series of interactions between internal states (the "stimulus"), responses (the...
Rewards and punishments
In one respect, Skinner’s observations caused a complete change in direction in education. Previously the emphasis had been on controlling behavior through discipline, and both punishment and reward for correct and incorrect responses. Skinner saw in experiments that...
Imprinting
Skinner’s radical behaviorism lead him to believe that we do not have any freedom of choice, that our behavior is controlled by the process of reinforcement, and that our ability to act is determined by genetic factors. In the 1930s Konrad Lorenz noted that newborn...
Free Course in Semiology
A completely and truly free course on Semiology (Semiotics). Learn about the meaning of signs, how and why did the field emerged. What is the relationship between the street signs and the signs that we use every day - words.
