Psychoanalysis Psychoanalytic Schools and Theorists 1 β Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which theorist developed the concept of 'individual psychology,' emphasizing inferiority feelings and social interest as core motivators?
- Carl Jung
- Alfred Adler (Correct answer)
- Otto Rank
- Melanie Klein
Correct answer: Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler founded individual psychology, arguing that striving to overcome inferiority and contributing to society drive human behavior.
Question 2: Object relations theory, as developed by Melanie Klein, centers on the infant's relationship with which primary object?
- The father
- The breast (Correct answer)
- The mirror
- The id
Correct answer: The breast
Klein argued that the infant's earliest psychic life revolves around phantasies about the mother's breast as the first object.
Question 3: Heinz Kohut's self psychology introduced the concept of 'selfobjects,' which refers to what?
- Introjected parental figures
- People or things experienced as part of the self that provide psychological functions (Correct answer)
- Internalized object representations
- Defense mechanisms protecting the self
Correct answer: People or things experienced as part of the self that provide psychological functions
Kohut defined selfobjects as others experienced as part of the self who perform regulatory functions such as mirroring or idealization.
Question 4: Jacques Lacan's concept of the 'mirror stage' describes a developmental moment in which the infant first experiences what?
- Object permanence
- A unified image of itself as a coherent whole (Correct answer)
- Oedipal desire for the mother
- Separation from the primary caregiver
Correct answer: A unified image of itself as a coherent whole
Lacan's mirror stage describes the infant recognizing its reflection and forming an illusory sense of bodily unity and a coherent ego.
Question 5: The British Independent Group of psychoanalysts, including Donald Winnicott, is best characterized by which approach?
- Strict adherence to classical Freudian drive theory
- A middle position between Kleinian and ego psychology traditions (Correct answer)
- Emphasis on Lacanian linguistics and the symbolic order
- Focus exclusively on adult analysis
Correct answer: A middle position between Kleinian and ego psychology traditions
The British Independents occupied a middle ground, integrating object relations insights while not fully adopting either Kleinian or Anna Freudian positions.
Question 6: Sandor Ferenczi is historically significant in psychoanalysis primarily for his contributions to which area?
- Dream symbolism catalogues
- Technique, including active techniques and mutual analysis (Correct answer)
- Neurological correlates of the unconscious
- Structural theory revision
Correct answer: Technique, including active techniques and mutual analysis
Ferenczi experimented with active and relaxation techniques and proposed mutual analysis, making him a pioneer in psychoanalytic technique.
Which theorist developed the concept of 'individual psychology,' emphasizing inferiority feelings and social interest as core motivators?