Psychoanalysis Foundational Concepts 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which psychic structure operates according to the 'reality principle' in Freudian theory?
- Id
- Ego (Correct answer)
- Superego
- Preconscious
Correct answer: Ego
The ego mediates between the id's demands and external reality by operating on the reality principle.
Question 2: What did Freud call the mental energy derived from sexual and life instincts?
- Thanatos
- Libido (Correct answer)
- Mortido
- Cathexis
Correct answer: Libido
Libido is Freud's term for the psychosexual energy associated with Eros, the life and sexual drive.
Question 3: In topographic theory, which system contains material that can be brought into awareness with focused attention?
- Unconscious
- Preconscious (Correct answer)
- Conscious
- Id
Correct answer: Preconscious
The preconscious holds memories and thoughts not currently in awareness but accessible with deliberate attention.
Question 4: What term describes the process by which psychic energy becomes attached to a particular person, idea, or object?
- Repression
- Cathexis (Correct answer)
- Projection
- Sublimation
Correct answer: Cathexis
Cathexis refers to the investment or attachment of psychic energy (libido) to an external or internal object.
Question 5: According to Freud, which developmental stage is characterized by the latency of sexual impulses?
- Oral stage
- Phallic stage
- Latency stage (Correct answer)
- Genital stage
Correct answer: Latency stage
The latency stage (ages 6–12) involves relative dormancy of sexual drives, with energy redirected toward social and intellectual skills.
Question 6: What is the psychoanalytic term for the patient's displacement of feelings about past figures onto the analyst?
- Countertransference
- Resistance
- Transference (Correct answer)
- Projection
Correct answer: Transference
Transference occurs when a patient unconsciously redirects emotions and expectations from significant past relationships onto the therapist.
Question 7: Which concept refers to the analyst's unconscious emotional reactions to the patient, considered a potential tool in modern analysis?
- Transference
- Countertransference (Correct answer)
- Resistance
- Splitting
Correct answer: Countertransference
Countertransference describes the analyst's own unconscious responses to the patient, now viewed as a source of clinical information.
Psychoanalysis Foundational Concepts 2
Which psychic structure operates according to the 'reality principle' in Freudian theory?