Psychoanalysis Human Development and Behavior 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes the 'rapprochement' subphase in Mahler's separation-individuation theory?
- The infant shows no awareness of the mother's absence
- The toddler alternates between clinging to and pushing away the caregiver (Correct answer)
- The child fully internalizes the caregiver and no longer seeks contact
- The infant fuses psychologically with the mother in symbiosis
Correct answer: The toddler alternates between clinging to and pushing away the caregiver
Rapprochement (16–24 months) is characterized by the toddler's conflict between the desire for autonomy and the fear of losing the caregiver, resulting in alternating approach and avoidance.
Question 2: According to Freud, during which stage does the Oedipus complex typically emerge?
- Oral stage
- Anal stage
- Phallic stage (Correct answer)
- Genital stage
Correct answer: Phallic stage
The Oedipus complex emerges during the phallic stage (ages 3–6), when the child develops erotic feelings toward the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent.
Question 3: In Kohut's self psychology, 'mirroring' refers to the caregiver's ability to do which of the following?
- Reflect the child's unconscious aggression back to them
- Validate and affirm the child's grandiose self-displays (Correct answer)
- Teach the child to imitate adult behaviors
- Confront the child's idealization defenses
Correct answer: Validate and affirm the child's grandiose self-displays
Kohut's concept of mirroring describes the caregiver's empathic response that validates the child's grandiosity and emerging sense of self.
Question 4: What is the significance of the 'latency period' in Freudian theory?
- Sexual impulses intensify and are directly expressed
- The child re-experiences oral fixations from infancy
- Sexual impulses are repressed and energy is directed toward learning and social skills (Correct answer)
- The genital stage begins and the superego dissolves
Correct answer: Sexual impulses are repressed and energy is directed toward learning and social skills
During the latency period (ages 6–12), libidinal drives are repressed and redirected toward intellectual pursuits and peer relationships.
Question 5: Which defense mechanism involves attributing one's own unacceptable impulses or thoughts to another person?
- Introjection
- Projection (Correct answer)
- Rationalization
- Intellectualization
Correct answer: Projection
Projection is the defense by which unacceptable internal feelings or impulses are externalized and attributed to others, reducing subjective distress.
Question 6: Bowlby's attachment theory argues that proximity-seeking behavior in infants is primarily driven by which motivational system?
- Libidinal energy seeking oral gratification
- An innate behavioral system evolved to maintain closeness for safety (Correct answer)
- Conditioned responses to food reinforcement
- Ego instincts oriented toward self-preservation only
Correct answer: An innate behavioral system evolved to maintain closeness for safety
Bowlby proposed that attachment behavior is an evolutionarily adaptive system that motivates infants to seek proximity to caregivers for protection, independent of feeding.
Question 7: In object relations theory, what is meant by 'whole object relations'?
- The infant perceives others as entirely good or entirely bad
- The capacity to perceive self and others as integrated combinations of good and bad qualities (Correct answer)
- The therapist's use of transitional objects in treatment
- Complete internalization of the mother's representation
Correct answer: The capacity to perceive self and others as integrated combinations of good and bad qualities
Whole object relations refers to the developmental achievement of perceiving people as complex, ambivalent wholes rather than split into purely good or purely bad representations.
Psychoanalysis Human Development and Behavior 3
Which of the following best describes the 'rapprochement' subphase in Mahler's separation-individuation theory?