Sigmund Freud 1.

Sigmund Freud created the manifest content (remembered story line of a dream) and believed a dreams apparent content is a censored, symbolic version of its latent content (underlying meaning of a dream) = dream theory. Freuds wishfulfillment: dreams provide a psychic safety valve- expressing otherwise unacceptable feelings and a hidden meaning. Repression was central to Freuds psychology. He believed a healthy life is filled by love and work. Freuds psychoanalytic theory proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality. He turned to free association, and created the theories of psychoanalysis and unconscious. Freuds view consisted of human personality arises from a conflict between our aggressive, pleasure-seeking biological impulses and the internalized social restraints against them. Freud proposed the id, ego, and superego; he also believed children pass through a series of psychological stages and came up with the Oedipus complex. He also proposed that the ego protects itself with defense mechanisms and that we defend ourselves against anxiety; and anxiety is free floating. 2. He tested his theories by basing them off of his assumptions mainly; his wish-fulfillment theory lacked any scientific support. His views and theories developed while he treated patients and analyzed himself; his psychosexual stages were based on the analysis of his patients histories and symptoms. 3. Many people thought Freuds theories were out of date and needed many revisions and werent always accurate. They said that recent research contradicts many of his specific ideas. Some think that Freud overestimated parental influence and underestimated peer influence, and doubt that conscience and gender identity form at the child resolves the Oedipus complex at age 5 or 6. Critics think many of Freuds theories including his psychoanalytic theory rested in his assumption and that history has failed to support Freuds ideas and theories

Solomon Asch 1. He theorized that if the participant gave an incorrect answer it would be clear that this was due to group pressure. He conducted an experiment to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform. In Asch's experiments, students were told that they were participating in a 'vision test.' Unknown to the subject, the other participants in the experiment were all confederates, or assistants of the experimenter. At first, the confederates answered the questions correctly, but eventually began providing incorrect answers. When they were interviewed after the experiment, most of them said that they did not really believe their conforming answers, but had gone along with the group for fear of being ridiculed or thought "peculiar". One of the major criticisms of Asch's conformity experiments centers on the reasons why participants choose to conform. According to some critics, individuals may have actually been motivated to avoid conflict, rather than an actual desire to conform to the rest of the group. Another criticism is that the results of the experiment in the lab may not generalize to real-world situations. However, many believe that while real-world situations may not be as clear cut as they are in the lab, the actual social pressure to conform is probably much greater, which can dramatically increase conformist behaviors.

2.

3.

Milgram 1. Milgram theorized that ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being. Obedience to authority is ingrained in us all from the way we are brought up. 2. Each participant took the role of a "teacher" who would then deliver a shock to the "student" every time an incorrect answer was produced. While the participant believed that he was delivering real shocks to the student, the student was actually a confederate in the experiment who was simply pretending to be shocked. As the experiment progressed, the participant would hear the learner plead to be released or even complain about a heart condition. Once the 300-volt level had been reached, the learner banged on the wall and demanded to be released. Beyond this point, the learner became completely silent and refused to answer any more questions. The experimenter then instructed the participant to treat this silence as an incorrect response and deliver a further shock 3. While this experiment suggests that situational variables have a stronger sway than personality factors in determining obedience, other psychologists argue that obedience is heavily influenced by both external and internal factors, such as personal beliefs and overall temperament. Also Milgram's sample were biased:: The participants in Milgram's study were all male.