PSYC 2130 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Cathexis, Libido, Death Drive
6 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
Chapter 4: freud"s psychoanalytical theory: freud initially believed all human motivation was broadly sexual. Aggressive drive (death drive, death instinct or thanatos): accounts for the destructive aspects of human behavior and has its own kind of psychic energy: the development and function of both drives? is parallel. What are the four characteristics of freud"s theories: dynamic: refers to dynamic flow of energy among structures of personality. Like most psychoanalysts freud believe that source of human motivation was psychic energy (aka libidinal energy: posited that people have fixed amount of psychic energy that is used for all psychological functions. Psychic energy can"t be invested to people or activities rather it can be cathected to mental representations in the form of thoughts, images, fantasies. Strength of cathexis = amount of energy devoted to it: the greater the amount of energy devoted to one cathexis, the less psychic energy is available for other cathexes and mental activities.
