Westen, 1998 Reading/Discussion Guide
Everyone should read pp. 333 – 336 carefully. Everyone should
skim
pp. 336 – 356.
Individual students will be or have been assigned to
carefully read & be
prepared to discuss one of the following subsections (see below). Note your reading guide
questions for the subsections.
________________________________________
Taylor, Michelle, Colette, Grace
pp. 336 – 339
1. What evidence is there for the existence of unconscious thoughts or memories? Choose one study as the "best" example of this type of evidence.
2. What is the most convincing piece of neurological evidence that we feel emotions without knowing we are feeling them?
________________________________________
Anna G., Maggie G., Carolyne, Kim, Anna H.
pp. 336 – 339
3. What is the most convincing piece of evidence that we feel emotions without knowing we are feeling them?
4. What is the most convincing piece of evidence that we act on unconscious emotions?
________________________________________
Brendan, Ben, Sam M., AlexJo
pp. 339 - 342
5. Is there any evidence for the existence and use of defense mechanisms?
6. What is the most convincing piece of evidence that the unconscious protects us from unpleasant affect?
7. Define "dynamically unconscious processes."
________________________________________
Maggie N., Anvi, Kelly
pp. 342-349
8. Can a motive/desire/goal become unconscious? How? What is the most convincing study supporting your answer?
9. Explain the hypothesis that "multiple psychological processes can proceed in parallel." Why is this hypothesis a necessary assumption for other aspects of psychodynamic reasoning?
10. What is the most convincing piece of empirical evidence provided which supports the existence of parallel processing?
________________________________________
Evan, James, Jenn
pp. 347 - 350
11. What evidence is there that personality remains stable from childhood into
adulthood?
12. Explain Westen’s 3 caveats with respect to interpreting evidence of a genetic contribution to personality.
________________________________________
Nicky, Melissa, Dan
pp. 350 - 352
13. What are some of the difficulties in establishing the
role of childhood experiences in adult personality?
14. What is the most convincing piece of evidence you found that supported the idea that
childhood experiences shape adult personality? (for e.g., check out the studies
on page 351)
________________________________________
Louisa, Deborah, Lindsey
pp. 352 – 355
15. Is there any evidence for the psychodynamic phenomenon called “transference”
and, if so, how does that evidence highlight the relevance of mental
representations?
16. How do more modern psychodynamic theorists view Freud’s psychosexual
development theory?