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?