Theories of Learning in Educational Psychology

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) Psychoanalytic Theory of Learning

Biography Sigmund Freud was born May 6, 1856 at Freiberg, Moravia. His family settled in Vienna in 1860. He entered the University of Vienna to study medicine and graduated as an M.D. in 1881. He worked in the Vienna General Hospital until 1886 when he set up his private practice. He introduced hypnosis into his practice and treated patients with "nervous diseases". The first use of the term psychoanalysis was in 1896. In 1899 his book, "The Interpretation of Dreams" was published. This was his favorite among his many writings, and he referred to dreams as "the royal road to the unconscious". Subsequent work and writings dealt with sexuality, jokes and the unconscious, taboos and incest, and "Freudian slips". In 1906 Freud became friend and colleague of the Swiss adherent of psychoanalysis, Carl Gustav Jung. They traveled together to the USA in 1909 and delivered the first lectures on psychoanalysis in America. In 1923 Freud was diagnosed with cancer. He turned 80 years old in 1936, and in that year was honored by the Royal Society in Britain. In 1938, when the Nazis invaded Austria, Freud and his family managed to get exit visas and relocated to London, where he continued his clinical practice and writing. He died in London on September 23, 1939 from the cancer he had had for 16 years. Theory Freud is best known for his contributions in the field of therapy. His approach was dynamic and clinical rather than experimental. He was one of the earliest Westerners to recognize and work with unconscious processes. Psychoanalysis was an educational process in which unconscious conflicts are consciously confronted. Cognition was important in Freud's work, and insight into one's unconscious processes is vital in regulating one's own behavior. Freud postulated a system of developmental psychology like Piaget did. His theory included the concept of dynamic tension between cognitive elements, as Lewin did. Freud traced motivation to one's needs, as did Hull, Tolman, and others. His theory accounted for instinctual urges, which when satisfied, always lead to pleasurable feelings. The theory also included the concept of psychic energy, which he referred to as libido.