Define dissociation. Compare and contrast Janet’s and Freud’s views of dissociation. To what extent are these theories supported by contemporary data on the prevalence of the core features of dissociative identity disorder, such as that summarized by Gleaves et al. (2001)?
What will be an ideal response?
Ans: Dissociation refers to a failure to integrate sensory and psychological processes, such as memory, awareness, and identity. Janet viewed dissociation as a failure of memory processes when a weak ego could not withstand a traumatic experience. Sensory, motor, and identity processes “forgot” to function normally after a distressing event. Like Janet, Freud highlighted the role of trauma in initiating dissociation. Unlike Janet, Freud saw dissociation as the result of a strong ego able to block the event and the memory of its experience. Gleaves et al. (2001) found that across studies, trauma and amnesia are universal elements of dissociative identity theory, supporting the basic elements of Janet’s and Freud’s views.
Learning Objective: 9.1 Describe the characteristics of depersonalization/derealization disorder.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Dissociative Disorders
Difficulty Level: Medium
You might also like to view...
When assessing preventive measures toward femicide,
a. previous abuse seems to inevitably bring about murder. b. unemployment, drug abuse, and gun access have been identified as influential measures. c. little has been concluded. d. perpetrators are labeled as criminally psychotic.
When light from a flashlight is moved quickly back and forth on a wall in a darkened room, it can appear to observers that there is a trail of light moving across the wall, even though physically the light is only in one place at any given time. This experience is an effect of memory that occurs because of
A. a visual delay effect. B. echoic memory. C. persistence of vision. D. top-down processing.
As a class assignment you are required to collect advertising slogans and describe how they may be relevant to concepts in psychology. You select the Jello slogan,
"There's always room for Jello" and describe in class how it is relevant to one of the theories of motivation. Which theory? a) instinctive b) incentive c) drive-reduction d) optimum-level
Men are more likely to graduate from college than women at all degree levels
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.