Freud vs. Skinner
Sigmund Freud versus Burrhus Frederic Skinner
Comparsion and contrast of their theories
In the world of psychology, Sigmund Freud versus B.F. Skinner has been a long-standing debate. The question, “If one had depression, which would be the better therapist and why?” raises a great variety of controversies. This debate of Freud versus Skinner stems from their position and philosophy in psychology, psychoanalysis and behaviorism—Freud being the founder of psychoanalysis and Skinner maintaining a strong behaviorist stand. There are typically three viewpoints to this controversy: those solely in support of Freud, those solely in support of Skinner, and those not in total support nor total disagreement of either.
Firstly I would like to introduce their theories separately and then compare and contrast them in position to one’s need of psychological help.
Sigmund Freud
According to Freud psychoanalytic theory, all psychic energy is generated by the libido. Freud suggested that two competing forces influenced our mental states: cathexis and anticathexis. Cathexis was described as an investment of mental energy in a person, an idea or an object. If you are hungry, for example, you might create a mental image of a delicious meal that you have been craving. In other cases, the ego might harness some of the id's energy to seek out activities that are related to the activity in order to disperse some of the excess energy from the id. If you can't actually seek out food to appease your hunger, you might instead browse through a cookbook or browse through your favorite recipe blog.
Anticathexis involves the ego blocking the socially unacceptable needs of the id. Repressing urges and desires is one common form of anticathexis, but it involves a significant investment of energy. Remember, according to Freud's theory, there is only so much libidinal energy available. When a lot of this energy is being devoted to suppressing urges
Comparsion and contrast of their theories
In the world of psychology, Sigmund Freud versus B.F. Skinner has been a long-standing debate. The question, “If one had depression, which would be the better therapist and why?” raises a great variety of controversies. This debate of Freud versus Skinner stems from their position and philosophy in psychology, psychoanalysis and behaviorism—Freud being the founder of psychoanalysis and Skinner maintaining a strong behaviorist stand. There are typically three viewpoints to this controversy: those solely in support of Freud, those solely in support of Skinner, and those not in total support nor total disagreement of either.
Firstly I would like to introduce their theories separately and then compare and contrast them in position to one’s need of psychological help.
Sigmund Freud
According to Freud psychoanalytic theory, all psychic energy is generated by the libido. Freud suggested that two competing forces influenced our mental states: cathexis and anticathexis. Cathexis was described as an investment of mental energy in a person, an idea or an object. If you are hungry, for example, you might create a mental image of a delicious meal that you have been craving. In other cases, the ego might harness some of the id's energy to seek out activities that are related to the activity in order to disperse some of the excess energy from the id. If you can't actually seek out food to appease your hunger, you might instead browse through a cookbook or browse through your favorite recipe blog.
Anticathexis involves the ego blocking the socially unacceptable needs of the id. Repressing urges and desires is one common form of anticathexis, but it involves a significant investment of energy. Remember, according to Freud's theory, there is only so much libidinal energy available. When a lot of this energy is being devoted to suppressing urges