Free Association Exercise

Psychology student Norman B. Normal wants to become a psychoanalyst.  In order to achieve this goal, he must, as we learned in class, first be psychoanalyzed.  He seeks out the famous therapist Dr. Freud B. Sigmund for help with this process.  Dr. Sigmund begins by asking him to free associate to various words.  The results of this experiment are provided below.

Based on this data, as a group, develop answers to the following questions:

1.  What conclusions might you draw about repressed conflicts or unconscious conflicts that Mr. Normal may be experiencing at this time?  To answer this question, it is helpful to think metaphorically, not literally, about the free association data that follows.  Treat his responses as symbols or clues to something else.  (For instance, his comments about magnetic attraction might actually represent his attitudes about sexual attraction;  his remark about "polarity reversal" might reflect underlying uncertainty about his own gender identity.)  Use Freud's model as a guide, then use your imagination.  Why might these motives, feelings, or memories have been repressed?

2.   Which of the three components of the structural model of the personality -- id, ego, superego -- appears to dominate Mr. Normal's personality?  Why do you think so?  What implications might this have for the "type of person" he is?

3.  Which defense mechanisms -- from the list provided in class -- do you think Mr. Normal emphasizes in his daily life?  Why (i.e., how do you know)?  Based on this analysis, how psychologically healthy or unhealthy do you think Mr. Normal is?  (Remember that Level IV defenses are the most healthy, Level I the least healthy.)

4.  What conclusions might you draw about the course of gender differentiation (using the anaclitic cathexis model discussed in class) in Mr. Normal's life?  Why?

If completing this assignment for course credit as part of your learning contract, write up a "lab report" summarizing your conclusions and your basis for these conclusions.  (Write up your report individually, although you will be basing your report on the group work completed in class.)  Due date:  October 13.

Free Association Data 

Word #1 -- Magnet: 

When I was a child, my parents bought me a “Magnetel” game for Christmas -- rather like a pool table, but using flat metal pieces.  Hidden underneath the table were magnets that could attract and deflect the pieces, making it hard to win the game.

Magnets have two poles:  unlike poles attract, like poles repel.  The earth is a giant magnet.  I learned in school that the magnetic poles of the earth have reversed themselves repeatedly throughout prehistory.  What is now the north pole was once the south pole.

“Magnet Pale Ale” is the name of a popular beverage in Yorkshire, England.  Magnets need to be kept away from computer disks so they do not erase the information.  Beer is a "magnet" for slugs.

Word #2 -- Chair:

Infants often sit on a high chair.  They have the highest place even though they are the smallest people.  Maybe this is because they are the most important.  Yet they have the least power.

Young children sitting at regular chairs during dinner sometimes sit on a phone book to give them the requisite height, but this does not work well if they live in small towns like Halder or Poniatowski which have very thin phone books. 

The head of a committee is often called the “chair”, and those heading executive teams made up of such individual leaders is the “chair of chairs”.  A chair with a rounded back and curved arms is known as a “captain’s chair”.  The chair in which a king or emperor sits is called a throne.  This is also a slang word for a toilet.

Word #3 -- Cloud: 

On partly sunny days when there are many visible clouds, many children try to look at the clouds and see pictures in them.  My brother and I used to do this when we were young, but I never really could see anything except a cloud.

A person who is confused is said to have cloudy thinking.  There is a city in Minnesota named St. Cloud.  Certain kinds of galaxies are called clouds by astronomers.  A low-lying cloud is known as fog.  Driving through fog can be frightening and dangerous.  When cream is poured into a mug of hot coffee, it forms a sort of cloud.  The cream and the coffee never actually mix, but remain completely separate.

By studying the formation of clouds, a mathematician developed a completely new way of looking at reality, so called “chaos theory”, which has revolutionized the world of physics.  That proves that there is much value to sitting and doing nothing.

Word #4 -- Sign: 

Sign language is used by the hearing impaired to communicate.  Written language is made up of signs, although some languages, such as Chinese, do not have a true alphabet.  I studied Chinese in school, and learned how to say some simple things.  Literally, the Chinese way of saying "hello" is "are you good or not good?"  (Ni hao bu hao?)

Secret societies often use signs, such as special handshakes, that are known only to the initiated.  In most states, highway warning signs are always yellow.  Most drivers will ignore a stop sign if a police officer is not present.

The most popular greeting in 1960's-era singles bars was, "Hey, baby, what's your sign?"  When I sign my name with my left hand, it feels like I was back in kindergarten.  I was the ring bearer at my kindergarten teacher's wedding.

Word #5 -- Water:

Water is good to drink.  It is made up of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen.  If the water in Lake Superior were spread over the entire United States, it would cover the nation with four inches of water. 

To stay healthy, a person should drink eight glasses of water a day.  I first learned to swim when in grade school.  I almost drowned.  In Russian, “vodka” literally means “little water” or “baby water”, but babies are not supposed to drink it.

The human body is mostly comprised of water.  That is why your skin becomes wrinkled when you stay in the bathtub too long.  Until recent years, no one thought of purchasing bottles of water as a substitute for soda pop.  Now you can buy bottles of caffeinated water.  Why don't they make caffeinated beer?

Word #6 -- Clown:

A clown is a person who is paid by someone to make a fool of himself.  An unemployed clown is nobody's fool.  A clown is the only person in the world who is relieved when people laugh at him.

Clowns never appear in public without their makeup so no one can see who they really are.  Many clowns are really sad underneath.  The most famous clown was a man named Emmett Kelly. 

My best friend in grade school was the "class clown".  He was expelled from class for nailing the teacher's chair to the floor.  He wanted me to help him, but after the fact I was glad I didn't.

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