Persisting Myths Surrounding Sigmund Freud's Dream Theory: A Reply to Hobson's Critique of the Scientific Status of Psychoanalysis

Colace, Claudio; Boag, Simon

doi:10.1080/00107530.2014.968759

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…123–124). Similarly, the frequency of drug dreams during withdrawal provides further evidence of transparent wish-fulfillment, consistent with Freud’s drive account (see Johnson, 2001; Colace, 2010, 2012, 2014; Colace and Boag, 2015a). In respect to both the role of the dopamine pathways in dreaming, and the relationship between dopamine, motivation, and desire referred to earlier (Berridge, 2004; Alcaro et al, 2007; Dahan et al, 2007), the evidence if anything, appears to support Freudian theory (see Colace, 2014), a point that Hobson (2014c, 2015) appears to more or less concede.…”

Section: Freud’s Theory Of Dreams and The Role Of Motivationsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…The role of the dopaminergic SEEKING system proposed in affective neuroscience is also especially relevant here (e.g., Panksepp, 1999; Panksepp and Biven, 2012). The SEEKING system is involved in the instigation of goal-seeking behaviors and appetitive interactions with the world (Panksepp, 1999; Panksepp and Biven, 2012), and given both its connection to motivation and activity during dreaming (Solms and Turnbull, 2002; Colace, 2014; Colace and Boag, 2015a), any comprehensive account of dreaming must account for this motivational component.…”

Section: Freud’s Theory Of Motivation and Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While psychoanalytic approaches have more or less changed since Freud, one area of Freudian theory that continues to draw attention and debate is his theory of dreams (Solms, 2000a, 2013a; Hobson, 2013, 2015; Erdelyi, 2014; Colace and Boag, 2015a,b). For Freud, dreams express the hallucinatory fulfillment of wishes, and while this claim was empirically informed, Freud also believed that such a claim was logically necessitated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On Dreams and Motivation: Comparison of Freud’s and Hobson’s Views

Boag

2017

Front. Psychol.

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The merits of Freudian dream theory continue to be debated and both supporters and critics appeal to empirical evidence to support their respective positions. What receives much less attention is the theoretical coherency of either Freudian dream theory or alternative perspectives. This paper examines Freudian dream theory and J. Allan Hobson’s alternative position by addressing the role of motivation in dreams. This paper first discusses motivation in Freudian theory and its relation to dreams and disguise-censorship. The role of motivation in Hobson’s theory is then considered. Hobson’s claim that dream plot and content selection is random and based on design error and functional imbalance is then discussed in relation to the protoconsciousness theory proposal that dreams serve an adaptive function. While there are apparent inconsistencies in Hobson’s position, his appeal to emotions and instincts provides a preliminary platform for understanding the role of motivation in dreams that is consonant with the Freudian position.

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Section: Freud’s Theory Of Dreams and The Role Of Motivationsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Freud’s Theory Of Motivation and Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On Dreams and Motivation: Comparison of Freud’s and Hobson’s Views

Boag

2017

Front. Psychol.

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“…Hobson reiterated the hypothesis (inspired by Karl Raimund Popper, 1959) of the alleged empirical untestability (for lack of scientific standards) and scientific obsolescence of Freud's dream theory. Actually, contrary to Popper's and Hobson's positions, clear examples of empirical falsifiability have been provided for some Freudian clinical hypothesis (Grünbaum, 1984) and also for several assumptions in Freud's theory of dreams (Colace 2010), revealing their scientific vitality and usefulness in explaining the dream phenomenon in various fields of application (Colace and Boag 2015;Michael 2015).…”

Section: Sleep Dream and Emotional Regulationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Dreams

Colace¹

2016

Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

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“…Clinical issues aside, a further implication from the account proposed here is that (at least in principle) there may be further means of contributing to neuroscientific studies addressing the authenticity of DID (e.g., Reinders et al, 2012; Schlumpf et al, 2013). Given that drives essentially entail neural sources (see Bazan and Detandt, 2013) then their contribution to DID should be assessable, in the same manner as the motivational contributions to dreaming are presently being assessed (e.g., Colace, 2014; Colace and Boag, in press). …”

Section: The Superego and The Possibility Of Multiple Egosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ego, drives, and the dynamics of internal objects

Boag

2014

Front. Psychol.

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This paper addresses the relationship between the ego, id, and internal objects. While ego psychology views the ego as autonomous of the drives, a less well-known alternative position views the ego as constituted by the drives. Based on Freud’s ego-instinct account, this position has developed into a school of thought which postulates that the drives act as knowers. Given that there are multiple drives, this position proposes that personality is constituted by multiple knowers. Following on from Freud, the ego is viewed as a composite sub-set of the instinctual drives (ego-drives), whereas those drives cut off from expression form the id. The nature of the “self” is developed in terms of identification and the possibility of multiple personalities is also established. This account is then extended to object-relations and the explanatory value of the ego-drive account is discussed in terms of the addressing the nature of ego-structures and the dynamic nature of internal objects. Finally, the impact of psychological conflict and the significance of repression for understanding the nature of splits within the psyche are also discussed.

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Persisting Myths Surrounding Sigmund Freud's Dream Theory: A Reply to Hobson's Critique of the Scientific Status of Psychoanalysis

Cited by 7 publications

References 41 publications

On Dreams and Motivation: Comparison of Freud’s and Hobson’s Views

On Dreams and Motivation: Comparison of Freud’s and Hobson’s Views

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Ego, drives, and the dynamics of internal objects

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