Deck 5: Klein: Object Relations Theory

Question 1

Discuss Klein's concept of the paranoid-schizoid position.

Answer 1

A.During the first few months of life,an infant experiences both a good breast (one that offers nourishment and contentment) and a bad breast (one that frustrates the infant).
B.When these opposing experiences threaten the existence of the infant's vulnerable ego,the infant tries to gain control of the breast by harboring the breast and destroying it.
C.To tolerate these opposing feelings,the ego splits itself and deflecting parts of both the life and death instincts onto the breast.
D.The infant wishes to retain and control the good breast as a defense against annihilation by persecutors.
E.This paranoid-schizoid position allows the infant to organize experiences into both good and bad experiences.

Question 2

According to Klein,the two basic positions are

A)introjection and projection.
B)paranoid-schizoid and depressive.
C)the ego and the superego.
D)the mature and the immature.
E)the ideal and the real.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Object relations theory differs from Freud's theory in that it

A)places more emphasis on interpersonal relations.
B)stresses the importance of a nurturing mother.
C)places less emphasis on sexual pleasure.
D)All these are correct.
E)None of these is correct.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Klein believed that children introject their mother into their psychic structure.This means that they

A)believe that they are inside their mother.
B)believe that their mother is inside their own body.
C)reject their mother's authority.
D)adopt their mother's standards of morality.

Question 5

According to Klein,the person or part of a person through which the aim of an instinct is satisfied is called

A)an object.
B)an impetus.
C)the source.
D)a motivator.

Question 6

Compare and contrast Klein's object relations theory and Freud's psychoanalytic theory.

Question 7

Klein claimed that infants use the paranoid-schizoid position to

A)strengthen their attachments with their respective mothers.
B)escape from reality.
C)fight off threats from older siblings.
D)control the good breast and fight off its persecutors.

Question 8

If a hungry infant cries and kicks,Klein would say that it is

A)motivated by the death instinct.
B)inventing a sign language to communicate distress with its mother.
C)fantasizing about kicking or destroying the "bad" breast.
D)engaging in random behavior.

Question 9

According to Klein,the child's first model for interpersonal relations is the

A)breast.
B)mother.
C)father.
D)self.

Question 10

Klein agreed with Freud that people can be motivated by

A)phylogenetic endowment.
B)a life instinct.
C)a death instinct.
D)All of these are correct.
E)None of these is correct.

Question 11

Melanie Klein had an especially warm relationship with

A)her daughter Melitta.
B)Anna Freud.
C)Both of these are correct.
D)Neither of these is correct.

Question 12

Klein came to psychoanalysis as

A)a historian.
B)a physician.
C)a sociologist.
D)a psychologist.
E)None of these is correct.

Question 13

According to Klein,the phantasies of an infant are

A)of little importance.
B)mostly conscious.
C)unconscious.
D)none of these.

Question 14

To Klein,an introjected object

A)is an internal thought about an external object.
B)is a phantasy of internalizing the object in a physical form.
C)desires to escape from an infant's mind.
D)loses its dynamic power to influence an infant's psychic life.

Question 15

Among the people that Klein psychoanalyzed was

A)Anna Freud.
B)her son Erich.
C)Erich Fromm.
D)Albert Ellis.
E)Erik Erikson.

Question 16

Klein extended Freud's psychoanalysis by emphasizing

A)adolescence.
B)young adulthood.
C)old age.
D)very early infancy.

Question 17

Klein's depressive position includes

A)anxiety over losing a loved object and guilt for wanting to destroy it.
B)feelings of fear and persecution for wanting to destroy the bad breast.
C)a desire to devour and harbor the good breast.
D)a fear of being bitten by animals.

Question 18

Klein's conception of a "position" is different from "stage of development" in that "positions" are

A)completely psychological.
B)due largely to social influences.
C)determined by chronological age.
D)not referring to periods of time.

Question 19

List and discuss Klein's psychic defense mechanisms.

Question 20

Klein assumed that infants come into the world with

A)an active phantasy life.
B)a desire to have sexual relations with their mother.
C)a desire to have sexual relations with their father.
D)a blank slate.

Question 21

Kohut's narcissistic needs include

A)the need to exhibit the grandiose self.
B)the need to be first in the eyes of one's parents.
C)the need to acquire a sense of self-identity.
D)the needs for power and authority.

Question 22

Klein believed that during the female Oedipus complex,the girl

A)sees only the positive,not negative,aspects of the mother's breast.
B)phantasizes that the father's penis feeds the mother with babies.
C)sees only the negative,not positive,aspects of the mother's breast.
D)adopts a masculine position toward both parents.
E)holds her mother responsible for her lack of a penis.

Question 23

Klein suggested that psychic defense mechanisms

A)protect the child against public ridicule.
B)protect the ego against anxiety aroused by destructive phantasies.
C)safeguard the superego against uncontrollable id impulses.
D)prevent unconscious fantasies from reaching consciousness.

Question 24

Bowlby's attachment theory was based on studies of

A)infants and primates.
B)adolescents.
C)middle-age adults.
D)elderly adults.

Question 25

Klein believed that the male Oedipus complex is resolved mostly when the boy

A)identifies with his father and adopts a feminine position with his mother.
B)identifies with his mother and adopts a feminine position with his father.
C)adopts a masculine position toward both parents.
D)establishes positive relationships toward both parents.

Question 26

In contrast to Freud,Klein believed that the superego

A)emerged during adolescence.
B)grows out of the Oedipus complex.
C)precedes the development of the ego.
D)is much more harsh and cruel.

Question 27

Which object relations theorist strongly emphasized the process by which the self evolves?

A)Freud
B)Klein
C)Mahler
D)Kohut

Question 28

Klein's notion of the Oedipus complex differed from Freud's in that it

A)includes fear of parents' retaliation for phantasies of emptying their bodies.
B)takes place at a later time period during the individual's life than Freud said.
C)includes hostile feelings only.
D)includes sexual feelings only.
E)is the origin of the development of the superego.

Question 29

Mahler's principal concern was with

A)the psychological birth of the child.
B)the effects of the Oedipus complex on psychological health.
C)the child's symbiotic relationship with the father.
D)narcissistic needs of infants.

Question 30

Klein called the process in which infants split off unacceptable parts of themselves,project these parts onto another object,and finally introject these parts back into themselves

A)introjective identification.
B)projective identification.
C)repression.
D)incorporation.
E)regression.

Question 31

Klein believed that before a unified ego can emerge,it must first

A)assimilate the id.
B)learn syntaxic language.
C)split into the "good me" and the "bad me".
D)attain control over the repressive superego.

Question 32

According to Bowlby,both humans and other primates experience separation anxiety.The stage unique to humans is the ______ stage.

A)detachment
B)protest
C)attachment
D)despair
E)anal

Question 33

Which object relations theorist spent much time observing normal babies as they bonded with their mothers during the first 3 years of life?

A)Melanie Klein
B)Margaret Mahler
C)Otto Kernberg
D)Heinz Kohut

Question 34

Klein called the fantasy that one's own feelings actually reside in another person

A)projection.
B)introjection.
C)splitting.
D)rejection.
E)introjective identification.

Question 35

According to Klein,when the female Oedipus complex is successfully resolved,the little girl will

A)see her mother as a rival.
B)fantasize about robbing her mother of the father's penis and of her babies.
C)adopt a homosexual attitude toward her mother.
D)develop positive feelings toward both parents.
E)develop negative feelings toward her mother and neutral feelings toward her father.

Question 36

Mahler believed that when infants realize that they cannot satisfy their own basic needs,they

A)reject those needs and introject a new set of learned needs.
B)become autistic.
C)seek a symbiotic relationship with their mother.
D)merge their ego with their superego.

Question 37

Klein contended that when introjected,dangerous objects

A)lose their danger.
B)increase their danger.
C)become internal persecutors.
D)are projected onto the father.

Question 38

Mahler believed that children begin to develop feelings of personal identity during which developmental stage?

A)normal symbiosis
B)separation-individuation
C)normal autism
D)preadolescence

Question 39

According to Klein,infants use splitting as a means of

A)controlling conscious fantasies.
B)destroying the bad breast.
C)gaining control over their parents by dividing them against one another.
D)controlling good and bad aspects of themselves.

Question 40

According to Bowlby,infants who become separated from their primary caregivers experience separation anxiety.The first stage of separation is the

A)detachment stage.
B)attachment stage.
C)protest stage.
D)despair stage.
E)anal stage.

Question 41

Object relations theory continues to be more popular in the _______ than it is in the United States.

A)United Kingdom
B)China
C)Germany
D)Sweden

Question 42

Attachment is a construct in personality psychology that continues to generate a substantial amount of research.Attachment theory as originally conceptualized by ___________ emphasized the relationship between parent and child.

A)Rollo May
B)John Bowlby
C)Karen Horney
D)Eric Fromm

Question 43

On the dimensions for a concept of humanity,Klein's theory rates lowest on

A)unconscious motivations.
B)causality.
C)social and cultural influences.
D)free choice and uniqueness.

Question 44

The aim of Kleinian therapy is to

A)resolve the Oedipus complex.
B)uncover repressed sexual feelings toward one's parents.
C)reduce depressive anxieties and persecutory fears.
D)increase social skills.
E)enhance feelings of self-esteem and self-worth.

Question 45

An infant remains calm when her mother exits the room,leaving her with a stranger.When the mother returns,the infant ignores her.According to Ainsworth,this infant is displaying the _______ attachment style.

A)anxious-resistant
B)anxious-avoidant
C)secure
D)insecure

Question 46

Research by Hazan and Shaver found that people whose adult love relationships include trust,closeness,and positive emotions had which early childhood attachment style?

A)neurotic symbiotic
B)insecure
C)secure
D)anxious-avoidant

Question 47

Which issue became part of a bitter debate between Melanie Klein and Anna Freud during the 1920s and 1930s?

A)the male Oedipus complex
B)the idea of childhood psychoanalysis
C)the notion of unconscious defense mechanisms
D)the importance of symbolic language in young children

Question 48

to research the impact of childhood trauma and abuse on adult object relational functioning was the -

A)MMPI
B)TAT
C)EPI
D)MBTI

Question 49

Bowlby's theory assumes that

A)the relationship between infant and caregiver becomes a model for future interpersonal relations.
B)the bonding relationship between infant and caregiver leads to infantile narcissism.
C)the bonding relationship between infant and caregiver results in a neurotic symbiotic relationship.
D)the infant need not be responsive to the caregiver,because a devoted caregiver will satisfy the infant's needs unconditionally.
E)All these are correct.