Chapter 2    Freud: Psychoanalysis57
fei75766_ch02_019-071.indd 57  02/19/20 08:59 AMbutJames Strachey, oneofFreud’s translators, invented thetermparapraxes torefer
towhat many people nowsimply call“Freudian slips.”
Parapraxes orunconscious slipsaresocommon thatweusually paylittleatten -
tiontothem anddeny thattheyhaveanyunderlying significance. Freud, however, 
insisted thatthese faulty actshavemeaning; theyreveal theunconscious intention of
theperson: “They arenotchance events butserious mental acts;theyhaveasense; 
theyarisefrom theconcurrent actions—or perhaps rather, themutually opposing 
action—of twodifferent intentions” (Freud, 1917/1963, p.44).Oneopposing action 
emanates from theunconscious andtheother from thepreconscious. Unconscious 
slips, therefore, aresimilar todreams inthattheyareaproduct ofboththeuncon -
scious andthepreconscious, withtheunconscious intention being dominant and
interfering withandreplacing thepreconscious one.
Thefactthatmost people strongly deny anymeaning behind theirparapraxes 
wasseenbyFreud asevidence thattheslip,indeed, hadrelevance tounconscious 
images thatmust remain hidden from consciousness. Ayoung manonce walked into
aconvenience store, became immediately attracted totheyoung female clerk, and
asked fora“sex-pack ofbeer.” When theclerk accused himofimproper behavior, 
theyoung manvehemently protested hisinnocence. Examples suchasthiscanbe
extended almost indefinitely. Freud provided many inhisbook Psychopathology of 
Everyday Life (1901/1960), andmany ofthem involved hisownfaulty acts.Oneday
afterworrying about monetary matters, Freud strolled thetobacco store thathevisited 
every day.Onthisparticular day,hepicked uphisusual supply ofcigars andleftthe
store without paying forthem. Freud attributed hisneglect toearlier thoughts about 
budgetary issues. InallFreudian slips, theintentions oftheunconscious supplant the
weaker intentions ofthepreconscious, thereby revealing aperson’s truepurpose.
Related Research
Itiseasytoforget thatFreud spent thefirst20years ofhiscareer notasapsycholo -
gistbutasaneurologist, which culminated inabook, Project for a Scientific  Psychology 
(1895/1950). Andyetthescientific status ofFreud’s theory isoneofthemore hotly 
contested anddisputed questions inallFreudian theory. Wasitscience ormere arm-
chair speculation? DidFreud propose testable hypotheses? Arehisideas experimen -
tallyverifiable, testable, orfalsifiable?
KarlPopper, thephilosopher ofscience whoproposed thecriterion offalsifi -
ability, contrasted Freud’s theory withEinstein’s andconcluded thattheformer was
notfalsifiable andtherefore notscience (1959). Itwould befairtosaythatformuch 
ofthe20thcentury, most academic psychologists dismissed Freudian ideas asfanciful 
speculations thatmayhavecontained insights intohuman nature butwerenotscience.
During thelast20years, thescientific status ofFreudian theory hasbegun to
change, atleastamong certain circles ofcognitive psychologists andneuroscientists. 
Neuroscience iscurrently experiencing anexplosive growth through itsinvestiga -
tions ofbrain activity during avariety ofcognitive andemotional tasks. Much ofthis
growth hasbeen duetobrain imaging technology afforded byfunctional magnetic 
resonance imaging (MRI) thatmaps regions ofthebrain thatareactive during par-
ticular tasks. Atabout thesame time, certain groups ofcognitive psychologists began Final PDF to printer