Case Studies Illustrating Theories of Personality Psychology
Authoritarian Personality: Friedrich Menneke: A "Euthanasia" Physician From the website: In Cologne, students in a class on educational methods decided to delve deeper into the subject of the authoritarian character by taking an in-depth look at Friedrich Mennecke, the physician responsible for Operation T4, Vernichtung unwerten Lebens [destruction of those unworthy of living]. By analyzing documents, the students also learned about attempts to reintegrate perpetrators into postwar West German society. Includes an extensive lesson plan and on-line access to primary source material including letters and biographies.
Freud: Annotated papers by Freud Marc Fonda has compiled an annotiated bibliogrpahy for many volumes of James Strachey's The Standard Edition of the Collected Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Includes the Interpretation of Dreams, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Leonardo da Vinci and Other Works, Moses and Monotheism, and Two Case Studies including Little Hans and the Rat Man.
Freud: The Case of Herr E Doug Davis of Haverford College, reconstructed this case study from Freud's Correspondence with Wilhelm Fleiss. Filled with self-analysis and counter-transference, the case reveals as much about Freud himself as about Herr E.
Freud: The Case of Little Hans Mark Holah posts a brief synopsis of this classic case study in which Freud aims to cure a 5-year old boy of his phobia of horses. The case is a good example of the Oedipus complex and development during the Phallic Stage.
Freud's Case of Little Hans; A BBC Special BBC radio host Claudia Hammond presents a series on case studies that have made a significant contribution to psychological research. In this episode, which originally aired May 28 2008, she describes background and new findings related to the case of Little Hans, a.k.a. Herbert, the child of Freud's colleague Max Graff. Information recently released from the Freud Archive suggests that problems in the Graff family -- rather than an Oedipus Complex -- could explain Hans' fear of horses. Includes a discussion of the implications for therapy with children today. (29 minutes; listen on line).
In Character: Tricksters, Vamps, Heros, Scamps From Darth Vader to Scarlett O'Hara, the best fictional characters reflect something about who we are and how we got here. In Character, a [2008] six-month series from NPR, explores indelible American characters from fiction, folklore and pop culture. Hear experts discuss the psychology of characters such as Vernon Waters (A Soldier's Story), Willie Stark (All the King's Men), Charlotte (Charlotte's Web), Auntie Mame, Uncle Tom, Henry Fleming (The Red Badge of Courage), The Joker, Norman Bates, Nancy Drew, Jo March (Little Woman), King Kong, Mr. Spock, Carrie (Sex and the City), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ricky Ricardo, Charlie Brown, Fred Sanford, Indiana Jones, Dora the Explorer, Mama Rose, Hanibal Lecter, Portnoy, Eric Cartman (South Park), Walter Mitty, Catwoman, Blanche DuBois, Captain Ahab, Barbie, Harriet the Spy, Hester Prynne (The Scarlet Letter), Elmer Gantry, Darth Vader, Gordon Gekko (Wall Street), Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp, Cookie Monster, George Jefferson, Willy Loman (Death of a Salesman), Huckleberry Finn, Scarlett O'Hara, Pollyanna, Holden Caulfield, The Lone Ranger, Lassie, Bugs Bunny, and others.
DreamBank Welcome to The DreamBank, a collection of over 16,000 dream reports in English (and another 6,000 in German). The reports come from a variety of different sources and research studies, from people ages 7 to 74. They can be analyzed using the search engine and statistical programs built into this site. Based on the research of Adam Schneider and G. William Domhoff Psychology Department, at UC Santa Cruz. Includes transcriptions of the dream journals of real people including Freud and Jung and others here.
Narrative Psychology: Courtship Narratives The University of Texas PAIR Project, according to their website, is a long-term study of courtship and marriage that began in 1981 with 168 newlyweds. We collected information on the couples' courtships and early marital experiences, and followed couples across the years to their eventual relationship destinations. The site presents excerpts from the case studies of 7 couples who later divorced. The narratives are from their courtship period.
Needs: Earnst Doug Davis at Haverford posted these notes, described as Robert White's biographical presentation of "Earnst," a subject in the classic study Explorations in Personality, by H.A. Murray's group at the Harvard Psychological Clinic in the 1930s. Includes a brief background, autobiography and responses to selected Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) cards. Illustrates Murray's theories, needs, press, and the TAT.
The Five Factor Model: Johnny Carson Marianne Miserandino, Arcadia University, noticed that the obituary of Johnny Carson is filled with personality descriptors making it a useful illustration of the five factor model of personality, personality stability, personality change, and personality coherence. (For the full description of how to utilize this obituary as a case study see Miserandino, M. (2007) Heeeere’s Johnny: A Case Study in the Five Factor Model of Personality, Teaching of Psychology, 34(1), 37-40.
Identity Crisis: David Doug Davis, Haverford College, shares these notes from his Foundations of Personality class. This study is based on a case applying Erikson's theories from M.B. Bowers. (1974). Retreat from sanity: The structure of emerging psychosis. Baltimore: Penguin.
Identity Crisis: Nancy Doug Davis, Haverford College, shares these notes from his Foundations of Personality class. This study is based on a case applying Erikson's theories from M.B. Bowers. (1974). Retreat from sanity: The structure of emerging psychosis. Baltimore: Penguin.
Sex and Gender: The story of David Reimer In 1967, an anonymous baby boy was turned into a girl by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital. For 25 years, the case of John/Joan was called a medical triumph — proof that a child’s gender identity could be changed — and thousands of “sex reassignments” were performed based on this example. But the case was a failure, the truth never reported. Now the man who grew up as a girl tells the story of his life, and a medical controversy erupts. See also the video of David's story on U-tube (10 minutes, 24 seconds), the transcript of the NOVA program Sex: Unknown from October 30, 2001, the article Being Brenda, and a story about David's suicide.
Various Perspectives: Eleanor Roosevelt A popular assignment is to have students analyze the life of Eleanor Roosevelt from various perspectives or theories of personality psychology. There are many sites out there with information about Eleanor Roosevelt. In addition to the White House listing (above) she was also listed as Time Magazine's 100 most important people of the 20th Century. Students can find websites of their own choosing or you may want to send students to the same 2-3 sites so that they are all working with the same information.
Various Perspectives: The Grinch After watching the 25 minute video of the classic Christmas story How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss, students analyze the Grinch’s personality and change of heart using theories and terms from personality including Freud, Adler, Horney, Maslow, and Rogers. A great end-of-the-semester review.