A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis — John Shaqi
A General Introduction to PsychoanalysisFreud, Sigmund
Science
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis
Freud, Sigmund
Psychoanalysis
One's tongue slips in a longer speech to such an extent that the
last word of the intended speech is said too soon. That gives the
impression of a certain impatience to be finished with the sentence and
gives proof in general of a certain resistance to communicating this
sentence or speech as a whole. Thus we come to borderline cases in which
the differences between the psychoanalytic and the common physiological
conception of tongue slips are blended. We assume that in these cases
there is a tendency which interferes with the intention of the speech.
But it can only announce that it is present, and not what its own
intention is. The interference which it occasions then follows some
sound influences or associative relationship, and may be considered as a
distraction of attention from the intended speech. But neither this
disturbance of attention nor the associative tendency which has been
activated, strikes the essence of the process. This hints, however, at
the existence of an intention which interferes with the purposed speech,
an intention whose nature cannot (as is possible in all the more
pronounced cases of tongue slips) this time be guessed from its effects.
Slips of the pen, to which I now turn, are in agreement with those of
the tongue to the extent that we need expect to gain no new points of
view from them. Perhaps we will be content with a small gleaning. Those
very common little slips of the pen--contractions, anticipations of
later words, particularly of the last words--again point to a general
distaste for writing, and to an impatience to be done; the pronounced
effects of pen slips permit the nature and purpose of the interfering
tendency to be recognized. One knows in general that if one finds a
slip of the pen in a letter everything was not as usual with the writer.
What was the matter one cannot always establish. The pen slip is
frequently as little noticed by the person who makes it as the tongue
slip. The following observation is striking: There are some persons who
have the habit of always rereading a letter they have written before
sending it. Others do not do so. But if the latter make an exception and
reread the letter, they always have the opportunity of finding and
correcting a conspicuous pen slip. How can that be explained? This looks
as if these persons knew that they had made a slip of the pen while
writing the letter. Shall we really believe that such is the case?
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