SparkNotes: Sigmund Freud: Multiple Choice Test

1. Freud was born in the small town of Freiberg, Moravia, in which year?

(A) 1856

(B) 1865

(C) 1885

(D) 1866

2. Which best describes Freud's stance on religion?

(A) Ardent atheism

(B) Strict Orthodox Judaism

(C) Reform Judaism

(D) Agnosticism

3. What is the "illusion" to which Freud's The Future of an Illusion refers?

(A) Religion

(B) Psychoanalytic therapy

(C) Victorian-era restrictions on sex

(D) Humanity's confidence in the power of the conscious mind

4. Which is the best colloquial English translation of the ego (das Ich) and the id (das Es)?

(A) "I" and "it"

(B) "Conscious" and "unconscious"

(C) "Reason" and "passion"

(D) "Self" and "not-self"

5. Why has Freud's case study of "Dora" been criticized?

(A) For its sexism

(B) For its lack of compassion for the patient

(C) For its lack of objectivity

(D) All of the above

6. Who was Freud's closest male friend during the 1890s?

(A) Wilhelm Fliess

(B) Josef Breuer

(C) Minna Freud

(D) Ernest Jones

7. Before inventing psychoanalysis, Freud made a name for himself in which field?

(A) Neurology

(B) Marine biology

(C) Peripheral nervous disorders

(D) Literary criticism

8. All of the following contributed to Freud's decision to leave science and start private practice in neurology EXCEPT:

(A) His need for money to marry his fiancée, Martha Bernays

(B) Discrimination against Jews, which prevented him from advancing in science

(C) His love for medicine

(D) Alienation due to the poor reception of his controversial theories

9. Freud began to think seriously about hysteria after six months spent studying in Paris with which man?

(A) Jean-Martin Charcot

(B) Ernst von Brücke

(C) Pierre Janet

(D) René Descartes

10. In 1895, Freud and Josef Breuer had a book of case studies which contained the seeds of psychoanalysis. What was it called?

(A) Introduction to Psycho-Analysis

(B) The Interpretation of Dreams

(C) Studies in Hysteria

(D) Three Essays on Sexuality

11. Which of the following was the title of Freud's first published attempt to use psychoanalysis as a way of understanding history?

(A) Leonardo da Vinci

(B) Totem and Taboo

(C) Civilization and Its Discontents

(D) The Descent of Man

12. The Vienna Psycho-Analytic Society was originally called what?

(A) The Moravian Psycho-Analytic Society

(B) The Wednesday Psychological Society

(C) The After-Dinner Psychological Club

(D) The Vienna Freudian Society

13. Freud's abandoned "seduction theory" claimed what?

(A) That sexual intercourse was always the result of a man seducing a woman

(B) That dreams were the expression of the desire to seduce one's father or mother

(C) That seduction was a case of neurotic displacement of sexual desire for one's mother or father

(D) That neurosis was caused by early sexual abuse ("seduction") by parents or older siblings

14. What was the "Committee"?

(A) A secret group consisting of Freud's inner circle of supporters, founded by Ernest Jones

(B) An organization at the University of Vienna that had the right to confer or withhold promotions

(C) A secret group of Freud's opponents within the International Psycho-Analytic Society, founded by C. G. Jung

(D) A group of psychoanalysts who met to discuss Freud's theories every Sunday evening

15. Why did Jung split with Freud in 1913?

(A) He disagreed with Freud's exclusive emphasis on the sex drive

(B) He thought that the "trauma of birth" was the primary cause of neurosis

(C) He thought that Freud was too mystical and unscientific

(D) He was deeply anti-Semitic

16. The Interpretation of Dreams is one of Freud's most popular and well- respected books. When was it published?

(A) 1895

(B) 1899

(D) 1905

17. During the First World War, what did Freud do?

(A) He fled to London, where he stayed with his wife until 1919

(B) He was enlisted to psychoanalyze war neurotics in the Austrian army

(C) He stayed in Vienna, treating a few patients and writing articles and books

(D) He fell ill and spent most of the war recuperating in the spa town of Bad Gastein

18. Freud was thrilled when he started to get more foreign followers, such as:

(A) Sandor Ferenczi and Karl Abraham

(B) Wilhelm Fliess and Ernest Jones

(C) Ernest Jones and C. G. Jung

(D) Josef Breuer and Eugen Bleuler

19. In 1923, Freud was diagnosed with which disease?

(A) Lung cancer

(B) Mouth cancer

(C) Tuberculosis

(D) Cholera

20. The authoritative English language Standard Edition of Freud's complete works was edited and translated by whom?

(A) Ernest Jones

(B) Marie Bonaparte

(C) Bruno Bettelheim

(D) James Strachey

21. In Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud introduced which new and controversial theoretical concept?

(A) The "death instinct"

(B) "Repression"

(C) The "Oedipus complex"

(D) The "seduction theory"

22. Freud thought he could have been famous at a much earlier age if he had only continued to study which topic?

(A) The effects of cocaine and mood and wakefulness

(B) The anesthetic effects of cocaine

(C) The use of cocaine to treat morphine addiction

(D) None of the above

23. On March 12, 1938, an event occurred what event occurred that was to drastically affect the last year of Freud's life?

(A) The death of Freud's wife, Martha Bernays

(B) Freud's receipt of the Goethe Prize

(C) The Nazi invasion of Austria

(D) The publishing of Freud's ground-breaking Civilization and Its Discontents

24. Why was Freud derided when he gave a presentation in front of a group of Viennese doctors in 1895?

(A) Because of his advocacy of the "seduction hypothesis"

(B) Because of his discussion of "infantile sexuality"

(C) Because of his belief in the possibility of male hysteria

(D) Because of his weak command of the German language