Psychoanalytic Theories of Creativity

Psychoanalysis proposes two interrelated but distinctly different types of thinking. Sigmund Freud [Page 713]labeled these processes of thinking as primary and secondary to indicate chronological priority in that primary processes are assumed to be available at birth and secondary process occurs later as speech is developed. Secondary process can be conscious or unconscious and is characterized by logic and order. It functions in adapting to reality and relies heavily on verbal symbolism. The secondary process was seen by Freud as associated with the id and the reality principle. In contrast, primary process thought is characterized by visual imagery, symbolism, and displacement. It is largely unconscious and is the wellspring of the inner subjective world. Freud viewed the id and the pleasure principle to be associated ...