Sigmund Freud was one of the first scientists to make serious research of the mind. The mind is the collection of activities based in the brain that involve how we act, think, feel and reason. He used long talks with patients and the study of dreams to search for the causes of mental and emotional problems. He also tried hypnosis . He wanted to see whether putting patients into a sleep-like condition would help ease troubled minds. In most cases he found the effects only temporary. Freud worked hard, although what he did might sound easy. His method involved sitting with his patients and listening to them talk. He had them talk about whatever they were thinking. All ideas, thoughts and anything that entered their mind had to be expressed. There could be no holding back because of fear or guilt. Freud believed that all the painful memories of childhood lay buried in the unconscious self. This part of the mind he said contains wishes, desires and experiences too frightening to recognize. He thought that if these memories could somehow be brought into the conscious mind, the patient would again feel the pain. But this time, the person would experience them as an adult. The patient would feel them, be able to examine them and, if successful, finally understand them. Using this way, Freud reasoned, the pain and emotional pressure of the past would be greatly weakened. They would lose their hold over the person's physical health. Soon the patient would get better. Many of Freud's theories about how the mind works also had strong sexual connections. These included what he saw as the repressed feelings of sons toward their mothers and daughters toward their fathers. If nothing else, Freud's ideas were revolutionary. Some people rejected them. Many others came to accept them. But no one disputes his great influence on the science of mental health. How many methods did Sigmund Freud use to study the mind?
One. Two. Three. Four.