ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud, the originator of psychoanalysis, put forward an interpretation of forgetting that has been popular for many years. In his book The psychopathology of everyday life he suggested that many of the processes characteristic of the mental life of his neurotic patients also occurred in normal behaviour (1904). One such process is the ‘Freudian slip’ whereby a slip of the tongue or of the pen results in the speaker or writer making an error that reveals his or her true opinions. On one occasion the President of the Austrian House of Deputies opened a session of which he expected very little, by declaring the session closed! A British Psychological Society Bulletin, in a list of forthcoming events, made reference to ‘the Fraud Memorial Professorship’. Freud would probably not have been amused, but he would not have been surprised. Over the years his views have evoked a great deal of controversy and opposition.
