What makes your brain let out words you never wanted to say?
They misunderestimated me. – George W. Bush
Freud’s Theory On The Unconscious Mind
Sigmund Freud, the controversial Austrian psychologist credited as the father of psychoanalysis, attributed verbal gaffes to underlying subconscious motives. Freud founded the theory that conflict between the conscious perception of reality and the motives of the unconscious mind causes unintended revelations of repressed material. These miscues, or parapraxes, are referred to as Freudian slips and they have haunted public speeches, celebrity interviews, and everyday conversations alike.
The Science Behind The Slips
Researchers have debunked the majority of Freudian theories but the cognitive causes of linguistic slips remains. Cognitive scientist Gary Dell uses the interactions between three linguistic networks (lexical, phonological, and semantic) to explain his viewpoint. Dell believes the three networks do not always sync correctly during “spreading activation”, which can impede their functionality. When the networks get in each others way, linguistic slips result. Dell maintains that slips of the tongue are proof of dexterity of the human mind.
A second perspective focused on the unconscious mind comes from Daniel Wegner. He believes that the more you attempt to suppress a thought into your unconscious mind, the more your conscious mind has to regulate it. Consequentially, by trying so hard to not say something, you end up letting it loose. Wegner and his contemporary, Michael Motley, hypothesize that the harder you try to suppress a thought, the more vulnerable you are to saying it. Also, slips are exponentially more likely when you are in a distracting environment.
Freudian Ships Are Everywhere
No one is immune to parapraxis. Videos and transcripts have caught prominent politicians making embarrassing slips of the tongue.
Celebrities too.
Kanye later justified his typographical error saying, “Lol I spelled Silicon wrong (I guess I was still thinking about the other type of silicone.)”
References:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201203/slips-the-tongue
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/best-freudian-slips-linguistic-gaffes-3206919
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2161115/Theory-Freudian-slip-confirmed-experiments-new-research-claims.html