4.2.1 PSYCHODYNAMIC Flashcards
what are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
- all behaviour can be explained in terms of the inner conflict of the mind
-> has unconscious causes - Freud highlights:
-> the role of the unconscious mind
-> structure of personality
-> influence that childhood experiences have on later life - Freud believed that the unconscious mind determines most of our behaviour and that we’re motivated by unconscious emotional drives
who developed the psychodynamic approach and when?
- Sigmund Freud
- in the 18th / early 19th century
according to Freud our personality is composed of three parts
what are these?
what’s it called?
Tripartite Personality
1) ID
2) ego
3) superego
what is the Id?
- it’s the biological part (instincts and drives) of the personality
- it’s present at birth
- motivated by the pleasure principle
- demands instant gratification of its needs
- accounts for unreasonable behaviour
- if dominant, individual might develop a psychosis eg) schizophrenia
what’s the ego?
- develops from 1-3 years
- exists in both unconscious and conscious parts of the mind
- is motivated by the reality principle
- mediates the conflicts between the Id and superego
- uses defence mechanisms to achieve this
what’s the superego?
- develops from 3-5 years
- motivated by the morality principle
- punishes the ego with guilt for ‘doing wrong’
- to be mentally healthy the ego has to be able to balance the demand of the ego and superego
- if it’s dominant, the individual might develop a neurosis eg) depression
the mind is divided into three parts - what are these?
- the conscious
- the preconscious
- the unconscious
what is the conscious?
the part we are aware of and can access without any effort
contains part of the ego
eg) what we’re seeing / hearing / smelling / thinking
what is the preconscious?
the part of the mind that we can’t access without effort
contains the ego and some of the superego
made up of memories
eg) we can recall our address / phone number / childhood memories / what we did at the weekend
what is the unconscious?
the part of the mind that cannot be accessed without the help of a trained psychologist
contains the superego and the Id
made up of memories, desires and fears that cause us extreme anxiety and therefore have been ‘repressed’ of forced out of our conscious awareness
still influences our behaviour
to reduce anxiety we use defence mechanisms - what are these?
- repression
- displacement
- denial
what is repression?
- used by the ego to keep disturbing memories out of the conscious mind
- puts them in the unconscious mind where they cannot be accessed
- eg) sexual and aggressive urges or painful childhood memories
what is displacement?
- an impulse may be redirected from its original target onto a more acceptable one
- eg) being angry with your father and shouting at your little sister
what is denial?
- the existence of unpleasant internal or external realities is denied and kept out of consciousness awareness
- eg) having lost your job and yet you go to work every day
what are the psychosexual stages of development?
and what are the ages they are experienced?
1) oral -> 0-18 months
2) anal -> 18months - 3.5 years
3) phallic -> 3.5 years - 6 years
4) latent -> 6 years - puberty
5) genital -> puberty - adult
what is the source of pleasure of the oral stage?
mouth
- sucking, swallowing etc
what is the source of pleasure for the anal stage?
the anus
- withholding or expelling faeces
what is the source of pleasure in the phallic stage?
the penis / clitoris - genital fixation
- masturbation
- Oedipus and Electra complex
what is the source of pleasure for the latent stage?
sexual drives are repressed
what is the source of pleasure for the genital stage?
the genitals
- adult derives pleasure from masturbation and sex
awakened sexual urges
what is the outcome of the oral stage?
- if forceful feeding, deprivation or early weaning occur
- then fixation could lead to:
-> oral activities eg) smoking
-> dependency and aggression
what is the outcome of the anal stage?
- if toilet training is too harsh or too relaxed
- then fixation could lead to:
-> obsessiveness
-> tidiness
-> meanness
too relaxed
-> untidiness
-> generosity
what is the outcome of the phallic stage?
if abnormal family set-up leading to unusual relationship with mother/father
- then fixation could lead to:
-> vanity
-> self-obsession
-> sexual anxiety
-> inadequacy
-> inferiority
-> envy
what is the outcome of the latent stage?
fixation doesn’t happen in this stage