A2 APPROACHES - THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH

Question 1

Describe the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach

Answer 1

• Unconscious mind drives our beh, and the only way to resolve problematic beh is accessing the unconscious mind
• Instincts and drives motivate our beh
• Early childhood experiences shape who we are as a person

Question 2

Describe the role of the conscious, pre-conscious unconscious mind

Answer 2

Conscious: part of the mind we can access; we’re aware of its contents and its concerned w/ logical thinking, reality and civilised beh

Pre-conscious: info stored here is not conscious at the moment but can be easily recalled

Unconscious: repressed part of the mind; contains our drives and instincts e.g. sex and aggression which motivate our beh, and we’re unaware of its contents

Question 3

Describe the tripartite personality

Answer 3

Id: present from birth and works on pleasure principle; seeks to get what it wants (Freud called babies “bundles of id”)

Ego: develops at 1-3 yrs old and works on reality principle; can interfere with and delay the will of the id and balances the wishes of the id and superego

Superego: develops at 3-6 yrs old and works on morality principle; acts as a conscience and forms an ideal self and will punish ego for wrongdoing with feelings of guilt

Question 4

Describe defence mechanisms

Answer 4

Conflict bet id and supergo causes anxiety. Ego (consious part of mind) tries to protect itself from this anxiety by using denial, repression and displacement…

Denial: refusal to accept reality and facts; just acts as if it didn’t happen
Displacement: projecting emotions onto a substitute target that will result in fewer negative consequences
Repression: pushing traumatic experiences down into unconscious mind so it can’t be recalled

Question 5

Describe the psychosexual stages of development

Answer 5

Freud said that early childhood development shapes our adult personality, and put forward 5 psychosexual stages; if fixation (over- or under-indulgence) occurs, the there’ll be long lasting harmful effects…

Oral (0-1 yrs): focus of libido is the mouth; pleasure gained from sucking, biting etc. Fixation can lead to smoking, nail biting, and even sarcasm as a personality trait
Anal (1-3 yrs): focus of libido is anus; pleasure gained from withholding and expelling faeces. Under-indulgence (anal retentive) leads to being obsessive, overly neat and perfectionism. Over-indulgence (anal expulsive) leads tobeing messy and disorganised.
Phallic (3-5 yrs): focus of libido is on genitals; Oedipus and Electra complex develop here; fixation leads to “phallic personality” (vain, narcisistic) and possible homosexuality
Latent: (5 yrs-puberty): all earlier conflicts are repressed (no fixation here)
Genital (puberty +): focus of libido is back to genitals, sexual desires become consious, earlier fixations can arise here, and fixation at this stage can lead to difficulties forming heterosexual relationships

Question 6

Describe the Oedipus and Electra complexes

Answer 6

Oedipus complex: (1) Boy develops sexual feelings towards his mother. (2) Boy sees father as rival for mother’s love so develops a murderous hatred for his father and feels threatned by his presence. (3) Boy realises that his father is more powerful than he is and develops castration anxiety. (4) Boy identifies with father to relieve anxiety and acts in a similar way to him

Electra complex (rejected by Freud but put forward by Carl Jung): (1) Girl realises she doesn’t have a penis. (2) Girl believes mother castrated herself and the girl at birth, so develops hatred towards mother (3) Girl develops penis envy towards men. (4) Girl realises she will never have a penis and substitutes penis envy for desire for childbirth

Question 7

Evaluate the psychodynamic approach

Answer 7

(+) Petter (2017) found that ppts were roughly twice as likely to choose sexual partners who had the same eye colour of the parent of the gender they were attarcted to than other eye colours
(+) Little Hans case study
(-) Conclusions are quite farfetched and theoretical, and Hans had to be “encouraged” to give a lot of responses
(-) Unfalsifiable as based on unconscious mind
(+) Led to development of psychoanalysis
(-) Socially sensitive; suggests non-traditional family structures will raise children with poor morality and gender identity