AP - Psychodynamic approach

Question 1

What did Freud believe behaviour was determined by?

Answer 1

More psychological factors than by biological factors or environmental reinforcement. He assumed that people are born with basic instincts and needs and that behaviour is in large part controlled by the unconscious mind.

Question 2

What metaphor did Freud use to describe the mind?

Answer 2

An iceberg.

Question 3

Explain freud’s metaphor of an iceberg that he used to describe the mind.

Answer 3

The tip of the iceberg (representing the conscious mind) being visible, but the much larger part (representing the unconscious) being hidden under water.

Question 4

When did the unconscious mind reveal itself?

Answer 4

In slips of the tongue (‘Freudian slips’), in creativity and in neurotic symptoms.

Question 5

What did Freud believe that the mind actively prevents?

Answer 5

Traumatic memories from the unconscious from reaching conscious awareness and causing anxiety.

Question 6

How did Freud believe that the mind actively prevents traumatic memories from the unconscious from reaching conscious awareness and causing anxiety?

Answer 6

By using defence mechanisms.

Question 7

What were Freud’s three structures of personality?

Answer 7

The id, ego and superego.

Question 8

Who developed the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 8

Freud.

Question 9

What does the psychodynamic approach assume?

Answer 9

• That human behaviour has unconscious causes that we’re not aware of.
• From birth, humans have a need to fulfil basic biological motivations - for food, sleep, warmth, etc.
• Childhood experiences are a really important influence on the development of adult personality and psychological disorders.

Question 10

What are the three levels of consciousness according to Freud?

Answer 10

Conscious
Preconscious
Unconscious

Question 11

How many levels of consciousness are there according to Freud?

Answer 11

3

Question 12

What is the conscious level of consciousness?

Answer 12

What we are aware of at any given time, e.g. what we are seeing, smelling, hearing or thinking.

Question 13

What is the preconscious level of consciousness?

Answer 13

Made up of memories that we can recall when we want to, e.g. we can recall our address, phone number, childhood memories or what we did at the weekend.

Question 14

What is the unconscious level of consciousness?

Answer 14

Made up of memories, desires and fears which cause us extreme anxiety and have therefore been ‘repressed’ or forced out of conscious awareness. However, the unconscious still influences behaviour, e.g. it causes Freudian slips and influences the content of our dreams. This part of our mind can be accessed with the help of a psychoanalyst, using methods the Freud developed.

Question 15

Explain the id structure of personality

Answer 15

• Operates solely in the unconscious.
• Contains the libido, the biological energy created by the reproductive instincts - innate, aggressive and reproductive instincts.
• Operates according to the ‘pleasure principle’ - demands immediate gratification regardless of circumstances.
• Accounts for unreasonable behaviour and appears at birth.

Question 16

How many structures of personality are there according to Freud?

Answer 16

3

Question 17

Explain the ego structure of personality

Answer 17

• Mediates between the impulsive demands of the id and the reality of the external world - acts as a rational part known as the ‘reality principle’.
• Exists in both the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind.
• Develops in the first three years after birth and balances the impulsive demands of the id and the moralistic demands of the superego to keep our behaviour in line.
• For example, it may delay gratifying the id until there is a more appropriate opportunity to satisfy its demands.

Question 18

Explain the superego structure of personality

Answer 18

• In both the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind.
• Takes our morals into consideration and is involved in making us feel guilty.
• Develops around 4-5 years of age.
• Includes ideas about how to behave that we adopt from our parents.
• Divided into the conscience (the internalisation of societal rules and determines which behaviours are permissible and causes feelings of guilt when rules are broken) and the ego-ideal (what a person strives towards, and is most probably determined by parental standards of good behaviour).

Question 19

What did Freud believe could develop between parts of the personality and what does this cause?

Answer 19

Conflicts that lead to anxiety.

Question 20

What level of personality has the job of reducing the anxiety caused by the conflicts developing between parts of the personality?

Answer 20

Ego - mediates between the id and superego.

Question 21

How does the ego mediate between the id and superego to reduce the anxiety caused by conflicts?

Answer 21

By using one of several unconscious defence mechanisms.

Question 22

In what level of consciousness do defence mechanisms work?

Answer 22

Unconscious.

Question 23

What are the defence mechanisms according to Freud?

Answer 23

Repression, denial, displacement and minimisation.

Question 24

Explain repression as a defence mechanism

Answer 24

The unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts and impulses.

Rather than staying quietly in the unconscious, these repressed thoughts and impulses continue to influence behaviour without the individual being aware of the reasons behind their behaviour.

Question 25

Explain denial as a defence mechanism

Answer 25

The refusal to accept reality so as to avoid having to deal with any painful feelings that might be associated with that event. The person acts as if the traumatic event had not happened, something that those around them find to be quite bizarre.

Question 26

Explain displacement as a defence mechanism

Answer 26

The redirecting of thoughts or feelings (usually hostile) in situations where the person feels unable to express them in the presence of the person they should be directed towards. Instead, they may ‘take it out’ on a helpless victim or object. This gives their hostile feelings a route for expression, even though they are misapplied to an innocent person or object.

Question 27

Explain minimisation as a defence mechanism

Answer 27

Telling yourself it’s not as a big deal as it really is.

Question 28

What are the five psychosexual stages of development according to Freud?

Answer 28

Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latent
Genital

Question 29

How many psychosexual stages of development are there according to Freud?

Answer 29

5

Question 30

At what age does the oral psychosexual stage of development occur?

Answer 30

0 - 18 months

0 - 2 years

Question 31

At what age does the anal psychosexual stage of development occur?

Answer 31

18 months - 3.5 years

2 - 3 years

Question 32

At what age does the phallic psychosexual stage of development occur?

Answer 32

3.5 - 6 years

3 - 6 years

Question 33

At what age does the latent psychosexual stage of development occur?

Answer 33

6 years - puberty

6 - 12 years

Question 34

At what age does the genital psychosexual stage of development occur?

Answer 34

Puberty - adult

12+

Question 35

What behaviours are shown at the oral stage of psychosexual development?

Answer 35

Sucking behaviour.

Question 36

What behaviours are shown at the anal stage of psychosexual development?

Answer 36

Keeping or discarding faeces.

Ego starts to develop.

Question 37

What behaviours are shown at the phallic stage of psychosexual development?

Answer 37

Genital fixation - Oedipus and Electra complex (boy child falls in love with mother and pushes father away).

Question 38

What behaviours are shown at the latent stage of psychosexual development?

Answer 38

Repressed sexual urges.

Superego develops.

Question 39

What behaviours are shown at the genital stage of psychosexual development?

Answer 39

Awakened sexual urges.

Question 40

What can a lack of pleasure/too much pleasure at one stage of the psychosexual stages of development mean might happen?

Answer 40

The child may become fixated at that stage.

Question 41

What are defence mechanisms?

Answer 41

Unconscious strategies that protect our conscious mind from anxiety. Defence mechanisms involve a distortion of reality in some way, so that we are better able to cope with a situation.

Question 42

What is psychoanalysis?

Answer 42

A term used to describe the personality theory and therapy associated with Sigmund Freud.

Question 43

What does psychodynamic mean?

Answer 43

Refers to any theory that emphasises change and development in the individual, particularly those theories where ‘drive’ is a central concept in development. The best known psychodynamic theory is Freudian psychoanalysis.

Question 44

What is the unconscious?

Answer 44

The part of the human mind that contains repressed ideas and memories, as well as primitive desires and impulses that have never been allowed to enter the conscious mind.

Question 45

What case study did Freud carry out?

Answer 45

Little Hans.

Question 46

What was the aim of Freud’s little Hans study?

Answer 46

To reveal the conflicts, fears and desires buried in the unconscious mind so they could be faced to allow the patient to understand and resolve them.

Question 47

What was the method of Freud’s little Hans study?

Answer 47

Case study of a child called Hans who had a phobia of horses. Hans was observed by his father, who made notes of Hans dreams and stuff he said, and passed them on to Freud for analysis.

Question 48

What were the results of Freud’s little Hans study?

Answer 48

Hans was afraid of horses because he thought they might bite him or fall on him. During the study he developed an interest in his ‘widdler’ (penis). His mum had told him not to play with it or she’d cut it off. Hans told his dad about a dream where he was married to his mum and his dad was now his grandfather.

Question 49

What was the conclusion of Freud’s little Hans study?

Answer 49

Freud’s interpretation was that Hans had reached the phallic stage of development and showed evidence of the Oedipus complex - he wanted to have an exclusive relationship with his mother and was jealous of his father. Hans had sexual feelings for his mother, shown partly by his drea, of marrying his mother.

The horse symbolised his father because to him they both had big penises. His fear of horses is an example of displacement that protected him from his real fear of his father.

Hans suffered from castration anxiety - he feared that he would be castrated by his father if he found out about his feelings for his mother. This was symbolised by Hans’s fear that a horse would bit him.

Question 50

What are some evaluation points of Freud’s study of Little Hans?

Answer 50

• Lots of detailed data about one subject.
• Results can’t be generalised.
• Evidence for Freud’s theories.
• Cause and effect relationship can’t be established as the results were based on observation and interpretation.
• Other explanations (his anxiety may have come from his mother threatening to cut his penis off. Also before the study, Han’s had been frightened by a horse falling down in the street, which could explain his fear of them).
• Hans’s father provided Freud with the evidence to be analysed so the results could be biased.