Approaches - Psychodynamic

Question 1

Assumption of psychodynamic approach

Answer 1

Behaviour is the result of our unconscious mind (Freud)

Question 2

Tri-partite theory

Answer 2

Mind contains conscious, pre-conscious & unconscious

Question 3

Conscious

Answer 3

Present in our mind directly

Question 4

Pre-conscious

Answer 4

Can be retrieved into the conscious (memories)

Question 5

Unconscious

Answer 5

Unretrievable to conscious, controls behaviour

Question 6

Psyche

Answer 6

The id, ego and superego reside in the unconscious

Question 7

Id

Answer 7

Pleasure principle

Question 8

Superego

Answer 8

Morality principle & guilter (develops from parental interaction)

Question 9

Ego

Answer 9

Mediator (employs defence mechanisms to protect)

Question 10

Psychosexual stages

Answer 10

Oral (0-2 - mouth fixation), Anal (2-3 - faecal fixation), Phallic (4-5 - genital fixation), Latency (6-12 - no fixation), Genital (13+ - mature sexual gratification)

Question 11

Phallic stage: Oedipus complex

Answer 11

Males
Unconscious sexual desire for their mother -> castration anxiety -> identification with aggressor (father)

Question 12

Phallic stage: Electra conflict

Answer 12

Females
Unconscious sexual desire for their mother -> penis envy -> attachment to their father figure

Question 13

Little Hans’ Study

Answer 13

• Young boy with phobia of horses
• Freud communicated with his father
• Developed psychodynamic through interpreting the phobia as castration anxiety & desire for his mother

Question 14

Strengths of psychodynamicism

Answer 14

+ Further research (drew attention to connection between childhood experiences and development -> Bowlby’s maternal deprivation)
+ Real-life application (Psychoanalysis -> access unconscious through hypnosis -> starter for modern-day therapies that have developed)
+ Supporting evidence (Williams 1994 -> 129 women who had been hospitalised for sexual assault 20 years prior -> 38% could not recall and 16% who could had repressed/forgotten it)

Question 15

Limitations of psychodynamicism

Answer 15

• Determinism (unconscious controls all behaviour -> no accidents or free will -> psychic determinism)
• Unfalsifiable (not open to empirical testing -> cannot be proven false due to unconscious level -> limits perspective/impact)
• Contradictory evidence (Victims of trauma remember/relive through PTSD -> goes against repression theory as they don’t just forget)