Approaches - Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
Who was the founder of the psychodynamic approach
Freud
What did Freud argue and create
Behaviour is due to psychological factors
From this he created psychoanalysis - a talking therapy
what is psycho analysis
A talking therapy which deals with the conflicts in the mind
Once conflicts restored the individual is mentally healthy again
What are the three basic assumptions of the psychodynamic approach
1) Unconscious mind is thought to drive behaviour - an issues with individuals behaviour - unconscious mind assessed in order to rectify
2) instincts are thought to motivate behaviour - innate drive that helps to form our behaviour and personality
3) early childhood experiences are extremely important in making us who are- this means that if we have certain experiences at particular times of our childhood - will be reflected in our adult behaviour
How is the unconscious mind explained with iceberg model ?
• Conscious mind – the tip of the iceberg that we can see
• Preconscious mind – look into water, you can see some of the
iceberg
• Unconscious mind – the part of the iceberg that we are unable
to see, unless we are submerged in the water
What is conscious ?
Part of the mind we are aware of
What is the unconscious ?
Most of our mind is made up of the unconscious,
It is the vast store drive of biological drives and instincts that influence our behaviour and personality.
Contains threatening and distributing memories that have been repressed
Thoughts and behaviour come to us through dreams and Freudian slips
What is the preconscious ?
Precocious Thought memories not in conscious awareness but can be accessed
Why is the structure of personality known as the tripartite system
There are 3 parts to personality
What is the id
This is the primitive part of our personality. Present at birth and forms up until about 18 months.
It operates on the pleasure principle
the id gets what it wants. It is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs.
What is the ego
It operates on the reality principle and is the mediator between the id and the superego.
Its role is to reduce the conflict between the demands of the id and the superego.
It does this through defence mechanisms. These offer the ego protection to ensure that neither “force” is dominant.
When is the ego formed
Develops between 18 months and 3 years.
When is the superego formed
Develops between 3 and 6 years and is formed at the end of the phallic stage
What is the superego
It operates on the morality principle and represents the ideal self
it represents the moral standards of the child’s same-sex parents.
So allows children to identify with their same sex parent role model and internalise their morals
strives for the ego ideal which is determined by strict parenting.
What do defence mechanisms do and why
They distort reality to reduce anxiety. This is because anxiety weakens the ego and means that it cannot mediate between the ID and superego
What are the three common defence mechanisms
• Repression: Blocking of an unpleasant memory- pushed to unconscious cant be accessed
• Denial: Refusal to accept reality
• Displacement: Redirecting of emotions onto other objects or
people
What do instincts do
Drive our unconscious mind so dictate the stages we experience
The underlying drive our instincts produce is what ?
Sexual - pleasure comes from the release of tension due to the build up of sexual energy
The way the pleasure manifest itself is dependent on what ?
The stage in which a child is in
What is each stage marked by ?
A different conflict the child must resolve in order to progress successfully into next stage
What can cause fixation in a stage
Strict parenting or overindulgence
Why is a child ‘stuck’ on a stage and what does this lead to ?
The child is stuck because the psychosexual conflict is unresolved the child then carries certain behaviours and conflicts from that stage into adult life
What are the five psychosexual stages
Oral (0-1), anal (1-3), phallic (3-5), latency (6-12) and genital
What happens in oral stage
Focus of pleasure is the mouth
Mothers breast is object of desire
What is the consequence of unresolved conflict in oral stages
Oral fixation- smoking , biting nails , overeating
Describe the anal stage
Focus of pleasure is the anus
Involves toilet training
Child gains pleasure with withholding and expelling faeces
What is the consequence of unreserved conflict in the anal stage
Anal retentive - perfectionist obsessive. Orderliness
Anal expulsion - thoughtless, messy
What happens in the phallic stage
Focus of pleasure is the genital area
And child experiences the Oedipus and Electra complex
What is the consequence of unresolved conflict in phallic stage
Phallic personality
Narcissistic and reckless
Deviancy
Sexual dysfunction
Possible homosexual
What happens in latency ?
Defense mechanisms are developed
No psychosexual development
Sexual impulses are repressed and are projected towards school work, hobbies , developing new skills
What happens at the genital stage
Sexual desires become conscious long side the onset of puberty
The outlet for sexual desires is through heterosexual intercourse
What is the consequence of unresolved conflict in the genital stage
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
What is Oedipus complex
In the phallic stage, little boys develop sexual feelings towards their mother and a hatred for their mother’s rival in love – their father because he himself wants to possess his mother
In their Oedipus complex what do boys fear
They fear that their father will castrate them if they were to find out about feelings towards mother
Castrations anxiety
In the Oedipus complex what do boys do to repress feelings towards mother
Identify with father , taking gender role and masculine father like moral values
What is the Electra complex
When Girls of the same age experience penis envy – they desire their father as the penis is the primary love object and they hate their mother.
How do girls in Electra complex resolve this
they are thought to give up the desire for their father over time and replace this desire with one for a baby – therefore identifying with their mother in the process.
What is a strength of the psychodynamic approach
Influence
The psychodynamic approach has had a huge influence on psychology.
used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development and gender.
This shows how important Freud’s ideas have been in the development of psychology as a discipline and in explaining human behaviour
What is another strength of the psychodynamic approach?
The psychodynamic approach has practical application.
Freud developed psychoanalysis which was The first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically
Psychoanalysis - employs range of techniques to access unconscious so repressed emotions can be dealt with
Fore runner to many talking therapies today - such as counselling
Psychodynamic influential in creating new approach to treatment
- psychoanalysis regarded as inappropriate even harmful for serious disorders - eg schizophrenia
What is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach
Case studies
The research methods used in the psychodynamic approach have been criticised.
Freud’s theory is based on the intensive study of single individuals such as Little Hans who were often in therapy. findings from the case studies cant be generalised
This limits how useful the psychodynamic approach is when trying to explain human behaviour.
What is another limitation of the psychodynamic approach?
The psychodynamic approach is deterministic.
It suggests that all human behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control. This removes the notion of free will as it suggests that people do not have a choice over their behaviour.
This goes against the beliefs that a lot of us hold may mean that people are not as accountable for their behaviour as society would like them to be.
What is another limitation of the psychodynamic approach (falsifying )
Key concepts from this approach cannot be falsified
Eg Oedipus complex are said to occur at unconscious level
Impossible to test
Psychodynamic approach could be seen as pseudoscience
Evaluation of defence mechanisms
Lack of test ability since Defense mechanisms cannot be studied directly
Repression - pushed to unconscious level so it doesn’t overwhelm
Cant be tested scientifically
