approaches-psychodynamic approach Flashcards
what is the driving force behind out behaviour
the driving force behind out behaviour is the unconscious mind
how can we resolve problematic or challenging behaviour
if we have problamatic or challenging behaviour we must access the unconscious mind to resolve it.
what is pivotal in making us the person we are
early childhood is pivotal in making us the person we are
when is most of our psychological development formed
most of our psychological development is argued to be formed prior to the age of 6
what structure does our psyche (personality) have
tripartite structure
what motivates our behaviour
its our psyche that motivates our behaviour
how is personality constructed
personality is constructed through the psychosexual stages of development
how are the unconscious mind conflicts in the psyche mediated
the unconscious mind conflicts in the psyche are mediated by processes called defence mechanisms
what is the conscious mind
its visible to all, we are aware of it and its the part of the mind we have access to.
what is the preconscious
-its made up of thoughts that may surface at any point into the conscious
-it also acts as a guard controlling the information that’s allowed to enter into conscious awareness
what is the unconscious mind
-its the driving force behind our behaviour
-its contains contents that are unpleasant, unacceptable eg-feelings of pain, anxiety and embarrassment
how does the unconscious protect the conscious
-the unconscious acts as a repository (place to store things) for traumatic events. Its argued that these traumatic events drive our behaviour
-using defense mechanism eg-denial, repression and displacement.
what do psychodynamic theorists suggest
events and memories are never truly forgotten and can be explored through psychoanalysis
what is the underlying unconscious drive
the underlying unconscious drive is sexual
what happens if a conflict is experienced during the psychosexual stages of development
if conflict is experienced during the psychosexual stages of development it can affect an adults personality
how can the unconscious mind reveal itself
dreams
Freudian slips
what shapes the development of the three parts of the personality
early experiences and conflicts in childhood
what does much of our behaviour come from
conflict between the three especially when the Id or superego are dominant
what is healthy personality
strong ego that balances the demands of the Id and superego
the id or superego shouldn’t become dominant as they could adversely affect behaviour
when does the id form
birth to 18 months
what is the id reffered to as
the pleasure principle as it consists of primal urges (drives) which seek instant gratification
what does the id focus on
its focusses on self (selfish)
its irrational and emotional and deals with feelings and needs
-it resides in the unconscious part of the minds
when does the superego develop
3-6 years
what is the superego also known as
morality principle
how does the superego arrise
through identification with the same sex parent. Its the internalised parent and develops in response to parental discipline at around 5 years old.
how does the ego punish the superego
the superego punishes the ego through guilt
where does the superego reside
in the unconscious part of the mind
when does the ego develop
18 months to 3 years
what is the ego also known as
the reality principle. It comes to a rational decision about behaviour
how does the ego satisfy the id
it satisfies the if in a socially desirable way
it delays the ids drive for pleasure (delayed gratification)
where does the ego reside
the conscious part of the mind
what are defence mechanisms
methods we use to unconsciously reduce anxiety
how does the ego help manage the conflict between the Id and superego
the ego helps manage the conflict between the id and superego by providing a compromise to solutions
how does anxiety influence the ego
anxiety weakens the influence of the ego which needs to be strong to mediate between the id and superego
what is repression and how does it affect behaviour
where an unpleasant memory is pushed into the unconscious mind therefore is not accessible to the conscious mind and cant cause anxiety
effect-people cannot recall the situation
what is denial and how does it affect behaviour
refusal to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation this reduces the anxiety cause by the situation
effect-they may believe the situation is not negative and therefore should not cause anxiety
what is displacement and how does it affect behaviour
when a strong emotion is displaced onto a neutral object/person rather than the trigger of the emotion. This reduces anxiety by allowing expression of that emotion
effect-they exhibit a strong emotion but focus it on an uninvolved person
negative evaluation of defence mechanisms
(testibility)
lack of testibility/falsifiability since defense mechanisms are unconscious processes they cannoy be studied directly therefore it is not scientific
supporting evidence of denfence mechanisms
(repression)
gagnepain, henson and anderson wanted to see if repressing memories into the unconscious mind affects behaviour
these repressed memories didn’t affect behaviour as they couldn’t be recalled showing we repress traumatic memories
supporting evidence of defence mechanisms
(abuse)
William found from women who suffered childhood sexual assaults
-38% had no recall of the abuse
and of those who did recall it
-16% at one time hadn’t been able to recall it
this suggests painful memories can be forgotten then later recorved supporting the idea of repression
what must happen at each stage of the psychosexual stages of development
there is an unconscious conflict at each stage which must be resolved before the next stage is reached
what happens if children fail to resolve a conflict
if a child fails to resolve a conflict at each of the psychosexual stages, they may develop a fixation where they display certain behaviours/characteristics in their adult life.
age + focus of pleasure at oral stage
0-2 years
mouth-mothers breast is focus of desire
description + fixation at oral stage
the infant experiences pleasure through the mouth
they experience gratification through…
orally passive behaviours eg- sucking
orally aggressive behaviours eg-biting
oral fixation-smoking ,nail biting, overeating or gum chewing
age + focus of pleasure at anal stage
2-3 years
child focus on holding/expelling faeces
description + fixation at anal stage
child must undergo potty training to control bowel movements
anal retentive-becomes an obsessive perfectionist
anal expulsive-becomes messy and thoughtless
age + focus of pleasure at phallic stage
3-5 years
focus of pleasure is the genitals
oedipus complex-boys
electra-girls
boys must overcome unconscious sexual desire for opposite sex parent by identifying with same sex parent
phallic fixation-reckless and narcissistic behaviour
age + focus of pleasure at phallic stage
3-5 years
focus of pleasure is the genitals
oedipus complex-boys
electra-girls
boys must overcome unconscious sexual desire for opposite sex parent by identifying with same sex parent
phallic fixation-reckless and narcissistic behaviour
age + focus of pleasure at latent stage
6-12
hidden
sexual energy has become latent so the individual can focus on the world around them and form friendships. early years are forgotten
age + focus of pleasure at genital stage
12- adulthood
sexual desires become conscious with the onset of puberty
libido is focussed on the genitals
energy is directed towards forming adult relationships
difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
mnemonic to remember psychosexual stages of development
old age pensionars like grapes
issues and debates
look in booklet
supporting evidence for freud theory on the unconscious brain
(brain making a choice)
chun siong soon found that our brain makes a decision to press a button with your right or left hand 10 seconds before you consciously make that decision
supporting evidence for repression
(memory traces)
using fmri scans gangnepain found memory traces had been weakened by repression
how is psycholohy not a science
(falsifibaility/testability)
the psychodynamic approach its not empirically testable as it occurs at an unconscious level so its impossible to test so lacks scientific rigour
you cant disprove it so it lacks falsifiability
how does it lack reliability
freud used case studies so it lacked reliability
how else isn’t it scientific
it subjective-unconscious thoughts can only be inferred from behaviour/reported experiences
what type of science is it
pseudoscience-as its a theory not based on facts
does the psychodynamic approach believe in free will or determinism
psychic determinism-believes we have no control over out actions as out behaviour is determined by childhood experiences
what did sue and sue argue about the psychodynamic approach
-The psychodynamic approach is culturally biased
-sue and sue said it had little relevance for people from a non-western culture
practical applications of psychodynamic approach
(therapy)
-it introduced the idea of psychotherapy
-he also introduces psychoanalysis where a range of techniques are used to access the unconscious
how does psychoanalysis help clients
it brings repressed emotions into there conscious mind so they can be dealt with
what is psychoanalysis the forerunner for
psychoanalysis is the forerunner for many modern day talking therapies like counselling
what empirical evidence is there to support psychoanalysis
biskup found 77% of patients using psychoanalytic therapy showed clinically significant improvements
limitations of psychoanalysis
(serious mental disorder)
it may be harmful for those with serious mental disorders eg-schizophrenia as they have lost there grip on reality and cannot articulate there thoughts in a way required by psychoanalysis
