approaches- psychodynamic approach Flashcards
what did Sigmund Freud suggest the mind is made up of?
-conscious
-preconscious
-unconscious
what is the conscious?
what we’re aware of
what is the pre-conscious?
thoughts we may become aware of through dreams and ‘slips of the tongue’
what is the unconscious?
vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that influence our behaviour
what is the name for Freud’s 3 part structure of personality?
tripartite
what are the three parts of the tripartite personality?
-id
-ego
-superego
what is the id?
-primitive part of the personality
-operates on the pleasure principle
-demands instant gratification
what is the ego?
-works on reality principle
-mediator between the id and superego
what is the superego?
-internalised sense of right and wrong
-based on morality principle
-punishes ego through guilt
-appears age 5
what is the role of the five psychosexual stages?
-determine adult personality
-each stage marked by conflict that must be resolved to move onto next
-any unresolved conflict leads to fixation where the child becomes ‘stuck’ and carries behaviours associated with that stage through to adult life
what are the five psychosexual stages?
-oral
-anal
-phallic
-latency
-genital
oral stage
0-1 years
-pleasure focus is mouth
-mothers breast object of desire
anal stage
1-3 years
-pleasure focus is anus
-child gains pleasure from withholding and eliminating faeces
phallic stage
3-6 years
-pleasure focus is genital area
latency stage
earlier conflicts repressed
genital stage
sexual desires become conscious
what is the psychosexual conflict that can occur at the phallic stage?
oedipus complex
what is the oedipus complex?
-in phallic stage, little bits develop incestuous feelings towards mother and murderous hatred for their father
-later they repress these feelings for their mother and identify with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values
-girls of same age experience penis envy
what are the three defence mechanisms and what are they used for?
used by ego to reduce anxiety
-repression
-denial
-displacement
what’s repression?
forcing distressing memory out of conscious mind
what’s denial?
reducing to acknowledge reality
what’s displacement?
transferring feelings from their true source onto a substitute target
ao3 of psychodynamic approach: introduces psychotherapy
-Freud’s psychoanalysis was the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically
-psychoanalysis claims to hep clients deal w everyday problems by providing access to their unconscious, employing techniques such as dream analysis
-so psychoanalysis is a forerunner to many modern-day ‘talking therapies’ (e.g. counselling)
ao3 of psychodynamic approach: explanatory power
-Freud’s theory is controversial and pften bizarre, but it has had huge influence on western contemporary thought
-it has been used to explain a wide range of behaviours (moral, mental disorders) and drew attention to the influence on childhood on adult personality
-suggests overall, psychodynamic approach has had a + influence on psychology and modern-day thinking
ao3 of psychodynamic approach: untestable concepts
-karl popper argued the psychodynamic approach does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification in the sense that it cannot be disproved
-many of Freud’s concepts such as Id or the Oedipus complex, occur at an unconscious level making them difficult, if not impossible, to test
-means Freud’s lack of scientific rigour, the theory is pseudoscience (‘fake’ science) rather than real science
ao3 of psychodynamic approach: psychic determinism
-psychodynamic approach suggests much of our behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts. freud believed there was no such thing as an ‘accident’
-however, few psychologists would accept this view as it leaves no room for free will beyond early childhood
-suggests Freud’s views were too extreme as most people do have a sense of control over their behaviour
