approaches: psychodynamic approach

Question 1

what context was the psychodynamic approach created in (time period) and why was this important.

Answer 1

-psychodynamic approach came very early on in emergence of psychology as a science-after Wundt introspection and similar time to behaviourists.
-important as it helped create the emergence of verbal therapy

Question 2

define the psychodynamic approach

Answer 2

a perspective that describes the different unconscious forces that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience

Question 3

what are the three assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 3

1. unconscious processes determine behaviour
2. there are three parts which make up our personality
   (id, ego, superego)
3. early childhood experiences determine our adult personality

Question 4

explain the iceberg analogy

Answer 4

• freud suggested the conscious mind only makes up a small part of our mind (tip of the iceberg)
• vast majority is unconscious, we are unaware but has a large influence on behaviour and personality
  = storehouse for biological drives and instincts - contains negative and disturbing memories

Question 5

explain the tripartite personality including what age each part develops (id, ego, superego)

Answer 5

• ID: pleasure principle, demands instant gratification, present at birth, unconscious drives and instincts
• EGO: operates on reality principle, mediates to reduce conflict between id and superego through defence mechanisms, forms age 2
• SUPEREGO: operates on morality principle, our internalised sense of right and wrong, learned from moral standards of same sex parent, punishes ego for wrongdoing through guilt, develops age 5

Question 6

what are defence mechanisms?

Answer 6

unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego.

Question 7

explain 3 key defence mechanisms of repression, denial and displacement. give an example for each

Answer 7

• repression: forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind, e.g. a person forgetting that they were a victim of abuse of a child
• denial: refusing to acknowledge an aspect of reality (something that is true) e.g. smokers may refuse to admit that smoking is bad for their health
• displacement: transferring feelings from true sources of distressing emotions to a substitute target e.g. someone frustrated by their boss so they take it out on someone at home by being horrible

Question 8

what are the 5 psychosexual stages? why did Freud believe these were important for child development?

Answer 8

1. oral Stage
2. anal Stage
3. phallic Stage
4. latency Stage
5. genital Stage
   - if the child is unable to resolve that conflict it results in them becoming ‘stuck’ in that phase and they develop fixations and behaviours associated with that stage that they carry through into adult life

Question 9

explain the oral stage

Answer 9

age 0-1
mouth is the main source of pleasure (overly talkative, always chewing something = fixation)

Question 10

explain the anal stage

Answer 10

(1-3 years) pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

Question 11

explain the phallic stage

Answer 11

(3-6 years)
oedipus complex - Boys fall in love with mothers but realise dad is in way, fear of castration so they idolise their dad

electra complex - Girls fall in love w/ dad “penis envy” (egoism = fixation)

Question 12

explain the latency stage

Answer 12

(6 to puberty) a phase of dormant sexual feelings, child has no fixation so main focus is repressing earlier conflicts

Question 13

explain the genital stage

Answer 13

(puberty on) maturation of sexual interests, child seeks relations with opposite sex however only if all previous conflicts are resolved they can be a mature adult.
- if child is unable to have a relationship with opposite sex they develop a fixation to their own genitals and leads to consequence of homosexuality

Question 14

ao3: how does Freuds theory have real world application?
counter- what might be a problem of this application?

Answer 14

• his first attempt to treat mental health disorders psychologically through his psychotherapy aimed at accessing unconscious thoughts- been very valuable for the development of psychological therapies
  -however psychoanalysis is not effective esp for schizophrenia which he specifically targeted as it lacks utility

Question 15

ao3: what is a strength regarding the explanatory power of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 15

it explains a large amount of human behaviour- whilst his theory as a whole has been refuted, some explanations have face validity e.g. defence mechanisms and the influence of childhood on adult personality giving it a positive impact on psychology

Question 16

ao3: how does freud use untestable concepts? how is this a limitation?

Answer 16

one of the key features of a science is falsification but the unconscious is untestable, and therefore cannot be proven as true or disproven. this means that the approach is non scientific and we cannot establish its validity

Question 17

ao3: define psychic determinism. why is this a limitation of Freuds theory?

Answer 17

determined unconscious conflicts from our childhood. even parapraxes are not accidental and have deeper meanings. this is a very extreme view.