Approaches- The Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
What is the role of the unconscious in Freud’s psychodynamic approach?
Freud suggested that the unconscious mind, a vast storehouse of biological drives, instincts, and repressed memories, significantly influences behavior and personality. It can be accessed through dreams or “slips of the tongue” (parapraxes).
How does Freud describe the structure of personality?
Id – operates on the pleasure principle, seeking instant gratification.
Ego – operates on the reality principle, mediating between the id and superego.
Superego – operates on the morality principle, representing internalized moral standards.
What is the preconscious?
The preconscious contains thoughts and memories not currently in conscious awareness but accessible if desired, acting as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind.
What are Freud’s psychosexual stages of development?
Oral (0-1 years) – focus on the mouth; fixation can lead to smoking or nail-biting.
Anal (1-3 years) – focus on the anus; fixation can lead to obsessive or messy traits.
Phallic (3-5 years) – focus on genitals; involves the Oedipus/Electra complex.
Latency – earlier conflicts are repressed.
Genital – sexual desires reawaken during puberty.
What are defense mechanisms, and what is their purpose?
Defense mechanisms are unconscious strategies used by the ego to manage conflicts between the id and superego. They protect the mind from distress but often distort reality. Examples include repression, denial, and displacement.
What is repression?
Repression involves forcing distressing memories out of conscious awareness to avoid emotional pain.
What is denial?
Denial is refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality to protect oneself from discomfort.
What is displacement?
Displacement involves transferring feelings from the true source of distress onto a substitute target, such as taking out anger on someone other than the actual cause.
What is the Oedipus complex?
The Oedipus complex occurs during the phallic stage, where boys develop incestuous feelings for their mother and rivalry with their father, fearing castration. They resolve this by identifying with their father.
What is the Electra complex?
The Electra complex is the female counterpart to the Oedipus complex, where girls experience penis envy, desire their father, and eventually identify with their mother.
What is the case study of Little Hans?
Little Hans was a 5-year-old boy with a horse phobia. Freud interpreted this as displacement of his repressed fear of his father (Oedipus complex) onto horses, symbolizing his unconscious fear of castration.
What is a strength of the psychodynamic approach?
The psychodynamic approach has significant explanatory power, influencing psychology and explaining phenomena like personality development, abnormal behavior, and the impact of childhood experiences on later life.
What is a limitation of Freud’s case study method?
Freud’s case studies, like Little Hans, were based on small, psychologically abnormal samples and subjective interpretations, lacking scientific rigor and generalizability.
What is Karl Popper’s criticism of the psychodynamic approach?
Popper argued that Freud’s concepts (e.g., id, Oedipus complex) are untestable and unfalsifiable, making the psychodynamic approach pseudoscientific rather than scientifically valid.
What is psychoanalysis, and what are its limitations?
Psychoanalysis is a therapy developed by Freud to access the unconscious using techniques like hypnosis and dream analysis. While effective for mild neuroses, it may be inappropriate or harmful for serious mental disorders like schizophrenia.
What is psychic determinism?
Psychic determinism is the idea that all behavior, including accidents and slips of the tongue, is determined by unconscious forces rooted in childhood, leaving no room for free will.
How does psychic determinism compare to other approaches?
Unlike approaches like humanism, which emphasize free will, or behaviorism, which focuses on environmental determinism, psychic determinism attributes behavior to unconscious conflicts, offering a unique but rigid perspective.
