approaches - the psychodynamic approach Flashcards
what is the role of the unconscious?
Freud suggested most of our mind is made up the unconscious which stores biological drives and instincts that influence our behaviour and personality
it contained threatening memories that have been repressed (can be accessed through dreams of Freudian slips)
what is the preconscious?
it contained thoughts and memories that aren’t currently in conscious awareness but can be accessed if desired
how did Freud describe the structure of personality?
tripartite:
- Id
- Ego
- Superego
what is the Id?
operates on the pleasure principle
made up of unconscious drives and instincts
entirely selfish, demands instant gratification of its needs
present at birth
what is the Ego?
works on the reality principle
mediator between Id and Ego, using defence mechanisms to reduce conflict
develops at around age 2
what is the Superego?
based on the morality principle
represents the moral standards of the child’s same-sex parent
punishes the Ego for wrongdoing through guilt
develops at the end of the phallic stage - around age 4
what are the psychosexual stages?
- oral
- anal
- phallic
- latency
- genital
what is the role of the psychosexual stages?
apart from latency, each stage is marked by a different conflict to overcome in order to successfully progress to the next stage
unresolved conflict leads to fixation
what is fixation?
consequence of unresolved psychosexual conflict
the child becomes ‘stuck’ and carried certain behaviours through to adult life
what is the oral stage?
focus of pleasure is the mouth
unresolved conflict leads to oral fixation (smoking, biting nails, critical)
what is the anal stage?
focus of pleasure is the anus
unresolved conflict leads the person to become anal retentive (perfectionist, obsessive) or anal expulsive (thoughtless, messy)
what is the phallic stage?
focus of pleasure is the genital area
unresolved conflict leads to phallic personality (narcissistic reckless)
what is the latency stage?
earlier conflicts are repressed
what is the genital stage?
sexual desires become conscious alongside onset of puberty
unresolved conflict leads to difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
what are defence mechanisms?
used by the Ego to manage conflict between the Id and the Superego
they’re unconscious and prevent us from being overwhelmed by threats or traumas
what is the problem with defence mechanisms?
involve distortion of reality
psychologically unhealthy as a long-term solution
what are the defence mechanisms?
- repression
- denial
- displacement
what is repression?
forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind
what is denial?
refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality
what is displacement?
transferring feelings from the true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target
strength - real-world application
Freud introduced psychoanalysis, the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically
- involved techniques such as dream analysis
- helped clients by bringing repressed emotions to the conscious mind to deal with them
- forerunner to modern-day ‘talking therapies’ (e.g counselling)
limitation - psychoanalysis inappropriate for serious disorders
people with Sz experience hallucinations and delusions
- they’ve lost their grip on reality and can’t articulate their thoughts in the way required by psychoanalysis
strength - influence on psychology
key force in psychology for the first half of the 20th century
used to explain a wide range of phenomena (e.g personality development)
drew attention to the connection between childhood experiences and later development
limitation - untestable concepts
Karl Popper argued it doesn’t meet the scientific criterion of falsifiability - concepts occur at the unconscious level so aren’t open to empirical testing
ideas based on subjective study of individuals (e.g Little Hans) so are difficult to generalise to establish general laws
