Biological🧠 • Freud's Theory + Studies

Question 1

Where does the term psychodynamic come from?

Answer 1

From the greek word ‘psyche’ which means ‘the mind’

Question 2

What are the 3 core parts of the personality that Freud created?

Answer 2

• EGO
• SUPEREGO
• ID

Question 3

Who created the theory?

Answer 3

Sigmund Freud

Question 4

Within the psyche, what are the 3 ‘environments’ that the 3 core elements of the theory fit into?

Answer 4

• Concious
• Pre-concious
• Unconcious

Question 5

The lowest ‘envrionment’ often gets mislabeled as a similar term that infers a different level of conciousness, what is it and what is the correct terminology?

Answer 5

Often mislabeled as ‘subconcious’ which infers a degree of conciousness/ control which is not applicable to the ‘unconcious’ environment Freud is propsing in the theory
* Misconception = Subconcious
* Correct Terminology = Unconcious

Question 6

Where do the 3 core concepts of the theory fit in terms of the 3 proposed ‘environments’ in the Psyche?

Answer 6

• Concious= EGO
• Pre-concious= SUPEREGO
• Subconcious=ID

Question 7

What two elements make up the ID?

Answer 7

• THANATOS
• EROS

Question 8

What is the Thanatos?

Answer 8

The ‘death instinct’ present in the ID
The word is from Greek Origin and Thanatos = the personification of death

Question 9

What is the Eros?

Answer 9

The ‘life instinct’ present in the ID
The word is from Greek Origin and Eros is the Greek God of love & sex

Question 10

What is the ID’s purpose & what is it attempting to do + what body part is it similar to?

Answer 10

• The ID releases aggressive impulses that have originated within either the THANATOS or EROS
• It is attempting to reach the EGO with its impluses
• Its somewhat similar to the amygdala

Question 11

What is the SUPEREGO’s purpose & what is it attempting to do + what body part(s) is it similar to?

Answer 11

• The SUPEREGO manages and censors the aggressive impluses sent out by the ID via different stratagies called defence mechanisms
• provides moral standards through which the EGO operates
• It decides if not to let ID impulses through up to the concious EGO, almost like a gate of sorts
• Its somewhat similar to the prefrontal cortex in how it manages/ censors aggressive impluses and also similar to the synapse in regard to its gate-like properties, its a junction between concious and unconcious like how a synapse is a junction between neurons

Question 12

What is the EGO’s purpose & what is it attempting to do?

Answer 12

• The EGO is the only fully concious environment and it carries out actions/ impulses it recieves
• It acts on impluses sent to it by superego/ acts on any concious actions

Question 13

The ID disregards societal ________ and ____________

Answer 13

The ID disregards societal norms and empathy

Question 14

What is the main and primary flaw with Freud’s theory?

Answer 14

Its not empericle, its not measureable like something such as testosterone levels therefore it has no proof/ scientific validiy

Question 15

What diagram is Freud’s theory commonly asociated with?

Answer 15

An iceburg

Question 16

What are the 2 main reasons behind Freud’s theory being linked to a speicfic diagram?

Answer 16

• The lower side is hidden under the surface - reflective of unconcious elements
• The lower side is LARGER than the top - reflective of ID having many impulses and urges as its instinctual

Question 17

Label this diagram of Freud’s proposed human psyche

Answer 17

Question 18

What are the 3 keywords commonly asociated with each element of Freud’s proposed human psyche?

Answer 18

• EGO= reality
• SUPEREGO= morality
• ID= Instincts

Question 19

What are defense mechanisms?

Answer 19

Techniques used by SUPEREGO to subvert the aggressive impulses/ urgers deployed by the ID into a non-destructive, socially acceptable manner in order to achieve catharsis

Question 20

What are all 5 defence mechanisms?

Answer 20

• Repression
• Denial
• Projection
• Displacement
• Sublimation

Question 21

What is catharsis?

Answer 21

When impulses from Thanatos/ Eros (ID) are managed in a non-destructuve, socially acceptable way

Question 22

What is Repression?

(DM)

Answer 22

• When the ID’s impulses are repressed back into the unconscious region of the mind
• With this DM the person wont even realise what their ID is desiring

Question 23

What is Denial?

(DM)

Answer 23

• When the ID’s urges/ feelings are acted upon but the conscious mind refuses to accept what they are
• e.g. when someone doesnt realise how unpleasant they are being such as a person being homophobic but not realising/ accepting that in actuality

Question 24

What is Projection?

(DM)

Answer 24

• When the ID’s feelings are denied and the hostility is directed towards other people who actually seem to be acting on those feelings
• This includes being very judgemental/ negative towards people who are doing the things you secretly want to do
• e.g. person that identifies straight is deeply homophobic, but in reality is homosexual

Question 25

What is Displacement?

(DM)

Answer 25

• When the ID’s urges are acted upon, but they are directed at an alternate target, different from the one that catalysed the impulse from the ID
• Causing people to blame others for their problems
• e.g. coming home after being shouted at by teacher and being rude to your sibling

Question 26

What is Sublimation?

(DM)

Answer 26

• When the ID’s urges are acted upon but are transformed into something socially acceptable such as dance or artwork
• Sublimated behaviour may not entirely resemble the original unconscious desire but the rooted aggression may come out in Freudian Slips

Question 27

What are Freudian Slips?

Answer 27

• When the slight tinge of the ID’s aggresive impulses whilst being managed by the SUPEREGO slipped past into the concious ‘environment’ at the EGO and are slightly displayed in behaviour

Question 28

Give two examples of a Freudian Slip

Answer 28

• Cooking very aggressively
• Puching a punching bag aggressively

Question 29

Under what Defence Mechanism do Freudian Slips happen most frequently? + explanation

Answer 29

Sublimation as Freudian slips are somewhat accidental/ unintentional displays of the remnants of an aggressive impulse, they are most commonly seen through sublimation (deviating anger by transforming it into an action/ activity that is socuially acceptable e.g. cooking), for instance whilst cooking a person may stirr more aggressively, hence an freudian slip (within sublimation)

Question 30

What is the SUPEREGO looking to achieve?

Answer 30

Catharsis

Question 31

Fill in the blanks throughout this sentence

Answer 31

Question 32

What is the study we can use to contradict Freud’s Study?

Answer 32

Bushman et al.

Question 33

In what year was Bushman et al. conducted?

Answer 33

2012

Question 34

Explain the Methodology of Bushman et al. (2012)

Answer 34

• Student participants were taught Freud’s psychodynamic theory and then were told to write an essay on it
• 2 groups of students (Experimental & Control)
• Both groups’ essays were marked and the teacher feedback was insulting and rude
• Experimental group got an opportunity of catharsis via them getting to go to the gym adn use a punching bag (DM: Sublimation)
• Then both groups got to expell their anger, they both got to blow an airhorn at their teacher

Question 35

What were the roles for all participants?

Answer 35

• Actual participants were Students
• Confedorate played a Teacher

Question 36

What were the results of Bushman et al. (2012) ?

Answer 36

• The Experimental group showed more aggression by blowing their horns for a longer duration
• The Control group showed less aggresion by blowing thier horns for a shorter duration than the other group

Question 37

What can be said on the results of Bushman et al. when used as evidence for Freud’s psychodynamic theory?

Answer 37

• Bushman et al. doesn’t act as evidence for Freud, it actually acts against it
• We would expect the Experimental group to blow their horn for a shorter duration as they had an opportunity for catharsis via the DM sublimation in order to dispell thier anger before blowing the horn as the other group did but the study’s results showed the opposite and consequently contradicts Freud’s Theory rather than supporting it

Question 38

What does Bushman et al. ultimately showcase about Freud’s theory?

Answer 38

It showcases the unreliable nature of the Psychodynamic theory as it’s results display the exact opposite of what Freud’s theory implies - in reality aggression actually increased rather than decreasing due to catharsis THIS WAS NOT WHAT WAS IMPLIED IN FREUD’S THEORY HE IMPLIED THAT CATHARSIS DISPELLED ANGER IN A NON DESTRUCTIVE, SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE WAY