core studies- individual differences Flashcards
background of freud?
Freud was interested in the role of infant sexuality in child development.
The case therefore focused on little Hans’s psychosexual development.
Hans was in the phallic stage if development.
Oedipus complex
aim of freud?
Opportunity for Freud to develop his theory of infantile sexuality and the Oedipus complex. Also, to investigate the genesis of phobias
sample of freud?
Hans was 3 years old when the study started. Born in 1903 in Vienna Austria. Freud was friends with Hans’ parents.
research methods of freud?
Case study
Longitudinal from when has was 3-5 years old.
Observations made by Hans’s father who wrote weekly reports by letter to Freud about their conversations.
what is the widdler dream?
At three years old, Hans started to develop an interest in his ‘widdler’, and he started to masturbate. This caused his mother to threaten to send for Dr A. to cut it off. This made him fear the loss of his penis (castration anxiety)
Hans made 2 attempts to seduce his mother. 1st his mum was powdering around his penis, and he said, ‘why don’t you put your finger there?’ and she replied ‘it’s not proper’ with Hans replying ‘its great fun’ 2nd seduction happened when Hans climbed down into his mother’s bed one morning and said “Do you know what Aunt M said? He has got a dear little thingummy”.
what is the giraffe dream?
in the night there was a big giraffe in the room and a crumpled one. the big one called out because I took the crumpled one away from it. Then it stopped calling out and then I sat down on top of the crumpled one” The Big giraffe –the dad.
The crumpled giraffe – his mum or rather her genital organs. Showing a lust for his mother
where did the horse phobia come from?
In January 1908 Hans suddenly developed a fear of being bitten by horses and became afraid of going out into the street. It occurred when Hans had heard someone say “Don’t put your finger to the white horse or it’ll bite you” Freud believed this fear of the white horse was a fear of having his ‘widdler’ cut off. (Castration anxiety)
Hans was disturbed by what horses wear in front of their eyes and by the black round their mouths. Freud interpreted this as Hans having a fear of his father, with the horses’ blinkers being like his father’s glasses and their muzzle being like his father’s moustache. He admitted that he was also afraid of carts, furniture and buses because he was worried, they would all fall over. There was a possibility that Freud saw the Horses and his father and Hans wished that his father would fall down in the same way so he could have his mother to himself.
what was the defacation fear?
Hans had a fear of defecation and he had often been in the toilet with his mother when she ‘widdled’ or ‘lumfed’. Hans’ father believed this was a fear of defecation coming from his fear of heavily loaded carts from where the horse and cart fell over.
Hans was also grappling with where do babies come from? The ‘lumf’ represented the birth of a baby and children were lumfs.
To support this Hans invented the name ‘lodi’ for a child. From this the heavily loaded cart could represent the fear of his father but also his mother during childbirth.
Freud also believed that Hans’ phobia could trace back to the birth of his baby sister.
Hans also had a fantasy about becoming a father with his mother as his wife, and his father as a grandfather. Having children of his own with his mother showing how he wanted to be like his father and lust for his mother.
what was the plumber fantasy?
1st Hans recalled “I was in the bath and then the plumber came and unscrewed it. Then he took a big borer and stuck it into my stomach “Later that day he admitted that when he was in the big bath, he was afraid that his mother would let him go and that his head would go under the water. Hans’ father said, “Perhaps you’ve been naughty and thought she didn’t love you anymore?” Hans replied “Yes”. Hans’ father then asked, “when you were watching mummy give Hanna her bath, perhaps you wished she would let her go and she would fall in” – Hans replied “yes”. His fear of the bath was seen as a fear that he would be punished for the death wish he had towards his sister. Arising from a desire to have his mother to himself.
2nd “The plumber came; at first, he took away my behind with a pair of pincers; and then gave me another and then the same with my widdler” Hans also admitted “I’d like to have a moustache like yours and hair like yours.” The plumber fantasy was now interpreted as an overcoming of his castration complex.
results of freud?
Fear of horses= fear of his father
Widdler= Oedipus complex and castration anxiety
Giraffe= lust for mother
Becoming a father= Oedipus complex
Plumber= identifying with his father
conclusions of freud?
The study supported:
his theory of psychosexual stages and infant sexuality
his concept of the Oedipus complex
the nature of phobias and Freud’s theory that they are the product of unconscious anxiety placed onto external objects.
unconscious determinism- people aren’t aware of the causes of their behavior.
his use of psychoanalytic therapy to treat disturbed thoughts.
background of gould?
Robert Yerkes was interested in promoting psychology as a hard science. When America became involved in WW1 he combined his early ideas of inherited intelligence and the development of mental testing and developed the Army Alpha and Beta tests as a way of selecting recruits. These tests would produce objective results, proving psychology to be seen as a more rigorous science. however they were westernly biased
what is the aim of gould?
- examine the early history of intelligence testing.
-identify problems with specifically IQ tests.
-Bias in psychological theories on the inheritance of intelligence and the
-prejudice of a society which can remove the objectivity of intelligence testing. - ethical implications of research and using data to discriminate between people in suitability for occupation and even admission to a country.
method of Gould?
This study is not a piece of empirical research, but an extract from Gould’s book. Therefore, this is a review article that examines the history of Yerkes’ intelligence testing of recruits for the US army in WW1, The sample was 1.75 million US army recruits
Yerkes developed three types of intelligence test, two of which could be given to large groups and took less than an hour to complete.
Alpha Test was an 8 part test designed for literate recruits and included questions about number sequences, analogies and other questions. the test was criticized for being very culturally biased and included
