Freud

Question 1

Freud aim

Answer 1

To document Little Hans and provide evidence for his psychoanalytical theory, particularly to support his theory on the phallic stage of psychosexual development

Question 2

Freud ps

Answer 2

1 boy from Austria
‘Little Hans’
Aged 3-5

Question 3

Freud procedure

Answer 3

Little Hans father gathered data about hans fears phobias and fantasies
Through conversation, questions and observation
He then wrote letters to Freud
(Important to note he was a supporter of Freud so biased… serious dick riding)

Question 4

Little Hans castration anxiety ?

Answer 4

Hans mother caught Hans playing with his ‘widdler’ (freaking hate that word so much)
She told him to stop or the doctor would cut it off! ✂️✂️✂️
I guess she was a bit of a freak bitch handcuffs leashes …

Question 5

Plumber fantasy

Answer 5

Little Hans fantasised that a plumber had come and removed his bottom and iddy biddy widdler and replaced then with bigger ones
Freud interpreted this as Hans now identifying with his father

Question 6

Giraffe fantasy

Answer 6

Little Hans took the crumpled giraffe away from the bigger giraffe, which caused it to call out. Hans then sat on the crumpled giraffe.
Freud interpreted this as Hans’s feelings when coming into his parents bed in the morning, and taking his mum away from his dad, supporting Oedipus complex

Question 7

Parenting fantasy

Answer 7

Hans told his dad about his fantasy of becoming a parent with his mother as the children’s mother, and his dad as the grandfather.
Freud interpreted this as supporting the Oedipus complex.

Question 8

What were Freud’s stages of psychosexual development

Answer 8

Oral Stage (Birth – 1 year)
Anal Stage (1 – 3 years)
Phallic Stage (3 – 5/6 years)
Latency Stage (5/6 – Puberty)
Genital Stage (Puberty – Adulthood)

He’s gen such a pedophile perv

Question 9

Hans’s horse phobia

Answer 9

Hans developed a fear of horses, particularly white ones with a black snout and blinkers and ones pulling carts.

This is linked to 2 incidents.
1. Overhearing a father say to his child “don’t put your finger to the white horse or it will bite you”
2. Watching a horse with carriage fall over and kick its legs about - loud noise of hooves on cobble and the horse died

This was not enough for Freud. He had to be disgusting. After many letters were exchanged, Freud concluded that the boy was afraid that his father would castrate him for desiring his mother. Freud interpreted that the horses in the phobia were symbolic of the father, and that Hans feared that the horse (father) would bite (castrate) him as punishment for the incestuous desires towards his mother.

Question 10

Strengths of Freud’s study

Answer 10

Useful - helped create talking therapies
Ethical - Little Hans was protected from harm as the data was just gathered by conversations with his father

Question 11

Weaknesses of Freud’s study

Answer 11

Unfalsifiable - not scientific as they can’t be proved wrong
Bias - Hans’s father was a Freud fanboy, so potentially only reported incidents that support Freud’s work, and Freud’s interpretation is highly subjective
Generalisable - Hans was just one Austrian boy, so study can’t be generalised to other children with phobias