Freud Flashcards
What was Freuds theory of psychosexual development
Sexual impulses are present in a new born child and they seek satisfaction through their own body
What are the 5 stages of psychosexual development
Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latency
Genital
What is the oral stage
Child is fascinated with putting things in their mouth
Thumb sucking as a replacement for breastfeeding
What is the anal stage
During potty training when children keep excrement inside until they feel contractions
What is the phallic stage
Seeing differences in male and female bodies
Boys fear girls were castrated for playing with their penis
Oedipus complex arises
What is the latency stage
Child’s interest is diverted to sports, friendships and hobbies
What is the genital stage
Intensity of sexual desires increases
Move desire onto other people who resemble their parents
What is the Oedipus complex
Incestuous feelings felt by son towards his mother
Perceives father as a rival and is jealous of him
What is castration anxiety
A boys fear, after seeing a naked female, that he will lose his penis for playing with it too much
What is a phobia
An anxiety disorder characterised by a persistent fear out of proportion to the danger and a compelling desire to escape the situation
What is psychoanalysis
A form of therapy that is intensive and long term which aims to alleviate distress by giving the patient insight into unconscious mental processes
What was Freuds aim
To provide evidence for psychosexual development theory using psychoanalysis of dreams and fantasies of Little Hans with nervous disorder
What is a case study
Where a small group of participants are studied in depth
What was the sample
A single boy - Little Hans
Studied for 2 years from 3-5years
From Austria
Brought up with minimal forces
Lively, cheerful
What was the sampling method
Self selecting
What was the procedure
Hans’ father recorded details of his behaviour and conversations and sent weekly letters to Freud
Freud replied with his interpretations and would give guidance on what Hans’ father should be discussing
What data collection method was used
Self report
What were the three conclusions Freud found support for
His psychosexual stages of development theory
Oedipus complex - little Hans wanted his father out of the way so he could have his mother to himself
Phobias come from the unconscious - the fear of his father finding out about his desires displaced into a fear of horses
What were the strengths of his sample
He could collect lots of detailed information about how Hans phobias developed
He suggested Hans was a fairly typical child
What were the weaknesses of the sample
By only studying one boy. It is difficult to generalise the result to all children.
Hans father was a friend of Freud so the information might be biased
What are strengths of using self-report?
Freud was able to find much more information about his thoughts, fantasies dreams and phobias, which would not be possible to throw the methods
What were weaknesses of using self-report?
His father may have been asked deliberately leading questions and only reported certain conversations which supported Freud’s theory
What are strengths of using qualitative data
Much more detailed which provides more evidence that Freud could use and support of his theory
What are weaknesses of using quantitive data?
It can be subjective and therefore less scientific
Freud interpreted the behaviour to match his theory when they were more obvious explanations
What ethics were kept?
Identity was kept confidential by referring to him as his little Hans
He was not deceived in anyway
Consent was given by his father
Freud would argue that the process has helped Hans to overcome his phobia
What ethics were broken?
He might have suffered from some psychological harm and embarrassment by being questioned by his father about personal issues
How might the study have been ethnocentric?
The experiences of a middle class child in Austria are unlikely to be typical of children in less privileged parts of the world
Phobias are common in children across the world perhaps the filings can be applied to children more cultures
Why was the study not ethnocentric?
Phobias are common in children across the world perhaps the filings can be applied to children more cultures
Was the procedure internally reliable?
The procedure wasn’t very standardised as Hans father would just ask him questions and summarise these conversations to Freud before receiving guidance on what to discuss next
Was the procedure externally reliable?
It can’t be assumed that all children progressed through the psychosexual stage stages of development like little Hans did because the sample is too small
Freud would argue the findings are consistent with those from his adult patients
Was the procedure internally valid?
There are so much simpler and more obvious explanations for the behaviour showed and not sexual and so more acceptable
The use of leading questions could influence Hans responses
What’s the procedure externally valid?
The study focused on a very specific sample and says unlikely to represent how all children develop particularly not girls different age groups or other cultures
