Freud Flashcards
Key Terms
Repression
When the ego blocks painful or disturbing memories from our conscious. We might not consciously remember child abuse, for example
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Projection
Taking aspects of your personality you don’t like and believing that others other people have those aspects. For example, a husband might believe their wife doesn’t listen when they actually are the ones who don’t listen
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Displacement
Directing feelings from an object to another. For example, slamming the door after an argument is a way of directing physical aggression (an unacceptable behaviour) away from a person into an object
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Denial
The refusal to accept a painful event, thought or feeling as if it didn’t exist
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Ego Anxiety
This is when our ego CANNOT resolve the conflict between the id and the superego. According to Freud, the inability to resolve these conflicts leads to mental health problems
What is Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development?
Freud believed that sexual impulses are present in the new born child and they seek satisfaction through their own body
Stages of Psychosexual Development
- Oral - The child is fascinated with putting things in their mouth
- Anal - This manifests usually during potty training when children keep their excrement inside them until they feel contractions
- Phallic - The child starts to see difference in male/female bodies
- Latency - The child’s interest is diverted to sports, friendships, hobbies etc.
- Genital - The intensity of their sexual desire increases but they move their desire onto other people who resemble them
Key Terms
Oedipus Complex
Incestuous feelings supposedly felt during the Phallic stage by a son towards his mother, as well as the associated jealousy felt towards a father who is perceived as a rival
Key Terms
Castration Anxiety
Part of the Oedipus complex: a boy’s fear, after seeing a naked female for the first time, that he will lose his penis
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Phobia
An anxiety disorder characterised by persistent fear out of proportion to the danger & a compelling desire to escape the situation
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Psychoanalysis
A form of therapy that is intensive and long-term and in which the aim is to alleviate distress by giving the patient insight into unconscious mental processes
Aim
To provide evidence for psychosexual development theory using psychoanalysis of dreams and fantasies of a child ‘Little Hans’ with nervous disorder
Key Terms
Case Study
Where a small group of participants are studied in depth; often the participants are unusual in some way
Sample
Freud’s sample was a single boy who was given the pseudonym of ‘Little Hans’. He was:
* Studied from the time around his 3rd birthday for approximately two years (1906-1908)
* From Vienna, Austria
* Brought up with ‘minimal force’
* Described as a lively, cheerful baby from the time Freud met him before the study
Sampling Method
Self-selecting - Freud put out a call asking for friends and supporters to send information about their children’s development
Procedure
- Letters - Hans’ father recorded details of Hans’ behaviours and conversations, and made his own interpretations. He would then send these in a weekly letter to Freud
- Replies - Freud replied with his own interpretations of the behaviours and conversations, and would give guidance on what Hans’ father should be discussing with Hans, and which behaviours to look out for
Data Collection Method
Self-report - Hans’ father was asking him questions about his dreams and phobias
Findings
Fear of Horses
- Phobia - Little Hans required treatment for a serve fear of horses in January 1908. He has previously heard someone say “don’t put your finger to the white horse or it’ll bite you”
- Freud’s explanation - The horse represented Little Han’s Father. The muzzle was similar to Little Han’s fathers mustache and beard and the blinkers reminded him of the glasses his father would wear. The suggestion was also made that this fear related his Little Hans having a fear of castration
Findings
The Bath
- Phobia - Hans admitted he was scared that his mother would let go of him and his head would go under water. His father suggested it was because he had been naughty and his mother did not love him anymore. He also said that Hans wished that his mother would let go of his sister Hanna when she was in the bath
- Freud’s Explanation - Links to the Oedipus complex and the need to have his mothers attention all to himself
Findings
Giraffe Fantasy
- Fantasy - Hans climbed into his parents bed and told them 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. It then stopped calling out and I sat on top of the crumpled one”
- Freud’s Explanation - The crumpled giraffe represented his mother and the large giraffe represented his father. Links back to the Oedipus complex and how by sitting on top of the crumpled giraffe this suggested some sexual desire for his mother
Findings
Imaginary Family
- Fantasy - Hans’ anxiety had almost completely cleared by the end of April 1908. He was playing with his imaginary children and explained to his father that he was the children’s daddy, his mother was their mother and Hans’s father was their granddaddy
- Freud’s Explanation - Hans had resolved the conflict by no longer seeing his father as a rival. He had found a role for him as the grandad figure
Findings
The Plumber
- Fantasy - Hans had a fantasy that a plumber came and removed his behind and his widdler with a pincer. The plumber then gave him a new widdler and behind. When asked, Hans said he wanted to be like his dad. Hans’ father’s interpretation of this was that the plumber was giving him a bigger widdler
- Freud’s Explanation - Freud interpreted it as Hans now identifying with his father and overcoming the Oedipus complex
Conclusions
Freud concluded that he learned nothing new from the study, and it just provided evidence for:
* Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development
* Oedipus Complex - Little Hans wanted his father ‘out of the way’ so that he could have the affections of his mother all to himself
* Phobias come from the unconscious - The fear of his father finding out about his desires was displaced into a fear of horses.
Evaluation
What were the strengths and weaknesses of the sample?
Strengths:
* Freud could collect lots of detailed information about how Hans’ phobias developed and were then resolved by studying his case in depth
* Practical advantages - Easy to manage just one child
Weaknesses:
* By only studying one boy from Vienna, it is difficult to generalise the results to all children (especially as he had developed an unusual phobia)
* As Hans’ father was a friend of Freud’s the interpretations and information reported might be biased
Evaluation
What were the strengths and weaknesses of the self-report method?
Strengths:
This meant Freud (and Hans’ father) was able to find much more information about Hans’s thoughts, fantasies, dreams and phobias which would not be possible through other methods
Weaknesses:
Little Hans’ father may have asked deliberately leading questions and only reported certain conversations which support Freud’s theory (or Hans may have lied himself)
What were the strengths and weaknesses of the qualitative data findings?
Strengths:
* Much more detailed which provided more evidence that Freud could use in support of his theory
* Can’t study the unconscious any other way than through descriptions and quotes
Weaknesses:
* Qualitative data can be subjective and therefore less scientific. Freud interpreted the behaviour to match his theory when there were more obvious explanations
Evaluation
What ethical guidelines were kept or broken?
Kept:
* Confidentiality - Tried to keep his identity confidential by referring to him as ‘little Hans’
* Deception - Not deceived in any way
* Consent - Consent given by Hans’ father
* Protection from Harm - Freud would argue the process helped Hans overcome his phobia
Broken:
* Protection from Harm - He may well have suffered from some psychological harm and embarrassment by being questioned by his father about personal issues
* Confidentiality - We’ve since learned ‘Hans’ was called Herbert Graf
Evaluation
Was the study 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 findings can be applied to children from all cultures.
Evaluation
Reliability
Internal:
* The procedure wasn’t very standardised - Hans’ father would just ask him questions and summarise these conversations to Freud before receiving guidance on what to discuss next
External:
* The sample is too small to show any consistent effects
* Freud would argue the findings are consistent with those from his adult patients
Evaluation
Validity
- Internal (interpretations) - There are some much simpler and more obvious explanations for the behaviours shown, that are not sexual, and so more acceptable
- Internal (self-report) - The use of leading questions which could have influenced Hans’ responses
- External (population) - The study focused on a very specific sample and so is unlikely to represent the how all children develop, particularly not girls, different age groups and other cultures
