Freud (1909) - Little Hans

Question 1

Freud - Background

Answer 1

• Stages of psychosexual development
• Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
• The Oedipus/Electra complex forms part of the phallic stage (at around age 3)

Question 2

Freud - Aim

Answer 2

• To discover evidence to support the Oedipus complex and displacement theories

Question 3

Freud - Background to Little Hans

Answer 3

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Question 4

Freud - Research Method

Answer 4

• Case study
• Longitudinal - documents developments in Hans’ fears from when he was 3-5 years old; allowed Freud to link his findings to his psychosexual stages of development
• Data gathered by Hans’ father by regularly observing and questionning Hans (self-report), which he fed back to Freud

Question 5

Freud - Findings: Horses

Answer 5

• Hans was said to have been afraid of horses - Freud linked this fear to having been frightened by a large penis
• Freud suggested that Hans’ fear of horses was actually a fear of his father
• The black around the horses’ mouths and the blinkers in front of their eyes were symbols for his father’s moustache and glasses
• He was fearful of his father because he was experiencing the Oedipus complex

Question 6

Freud - Findings: Giraffe dream

Answer 6

• Big giraffe in the room and a crumpled one - the big one called out because Hans took the crumpled one away from it
• It stopped calling out and Hans sat down on top of the crumpled one

Question 7

Freud - Findings: Plumber fantasy

Answer 7

• Hans described how a plumber came and first removed his bottom and widdler and game him another one of each, but larger
• This was taken to mean that Hans was given a bigger backside and widdler like his father’s

Question 8

Freud - Findings: Parenting fantasy

Answer 8

• In which Hans was married to his mother and was playing with his own children
• In this fantasy he promoted his father to the role of grandfather
• This was interpreted as him now identifying with his father and having passed through the Oedipus complex

Question 9

Freud - Conclusions

Answer 9

• Hans’ case study provided support for his theory of psychosexual development and his suggestion that boys in the phallic stage experience the Oedipus complex
• His concept of unconscious determinism was also supported, which believes that people are not consciously aware of the causes of their behaviour
• He also used Hans’ case study as proof that his psychoanalytic therapy was a genuine way of treating unconscious conflicts