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Psychology AS Studies > Freud - Analysis Of A Phobia > Flashcards

Freud - Analysis Of A Phobia Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the research design?

A

Longitudinal study

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2
Q

Name 3 changes

A

1: Analyse a different person such as a female
2: Do interviews with Hans in home environment
3: Freud should have seen Little Hans instead of relying on letters from his father.

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3
Q

Aim

A

To support Freuds ideas about the origins of phobias and the fact they are often influenced by unconscious forces.

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4
Q

Sample

A

Little Hans.
5 year old boy
Little Hans was suffering from anxiety that was seen to cause a number of phobias.

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5
Q

Main features of this case

A

1: Little Hans was very interested in his penis and his mother threatened to cut it off when caught masturbating
2: Little Hans resented his sister and developed a fear of the bath
3: Little Hans had a fear of white horses biting him which occurred after hearing his father give a warning about horses and seeing a horse and carriage overturn. The fear later generalise to loaded carts and buses.
4: Little Hans expressed anxiety that his mother would desert him
5: Little Hans reported frequent fantasies

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6
Q

What did Hans want to do?

A

Fantasties about his mother and wanted to sexually posses her.

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7
Q

How was the data collected?

A
  • Through observations of Little Hans and conversations with Hans conducted by Hans father and sent to Freud via letter
  • Interviews between Freud and Little Hans
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8
Q

Strengths of data collection

A
  • It allowed in depth study to be gathered about Hans’ fears, dreams and fantasies
  • Hans was likely to be less stressed by his father asking questions so have answered willingly
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9
Q

Weaknesses of data collection

A
  • His father was a follower of Freud so he may have asked leading questions to get answers to support Freuds theories
  • Hans questioned by his father rather than a neutral researcher so emotional involvement may have influenced what he said
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10
Q

What is the Oedipus complex?

A

1: During the phallic stages of development a boy subconsciously wants to sexually posses his mother
2: He recognises there is a competition with his father
3: He wants his father out of the way because he fears if his fathers finds out this desires he will be castrated
4: Resolves this conflict by identifying with his father and adopting his values and behaviours

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11
Q

Procedure of this case study

A
  • Freuds analysis was indirect as almost all interviews and observations were conducted by Little Hans father. He then corresponded (also with his own interpretations) and discussed the case with Freud.
  • Treatment involved inferring the unconscious causes of Hans behaviour through interpretation and decoding of psychoanalytic symbols.
  • Little Hans was then confronted with the unconscious causes of his behaviour and his hidden motivations were consciously discussed to help him resolve these issues. Freud gave directions of how to deal with the situation.
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12
Q

What was Hans father?

A

A friend and supporter of Freud

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13
Q

How many times did Freud meet Little Hans?

A

Twice.
Once= Therapeutic session.
Other= Social visit to deliver a present

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14
Q

What were the stages of psychosexual development?

A

Oral (0-2) - main source of pleasure = mouth, lips, tongue. ID dominates.
Anal (2-3) - ego starts controlling ID. Some pleasure from playing with genitals. Pleasure associated with same sex parent leading to the Oedipus complex and Electra complexes. ID demands ego tries to satisfy ID, and superego tries to impose moral choices.
Phallic (3-7) - Oedipus and Electra identification with same sex parents and loss of interest in opposite sex. ID, ego and superego continue t complete.
Latency (7-11) - none
Genital (11 onwards) - increasing concern with adult ways of experiencing sexual pleasure.

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15
Q

What was the study used by Freud to do?

A

Used by Freud to support his ideas about the origins of phobias and his belief that they are often influenced by unconscious forces.
Also used to support his ideas on psychosexual development and the Oedipus complex, and the effectiveness of psychoanalytical therapy.

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16
Q

What stage is the Oedipus complex in?

A

Phallic stages

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17
Q

What is psychosexual development?

A

Human beings, from birth, possess an instinctual libido (sexual energy) that develops in five stages.

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18
Q

What is the research method?

A

Case study

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19
Q

What are Hans Phobias?

A

1: Afraid of horses
~ white horse that would bite
~ black bits around mouth and dark circles around its eyes.
2: His mother would let him go in the bath.

20
Q

What were Freuds interpretations of Little Hans phobias?

A
  • Comes from seeing a white horse fall down in street/hearing a girl told by her father not to touch because the horse could bite
  • Subconcious fear of horses as blacks around horses mouth and blinkers worn over eyes REPRESENTED his fathers black moustache and glasses
  • Hans mother would let him go in the bath and he would be separated from his mother
21
Q

Why did his fear of horses symbolise little Hans’ father?

A
  • Hans subconsciously experiences the Oedipus complex so it nourished his jealous and hostile wishes against his father
  • The fear that the horse would bit him represented a fear that his father might castrate him for Little Hans wanting his mother to himself.
22
Q

What were Little Hans’ dreams and fantasties?

A
  • Giraffe Daydream
  • Plumber fantasy 1
  • Plumber fantasy 2
  • Parenting fantasy
23
Q

Describe his giraffe daydream.

A

Big giraffe and crumpled one.
Big giraffe called out as Little Hans took the crumpled giraffe one away.
Then it stopped calling out.

24
Q

Explanation of the giraffe daydream.

A 
A re-enactment of what happened in the morning when Hans climbed into bed with his parents.
The father (big giraffe) objected and called out as Hans took crumpled giraffe (mother away).
By taking the crumpled one away from the big giraffe it was showing his which to have his mother all to himself.
25
Q

Describe Plumber fantasy 1.

A

~Hans was in the bath a plumber came and unscrewed it.

~Then took a big borer and stuck it in his stomach.

26
Q

Explanation of plumber fantasy 1.

A

Plumber equates to Hans father with his big ‘borer’ (penis) with which he bored Hans and put him in his mothers womb.

27
Q

Describe plumber fantasy 2.

A

~The plumber came and took away Hans’ BEHIND AND WIDDLER with a pair of pliers
~Replaced them with larger ones.

28
Q

Explanation of plumber fantasy 2.

A

Hans’ smaller bottom and widdler are replaced by bigger ones (like father), indicating that Hans wanted to be like his father and was coming towards the end of the Oedipus stage.

29
Q

Describe the parenting fantasy.

A

Hans became the father of his imaginary family.
Hans’ mother was their mother, therefore Hans’ wife.
Hans father was their grandfather.

30
Q

Explanation of the parenting fantasy.

A
  • Hans sexual desires for his mother are apparent as he fantasises about being married to her and having children with her
  • His fear of his father being removed as he is displayed to the role of grandfather
31
Q

Results of this study.

A

1: Little Hans was not aware of the motivations of his behaviour (unconscious determinism) and was in phallic stage of psychosexual development.
2: The analysis revealed his anxieties about his mother, and loaded carts and buses were due to the Oedipus complex.
3: His fear of being bitten by horses was due to the unconscious fear of castration by his father.
4: His fantasies were the resolution of the Oedipus complex.
5: Following psychoanalysis, Little Hans overcame his disorders.

32
Q

Conclusions.

A

> Psychoanalytic techniques were used to reveal Little Hans’ hidden motivations
He was able to overcome his phobias and anxieties by acknowledging his feelings of resentment to his father and sister, identifying with his father and ceasing to desire his mother
Study used to support Freud’s ideas concerning unconscious determinism, psychosexual development, the Oedipus complex,the cause of phobias and psychoanalytic theory.

33
Q

What were the psychoanalytic methods?

A
  • Dream analysis

- Interpretation and decoding of psychoanalytic symbols

34
Q

Qualitative and Quantitative data.

A

Analysis produced much detailed qualitative data.

There is little quantitative data- no measure,net data and no statistical analysis is performed.

35
Q

Why may the data may not be considered as valid?

A
  • Freud was 3rd Party, therefore there was a high chance of misinterpreting what’s Hans’ father had reported.
  • Leading questions may have been asked by Hans father as he was a supporter of Freud and could have asked questions to favour his theories.
  • Hans father may not have reported everything to Freud as he may not have want de to show his son in a bad light.
36
Q

2 strengths of the case study method in this study.

A
  • Allows detailed descriptions of behaviours of interest
    The study was able to gain detailed information on little Hans which supported ideas on psychosexual development, Oedipus complex and effectiveness of psychoanalytic therapy.
  • Longitudinal method
    This method allows the researcher to gather qualitative data. This enabled in depth information about behaviours and experiences of an individual eg. Freud gained lots of in depth data about Hans fear of horses, mother would go away, bath, buses and furniture vans.
37
Q

2 weaknesses of the case study method in this study.

A
  • Information is rarely generalisable to the wider population as its only concerned with one individual. Hans’ fears and phobias specifically related to Hans and his fear of horses. This may not be the me as none else’s.
  • this method is prone to researcher bias. Freud may have purposefully or unintentionally misinterpreted the information on Little Hans to support his ideas about the psychosexual development, the Oedipus Complex and the effectiveness of psychoanalytic theory. Perhaps some of the interpretations were made because the father was preoccupied with matters that were sexual or physical.
38
Q

Hans and psychosexual development

A

Hans was not aware of the motivations of his behaviour.

In phallic stages of psychosexual development.

39
Q

What is your libido?

A

It is your sex drive

40
Q

What is castration anxiety?

A

Little Hans was afraid of being castrated by a horse (biting off widler)

41
Q

Controls in this study

A
  • This study is not well controlled and lacks objectivity as analysis was conducted second-hand through the father.
  • All the data Freud received was interpreted in the light of psychoanalytic theory. In response to criticisms Freud argued that psychoanalysis is not trying to prove anything and is ‘not a scientific investigation but a therapeutic measure.
42
Q

What are the confounding variables?

A
  • Subjective and biased observations by father
  • Little Hans aware of his fathering observing him, therefore his behaviour may have been affected by demand characteristics.
43
Q

Ethics

A

There are necessary ethical considerations when confronting a young child about their behaviours.
Discussing Little Hans unconscious motivations may have increased his anxiety, especially as analysis and therapy were conducted by his father.

44
Q

What level of ecological validity was there in this study?

A

There was reasonable ecological validity.

Little Hans’ behaviour was assessed in his natural environment rather than artificial lab conditions.

45
Q

How useful is this research?

A

Freud uses this case study to support psychoanalytic theory and concepts, yet this is the only study he made of a child.
There are also many criticisms of the psychoanalytic method (controls, confounding variables and ethics).
Other explanations of his behaviour are more credible eg. Bowlby’s attachment theory and classical conditioning.

46
Q

Subjectivity of the study

A

Contact with the aortic impact over time may well lead to extreme subjectivity.
This case study was even more subjective as Little Hans was being treated by his father, therefore there was emotional involvement.

47
Q

How does Hans resolve his subconscious conflict?

A

He identifies with his father and imitates his behaviour.

Psychology AS Studies (15 decks)

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