freud (individual difference) Flashcards
BACKGROUND
he believed sexual impulses are present in the new born child + they seek satisfaction through their own body
STAGES
1: ORAL - fascinated with putting
things in their mouth (thumb
sucking)
2: ANAL - keep excrement inside
them until they feel contractions
3: PHALLIC - castration anxiety for
playing with their penis + oedipus
complex
4: LATENCY - child interests diverted
to sports, friends, hobbies
5: GENITAL - move their sexual
desire onto other people who
resemble them
OEDIPUS COMPLEX
boys have unconscious infatuations with their mothers - rivalry with their father
CASTRATION
a boys fear after seeing a naked female for the first time, that he’ll lose his penis
PSYCHOANALYSIS
a form of therapy that’s intensive + long term + in which the aim is to alleviate distress by giving the patient insight into unconscious mental process
AIM
provide evidence for psychosexual development theory
CASE STUDY
a small group of participants are studied in depth : often the participants are unusual in some way
SAMPLE
single boy - pseudonym of ‘little Hans’
> studied around his 3rd bday for 2 yrs
> Vienna, Austria
> brought up with minimal force
> lively + cheerful baby
SAMPLING METHOD
self selected - his father volunteered for him
PROCEDURE
LETTERS:
> Hans’ father recorded details of
behaviours + convos + made his
own interpretations
> weekly letter to Freud
REPLIES:
> Freud replied with his own
interpretations of the behaviours +
conversations
> give guidance on what Hans’
father should be discussing with
Hans + what behaviours to look
out for
DATA COLLECTION
unstructured interview
PHOBIAS
> Hans has a phobia of horses biting
him - concerned his widdler would
be cut off
Hans was afraid when he was in
big bath his mother would let him
go + his head would go under the
water - Hans wished his sister
would die in the bath so he could
have his mum all to himself - he’d
be punished for this death wish
DREAMS/ FANTASIES
> Hans gave one of his imaginary
friends the name Lodi - Saffoldi =
sausage = resembling faeces
plumber removed his bum +
widdler with a pair of pincers +
replaced them with bigger
versions = resembles his dad -
desire to be like him
CONCLUSIONS
he learnt nothing new that he didn’t predict
> his psychosexual stages of
development theory
> oedipus theory
> phobias come from the unconscious
ADVANTAGE OF SAMPLE USED
Freud could collect lots of detailed info about Hans’ phobias developed + were then resolved by studying his case in depth
DISADVANTAGE OF SAMPLE USED
only studying one boy from Vienna - difficult to generalise the results to all children (especially as he had developed unusual phobias)
ADVANTAGE OF WAY OF COLLECTING DATA
they were able to find much more info about his thoughts + fantasies + dreams + phobias which couldn’t be possible through other methods - would’ve been less embarrassed to share these things with his father
DISADVANTAGE OF WAY OF COLLECTING DATA
little hans’ father may have asked deliberately leading questions + only reported certain convos which support Freud’s theory (or Hans may have lied himself)
ETHICS
UPHOLD:
> confidentiality - ‘little Hans’
> not deceived
> consent given by Hans’ father
BROKEN:
> psychological harm -
embarrassment by being
questioned by his father of
personal issues
INTERNAL RELIABILITY
not standardised - unstructured interview
EXTERNAL RELIABILITY
sample size too small - can’t assume all children go through this psychosexual development theory
