Freuds Theories Flashcards
Describe and evaluate slip of the tongue
Describe:
An error in speech or memory that happens because of interference of some unconscious wish, conflict or train of thought
The person can say or remember a word differently to what it was in reality
The newly remembered word can be analysed to state what is happening in a persons unconscious mind
Evaluation:
STRENGTHS:
-patient is made aware. Of their unconscious thoughts or desires which may have been affecting their behaviour
-may explain why they’ve been saying or remembering incorrect things
WEAKNESSES:
- patients must remember these moments and report them to the therapist
- no scientific evidence that slip of the tongue is linked to unconscious thoughts
- is based on Freudian theories and the individual therapists opinion of the unconscious so isn’t reliable
Describe and evaluate dream analysis
Describe:
Freud believes to stop external and internal stimuli from waking a sleeper, dreams are made.
It is believed dreams hold unconscious desires which If understood correctly, could give a greater understanding
Evaluation:
STRENGTHS:
Everyone has dreams so there is lots of information to be gathered
WEAKNESSES:
- therapists interpret the data subjectively so different people may come to different conclusions
- no scientific evidence
Describe and evaluate free association
Describe:
- Patients are invited to say whatever comes to their minds, and to not sensor their thoughts
- They’re required to be honest
- The technique is intended to let the patient learn more about what they think and feel in there unconscious and preconscious
- Links thoughts to make meaning
evaluation:
STRENGTHS:
-patient is in control of the session as they can choose to share the thoughts they’re comfortable with and leave at any point
- the environment the therapy takes place in is not threatening and they don’t have to worry about being ridiculed
-has been found to work in case studies e.g. Anna O
WEAKNESSES:
- the therapist interprets the info subjectively so different therapist could come to different
conclusions
-little scientific evidence that free association is a effective treatment for mental health problems
- it is based on Freudian theories of the unconscious that cannot be tested and so are unreliable
What is neuroses
Relatively mild mental disorder that involves symptoms of stress and obsessive behaviour
What is psychoses
Severe mental disorder in which thoughts and emotions are damaged so contact is lost with external reality
What is hysteria
Complex neurosis where psychological conflict turns physical causing symptoms e.g. Amnesia, blindness
What are the 3 parts of personality and what do they do
- Id wants satisfaction
- ego juggles demand
- superego =conscience
When do we develop each part of the personality
Id: born with, demanding part
Ego: develops at around 18 months, works out how to satisfy itself
Superego: develops at around 4 years of age (phallic stage), works on morality (conscience)
How do the 3 parts of the personality work together
Ego has to make peace between the Id and the superego and find balance between the conflicting demands.
Ego may do this by repressing memories or using defence mechanisms
What is the ego ideal?
Idea people have of what they should be like , influenced by parents and society
What is the conscious mind
-accessible
-we are currently aware of
-e.g. When answering the exam question Freuds theory is in your conscious
Or
-e.g. We can remember what we dreamed about
What is the preconscious mind
Includes information that can be difficult to recall but possible if thought about
Info we make ourselves aware of
E.g. Remembering things about your childhood after seeing an old photo
What is The unconscious mind
This is info that we aren’t aware of and we can’t access
E.g. Dreaming
What is repression
When thoughts are kept in the unconscious mind and are not allowed into the conscious mind.
Aka motivated forgetting
Not done consciously
E.G.
When something tragic happens (abuse) they do not deny something happened but they do not remember it
What is denial
There is something traumatic happening but the individual denies it (acts although it hasn’t happened)
This protects the individual from unwanted thoughts
What is projection
When unacceptable thoughts are dealt with by saying it’s someone else’s thoughts
E.g. Not loving ones father may be projected to no loving a sibling
What is displacement
When urges that are unacceptable to the individual concerned are dealt with by turning them into something else
E.g. Anger may be turned to aggression in sport
What is regression
In order to cope with something stressful, a person reverts back to child-hood behaviour
E.g. Thumb sucking
Evaluation of defence mechanisms
STRENGTHS:
+ there are everyday real life examples of such things occurring e.g. Victims of crime etc can’t remember anything about the event (repression)
+denial is used in everyday language therefore there is validity in th concept
+there is evidence to support the claim that defence mechanisms keep urges in the unconscious and that once revealed to the conscious the problems stop
WEAKNESSES:
- difficult to test the idea of defence mechanisms scientifically as they involve the unconscious which cannot be measured
- not measurable
- needs interpreting and so can be subjective
Evaluation of Freud’s theory and the psychodynamic approach
STRENGTHS:
+ Freuds new ideas at the time gave solutions and treatments to people with health problems
+ the use of case studies allows valid data to be gathered and indepth analysis to take place
- the findings are not generalisable because the data is about individuals and are specific to them
- the methods aren’t scientific because they require interpretation and so it is difficult to achieve objectivity
- the sample is biased as it isn’t generalisable
- theory is limited as it focuses only on psychosexual development
Name the psychosexual stages and the age ranges involved
- ORAL STAGE: birth to 18 months
- ANAL STAGE: 18 months to 3-5 years
- PHALLIC STAGE: from 4 years old
- LATENCY PERIOD: 6-8 years old to puberty
- GENITAL STAGE: puberty to death
Psychosexual stages and their area of pleasure
Oral = mouth so like feeding and sucking Anal = anus so enjoy nappy changing Phallic= genitals so primitive concepts develop (Oedipus complex) Latency= no focus on any part of the body more focus in school and sport Genital= pleasure at genitals and begin to make relationships: ability to love and work
Aim of the Little Hans study
- monitor the development of a child up to the age of 4/5 years
- details about normal child development to use as evidence for the Oedipus complex
- find out why Hans had a fear of horses
Procedure of Little Hans
- Case study
- uses dream analysis, free association, slip of the tongue and observation
- info given by Hans’ father, a friend and follower of Freud and his theories
- father reported via letters
- Freud only met Hans a couple of times
- Hans was encouraged to tell his father things he wanted Freud to know
- Freud gave directions of how to deal with the situations based in his interpretation of the fathers reports
Finding of Little Hans study
- Mainly based on qualitative data
- Hans appeared to have an early interest in ‘widdlers’ - noticed mother n baby sis didn’t have one
- when he had his hand on his widdler his mum threatened to chop it off
- dreamt about him and a girl sharing widdling also dreamt about his bottom and having children and wiping their bottoms
- Hans father was away a lot so he slept in his mothers bed a lot, when his father wasn’t away Hans wished he was dead
- his mother bathed him
- Hans developed a fear of white horses with black marks on the eyes and mouth, he was scared they would bite him, he wouldn’t go out if there was one in the street
- Hans was jealous of his baby sister
- Hans was afraid of going underwater
- dreamt of a plumber taking his bottom and widdler away and bringing him new ones
- Little Hans played with dolls- him as the father, his mother as the mother, his dad as the grandfather
Conclusion of Little Hans
- Hans talking about widdlers and asking to see other peoples was him comparing and trying to understand himself
- dream about wiping bottoms = wanted to help children as Hans remembered he enjoyed it when he was younger
- focus on wanting to be with his mother and wanting his father dead = Oedipus complex
- phobia of horses was really a fear of his father black mouth was moustache and eyes was his glasses
- fear of going underwater because he wanted his sister to drown so he could have his mother to himself
- dream about plumber taking his widdler was to replace it with a bigger one
- playing with dolls allowed Hans to get over wanting his dad dead
Evaluation of Little Hans
STRENGTHS:
+ the case study method was the only way of gathering the data in detail, also used free association, slip of the tongue etc. using more than one method increases reliability
+ Freud tried only to use data little Hans told him himself
+ Freud had a lot of data collected on Little Hans which could be reanalysed
WEAKNESSES:
- the study cannot be replicated due to it being carried out on a unique individual so cannot be generalised
- the parents were followers of Freud and interpreted the data before passing it on to him. –They were selective in their attention to behaviour and so could be considered bias making the study less valid
- little Hans knew he was being studied and asked his parents to tell Freud things–> being aware of the study may of affected his behaviour
- there are other explanations to little Hans behaviour, Freuds interpretation isn’t based on scientific fact and so is subjective
- the concepts Freud talked about e.g. The Oedipus complex aren’t testable or measurable and so not scientific
Aims of Dibs case study
- Help dibs (a small child who was locked in his own world) to find a way to express himself and to unlock his personally
- see if play therapy would help dibs
Procedure of Axlines study on Dibs
Axline was Dibs therapist because Dibs didn’t interact with teachers/children at school
1) Axline watched Dibs in the classroom and took him to the playroom to see how he reacted
Dibs mother didn’t want to be interviewed however gave consent for everything else e.g. Observation, play therapy
2) Axline and dibs had weekly play sessions (had a variety of toys and a one way mirror window which had researchers behind) where he was observed
3) dibs mother visited Axline –> data was drawn from this
- Axline didn’t ask questions, she waited for input from people who knew dibs
- other researchers took notes and recorded–> Axline didn’t interpret what he said/did
- book was published using some of dibs words
Findings from Axlines study on Dibs
- 5 when the study started and 6 when it ended
-had younger sister and parents who he lived with
-dibs parents didn’t want children -> felt dibs had ruined their lives and they didn’t know how to bring up children
-no problem with younger sister but she was sent away to boarding school because of dibs behaviour
-dibs behaviour was hard to manage –> he fought physically when asked to do something e.g. Take his coat off - only rarely talked e.g. To say “no go home” –> not wanting to go home was a main difficulty
-at school he hid under desks and crawled round the edge of the classroom avoiding teachers/children
-teachers didn’t know if he could read or not
-through therapy they found he was very gifted and could read, spell and write at a high level
(Moved to a gifted and talented school) - main problems for dibs was excessive testing from mother and his fathers lack of love for him and pressure on him to not be stupid
- Axline did the opposite of test, she let him find himself
-during play therapy evidence was shown the importance of his relationship with his family
e.g. Dibs locked papa soldier away and buried him in the sandpaper. Also, dibs talked about not liking locked walls and doors
Conclusions of Axlines study on Dibs
- Axline avoided interpreting Dibs words so he could work through his feelings for himself
E.g. Dibs: “ they’re not shooting at you”. Axline: I understand they’re not shooting at me - no evidence of Oedipus complex as his father was horrible to him
- psychodynamic is a way of interpreting Dibs behaviour because the Id was overpowered by the superego –> ego should of been balanced but wasn’t and was full of anger and confusion
- disliked locked rooms because his father locked him in his room
- relationship with mum and dad improved when they started to show him more love and test him less
- catharsis: play therapy helped dibs to act out his fears and frustrations
Evaluation of Dibs study
STRENGTHS:
+ data was gathered from multiple sources e.g. Interviewed family members therefore reliable
+ Axline kept subjectivity low by not influencing his thoughts and feelings by repeating what dibs said instead of asking questions
+ multiple methods were used throughout the therapy e.g. Play therapy, observations this makes it more valid
+ researchers who analysed the data weren’t the one who recorded it which makes it more valid
+ qualitative data was found –> in depth
+ was a longitudinal case study and dibs new Axline well
+ ethical because consent was given by dibs parents
WEAKNESSES:
- ungeneralisable because it is unique to dibs experience and so cannot be applied to other people
- difficult to test reliability because Dibs will never be the same again so the study can’t be repeated
- results don’t fit Freudian theories exactly as dibs was conscious of his problems
