individual differences area Flashcards
according to the psychodynamic perspective, what are the assumptions about behaviour?
behaviour is determined by unconscious processes and the conflict of the tripartile personality
we lock away thoughts, feelings and memories which may threaten us in the unconscious mind as a defence mechanism
the conflict between the Id, Ego and Superego drives behaviour
what are the theories underpinning the psychodynamic perspective?
levels of consciousness
psychosexual stages of development
tripartite personality
ego defence mechanisms
methodology of the psychodynamic perspective?
Freud suggested that our unconscious finds ways to express the thoughts and feelings it holds and so talking therapies can help people explore conflicts in the unconscious
he also suggested dream analysis could also reveal conflicts in the unconscious as our worries and desired were expressed in dream content
what actually happens in our dreams is referred to as manifest content, whereas dream meaning is referred to as latent content
strengths of the psychodynamic perspective?
HELPS US IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR: Freud was the first to suggest that the unconscious mind plays a part in behaviour and thus has been used to explain why people develop disorders
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Freud’s theories about the unconscious mind driving behaviour lead to suggestions on how to treat disorders. Talking therapies form the basis of modern counselling as a way to access repressed thoughts
weaknesses of the psychodynamic perspective?
UNSCIENTIFIC: it is difficult to falsify studies in this area due to the focus on unconscious processes. The data collected tends to be subjective as it is down to the interpreter to find the meaning
USE OF CASE STUDIES: most of the research in this area (and therefore most of the data to support Freud’s theories) are case studies. It is difficult to apply the results from case studies as you cannot generalise them and they are open to researcher bias
who was Freud?
an Austrian neurologist who developed psychoanalysis theories and therapies related to the study of the unconscious mind. Most of his theories relate to the unconscious mind which contains our hidden fears and desires
what were Freud’s levels of consciousness?
THE CONSCIOUS: thoughts and perceptions we are currently aware of
THE PRECONSCIOUS: information that is accessible with some effort eg memories and knowledge
THE UNCONSCIOUS: not accessible information eg our fears, desires, phobias and fantasies
what was Freud’s Tripartite Personality Theory?
he theorised that the personality develops as we go through the psychosexual stages and that there are 3 elements to personality. These are conflicting forces which must be balanced for a person to behave ‘normally’.
what is the Id?
present from birth and is responsible for primitive desires with no rational or logical thought
it is impulsive, selfish and pleasure seeking
through our lives it acts as the devil on our shoulder
what is the Ego?
develops when we are 2-3 years old and is based on our interactions with others
it is more rational and realises instant pleasure is not always possible and so instead looks for a realistic strategy on how to achieve pleasure
mediates conflict between Id and Superego
what is the Superego?
acts as our conscience. It develops at 3-5 years old with the resolution of the Oedipus or Electra complex.
tells us what is right or wrong based on morals, values and social norms that we have internalised
what are Ego Defence Mechanisms?
if we experience things we cannot deal with we may use Ego Defence Mechanisms. These are psychological strategies we use to protect ourselves from guilt and anxiety. they include:
- denial (refusing to accept painful events)
- displacement (transferring ur anxiety onto something else
- repression (pushing thoughts out of the conscious into the unconscious
what happens at the oral stage?
occurs at 0-1 years old
the libido is focused on the mouth
a child seems pleasure from putting things in their mouth and they develop a sense of trust in their parent through oral stimulation
what happens if you don’t overcome the Oral Stage correctly?
the child may grow up to be a smoker, nail-biter or pen chewer
what happens at the anal stage?
happens at 1-3 years old
libido focused on the bowels
a child seems pleasure from bowel movements and bladder control as by doing this they are developing independence
what happens if the anal stage is not overcome correctly?
the child may have a messy/destructive personality or an obsessive and overly tidy personality
what is the phallic stage?
3-6yrs old
libido focused on the genitals
a child becomes aware of the difference in male and female genitals. the oedipus and electra complexes occur here
what happens if you don’t overcome the phallic stage correctly?
if the Oedipus/Electra compels is not resolved, the child can have issues with relationships in later life
what is the latency stage?
7-12 years
libido is dormant
sexual feelings are inactive and the child’s energy is focused on school, friends and hobbies
what happens if you dont overcome the latency stage correctly?
this stage is important for building communication skills and confidence. If this stage is not fulfilled then there may be issues in these areas in later life
what is the genital stage?
12+
libido is no longer dormant
the focus returns to sexual relationships but this time the focus is not on the parents and instead turns to people outside the family
when is the genital stage successful?
this stage is successful if all previous stages have been
what is the Oedipus Complex?
during the Phallic stage, a boy develops sexual desires for his mother and wishes to get rid of his father so that he can take his father’s place
the bit becomes worried that if his father discovers these feelings then his father will castrate him. The boys belief is supported by the fact that girls don’t have penises. The boy therefore develops castration anxiety
To resolve the Oedipus Complex, the boy must identify with his father by imitating him. This imitation beck es internalised and forms the boy’s Superego
what is the Electra Complex?
during the Phallic stage, a girl develops penis envy as they see that their father has a penis and they do not. They believe that their mother castrated them and so they grow to resent their mother
Due to the girls resentment of the mother, the girl develops an attachment to her father and wishes to have his baby. When the girl realises this is not possible she moves her focus to her mother who she imitates, resolving the Electra Complex.
This imitation becomes internalised and forms the girls Superego
aim of Freud?
aimed to conduct a case study which would provide supporting evidence for his theory of psychosexual development
sample of Freud?
Freud studied one Austrian boy who he referred to as ‘Little Hans’
The study began when Hans was 3 and continued until he was 5
research design of Freud?
longitudinal + case study
procedure of Freud?
Little Hand’ father was a follower of Freud who consented for Hans’ behaviour to be analysed by Freud
Little Hans’ father wrote to Freud relaying how his son had behaved, what his dreams had been about etc. Freud would then interpret this and relay back to Little Hans’ father
Freud only met with Little Hans once
what was the Bath Fantasy?
at 3.5 years old, Hans’ sister Hanna was born. Hans was jealous and wished his mother would let Hanna drown in the bath. He also developed a fear of bathing
what was Freud’s interpretation of the Bath Fantasy?
Freud interpreted this as Hans having a death wish agains his sister as he wanted his mother to himself. Hans’ fear of the bath was an expression of his fear of being punished for this death wish
conclusion of the Bath Fantasy?
evidence for the Oedipus complex, as it showed Hans’ love for his mother
what was Hans’ Castration Anxiety?
Hans’ mother caught Hans playing with his widdler. She told him to stop or the doctor would cut it off
Freud’s Interpretation of Castration Anxiety?
Hans began to fear that a doctor would cut his widdler off
conclusion of Castration Anxiety?
evidence for the Oedipus Complex as castration anxiety is one of the first steps
what was hans’ phobia of horses?
at around 4.5 years old, Hans became scared of white horses, particularly ones with black around their mouths. He was scared the horses would bite him
freud’s interpretation of hans’ phobia of horses?
freud said the horse represented Hans’ father who also had a dark beard. Hans had displaced his unconscious anxieties about his father and they surfaced as a fear of horses
conclusion of hans’ phobia of horses?
evidence for the Oedipus Complex as this showed Hans’ fear of his father
what was the giraffe dream?
Hans dreamt about a big giraffe ‘calling out’ because Hans had taken the crumpled giraffe away from it. Hans sat on the crumpled giraffe
interpretation of the giraffe dream?
Freud said the crumpled giraffe represented Hans’ mother and the big giraffe was the father objecting to Hans stealing his mother away
conclusion of the giraffe dream?
evidence for the oedipus complex as this showed Hans’ love for his mother
what was the Plumber fantasy?
Hans fantasised a plumber removed his bottom and widdler and replaced them with larger ones
interpretation of the plumber fantasy?
Freud said this was Hans’ beginning to identify with his father as he wanted a larger bottom and widdler like his father
conclusion of the Plumber Fantasy?
resolution of the oedipus complex
what was the parenting/marrying fantasy?
Hans fantasised about marrying his mother and playing father to their children. Hans’ father acted as the grandfather of these children
interpretation of the parenting / marrying fantasy?
Freud said Hans was making space for his father by including him. This is Hans’ way of identifying with his father
conclusion of the parenting/marrying fantasy?
resolution of the Oedipus complex
strengths of Freud?
the father gave consent = ethics
qualitative data from the letters = has more depth and detail
longitudinal study shows behaviour over time and the Oedipus complex
weaknesses of Freud?
sample is only 1 person so lacks population validity and is ethnocentric and andocentric
qualitative data is subjective
not confidential even tho a pseudonym was used as you can identify Little Hans as Herbert Graf
what is autism?
A lifelong developmental disability
with no cure
Someone with autism may have
problems with 3 main areas:
- social relationships: difficulties w non-verbal interaction eg eye contact and facial expressions
- social communication: cannot read between the lines in conversation
- social imagination: cannot understand the points of view of feelings of other
what was asperger’s?
was a form of autism and a diagnosis tended to mean someone was at the ‘higher end’ of the spectrum. people who ‘had aspergers’ supposedly had fewer communication issues than those with Autism. They also apparently had ‘above average intelligence’
this is no longer given as a diagnosis
what is the theory of mind?
one of the criteria for evaluating social imagination is the individual’s ability to understand that others may have different feelings and knowledge
what is the sally-anne test?
one way to assess Theory of Mind
involves two dolls called Sally and Anne
Sally had a box, Anne has a basket. Sally places a marble in her box, then leaves the room. Anne moves the marble to her basket.
The child is then asked where Sally will look for her marble when she returns. If the child has Theory of Mind they say box, if they don’t they say basket.
However the test only assesses Theory of Mind up to the age of 6, meaning adults without Theory of Mind could pass the Sally-Anne Test. The age limitation of a test is called the ceiling.
what was the Strange Stories test?
Happe (1994) designed a new test for Theory of Mind called the Strange Stories task. This task was more advances and tested understanding of things like white lies and figure of speech.
it was more advanced but had a ceiling of 9 years old and so could also be passed by adults without Theory of Mind
What was the Eyes Task?
Baron-Cohen created the Eyes Task to be used as a test of theory of mind in adults. The task involved looking at a photo of the eye region and then choosing between 2 words which could describe the eyes. The correct word was called the Target and the incorrect word called the Foil
As controls, all the pictures were 15 x 10cm, all monochrome, all taken from magazines and showed the eyes from above the eyebrows to the bridge of the nose
what is tourette’s syndrome?
a neurological condition characterised by involuntary and uncontrollable sounds and movements called Tics
how are tourette’s and autism similar?
both develop in childhood
both are developmental disorders
both associated with abnormalities in the front of the brain
aim of Baron-Cohen?
to investigate a new test for Theory of Mind in adults (the Eyes Task) as previous Theory of Mind tests were created for children
sample of Baroh-Cohen condition 1?
Autism/Asperger’s
16 (13 males, 3 females)
normal intelligence level
recruited by adverts in National Autistic Society
magazine
mainly volunteer sampling
sample of condition 2 in Baron Cohen?
‘normal’
50 (25 male, 25 female)
normal intelligence
Randomly drawn from population of
Cambridge (excluded university
workers)
random sampling
sample of Baron Cohen condition 3
tourettes
10 (8 males, 2 female)
recruited from a tertiary referral centre in London
opportunity sampling
how were participants tested in Baron Cohen?
Participants were tested individually in a
quiet room either in their own home, the
researchers’ clinic or in a lab at a university.
There were 4 tasks which were always given
in a random order.
what was the Eyes Task in Baron Cohen like?
Participants were shown 25 pictures of eyes for 3 seconds.
They had to choose from 1 of 2 mental states that the eyes portrayed in the picture.
An example of a foil pair is, ‘concerned and unconcerned’.
The pictures were always 15x10cm, black and white and all taken from magazines
mean scores on the Eyes Task? (between autistic, normal and tourettes)
autistic - 16.3/25
‘normal’ - 20.3/25
tourettes - 20.4/25
no significant difference between the ‘normal’ and tourettes group
autism condition did have significantly lower scores
mean scores on the Eyes Task for all conditions?
male - 18.8/25
female - 21.8/25
males scored significantly less on the Eyes Task than females overall
what was the gender recognition task?
This was used as a control task to see if participants could identify the gender of the pictures. The same pictures from the Eyes Task were used and so this test was also out of 25. If participants with autism couldn’t pass this, then the Eyes Task would have been far too advanced.
findings of the gender recognition task?
No significant differences between the three conditions.
People with autism were not impaired on this which meant their performance on the Eyes Task was not down to other (simpler) things like being able to detect gender.
what was the basic emotion recognition task?
This was used as another control task to see if participants could identify the 6 basic emotions used in pictures of whole faces. If the participants with autism were impaired at this, then the Eyes Task would have been too advanced for them. The basic emotions are:
happy, sad, angry, afraid, disgust and surprise
findings of the basic emotion recognition task?
No significant differences between the three conditions.
People with autism were not impaired on this which meant their performance on the Eyes Task was not down to other (simpler) things like being able to detect the BASIC emotions.
what was the Strange Stories Task like in Baron Cohen?
The normal condition did not do this task.
Only the Tourette’s and Autistic conditions.
This was always used as a test for theory of
mind and so Baron-Cohen used this to check
for concurrent validity. He wanted to see if his
new Eyes Task really was measuring theory of
mind.
findings of the Strange Stories Task in Baron Cohen?
The autistic condition were impaired on the
stories whereas the Tourette’s condition were
not.
As this finding correlated with the results on
the Eyes Task, Baron-Cohen’s Eyes Task
SHOULD BE measuring theory of mind.
conclusions of Baron Cohen?
adults with autism, despite being of normal or above average intelligence, have subtle deficits in their mind reading ability
they also conclude that, within the normal population, adult females are significantly better at mindreading than adult males
strengths of Baron Cohen?
quantitative data - easy to analyse and compare
concurrent validity - the Strange Stories task helped researchers to confirm that it was the theory of mind that they were measuring in the Eyes Task
control groups helped to isolate the extent to which it was autism that was affecting adults in their ability to recognise emotion
weaknesses of baron cohen
socially sensitive
quantitative data does not tell you why ps chose the particular mental state words
validity decreased as questions were closed so participants could’ve guessed with a 5050 chance of being right
strengths of the individual differences area?
- interested in the differences in people’s behaviour unlike other areas which are interested in similarities. This means all behaviours, not just ‘normal’ behaviours, are studied, leading to a more holistic picture of behaviour
- improves our understanding of human behaviour. this approach looks at ‘abnormal’ behaviour eg disorders, and in doing so can help improve our understanding of the characteristics which make up thay disorder
- useful applications in clinical settings eg Baron Cohen
weaknesses of the individual differences area?
- research in the area focuses on ‘abnormal’ behaviours, labelling people as such can lead to discrimination and so research is often socially sensitive
- lacks a set of belief about what causes behaviour therefore not as useful as other areas for understanding what drives behaviour
- some issues with validity of measures used by the area. this extends to the findings eg how ecologically valid they are
how does baron cohen change our understanding of individual diversity?
freud = explains causes of phobias
baron-cohen = autism and characteristics to diagnose
how does baron cohen change our understanding of social diversity?
freud = hans privelage = socioeconomic bias. also only 1 child and its a boy
baron-cohen = adults, men and women
how does baron cohen change our understanding of cultural diversity?
both ethnocentric
freud - austria
baron-cohen - uk
