Individual Differences in Sec A Flashcards
1
Q
Describe the assumption, the theme and the studies in individual differences.
A
Assumption: should focus on dispositional explanations of behaviour, where behaviours is caused by you as an individual, rather than situation you are in, by studying quantitative and qualitative diffs between people rather than things we have in common.
Theme: UNDERSTANDING DISORDERS
- classic study: Freud (1909)
- contemporary study: Baron-Cohen (1997)
2
Q
Describe a brief overview of Freuds theories.
A
- his approach was called ‘psychoanalysis’
- viewed mind in 3 parts: conscious, precocious, unconscious
- came up with psychoanalytic theory (1909):
this was three parts of personality, ID, ego and superego, (where ego mediates between good (superego) and the bad (ID)) - said we go through five sexual stages of development:
Oral: 1yrs
Anal: 1-3yrs
Phallic: 3-6yrs
Latent: 6-puberty
Genital: adulthood - then had Oedipus complex (for boys sexual desire for their mother so jealousy of father) and Electra complex (same but for girls sexual desire for their father so jealousy of mother)
3
Q
Describe the aim of Freud.
A
- to give an account of a boy who was suffering from a phobia of horses and other symptoms, and to use this case to illustrate existence of Oedipus complex.
4
Q
Describe the method of freud in terms of participants.
A
- one Jewish boy from vienna, Austria.
- 5 years old at start of study, but some evidence recorded from a couple years earlier.
- called ‘little hans’ in study, but real name was Herbett Graff.
- suffered from a phobia of horses.
- Hans’ father was already a fan of Freuds work so referred case to Freud and provided much of case information.
5
Q
Describe the method of Freud in terms of the design.
A
- was a clinical case study, meaning pp is a patient undergoing therapy, but in this case, Freuds direct input in therapy v limited
- accounts of how often Freud saw hans vary, but almost certainly not more than twice
- hans father conducted regular sessions w hans and then passed on to Freud who analysed them in line with his theory
- results consist of Freuds analysis
6
Q
Describe the method of Freud in terms of the case history.
A
- hans developed great interest in penis / ‘widdler’ from around age of 3
- played with it regularly, so much that mother became so cross she threatened to have a doctor cut it off if didn’t stop
- Hans then disturbed, and developed fear of castration
- saw a horse collapse and die in street around same time and was v upset as a result
- baby sister born when he was 3.5
- by 4 fear of horses developed specifically to white ones biting him, father reported this to Freud and noted it seemed to relate to their large penises that remind him of dissatisfaction with size of his own
- conflict between Hans and father developed at around same Time at this age
- father began to object and hate Hans’ long habit of getting into parents bed in morning and cuddling mother
- Hans phobia worsened to extent he would not leave family house, also suffered from general anxiety attacks now
- by age of 5 phobia lessened, initially becoming limited to white horses w thick harness pieces + eye blinkers, Freud likened this to Hans fathers moustache and glasses, but phobia then disappeared altogether
- end of phobia marked by two fantasies:
Hans fantasised he had several children with own mother, but told his father he could be granddaddy
Hans then fantasised a plumber had come and removed his bottom and penis and replaced them with larger ones
7
Q
Describe the results of Freud.
A
Freud interpreted case as example of Oedipus complex, specifically:
- horses represented Hans father
- Hans anxiety was castration anxiety triggered by mothers threat and fathers banishment from bed
- giraffes in fantasies represent parents, large one that cried out is father objecting to Hans and smaller crumpled one represents his mother and her genitals, larger ones long erect neck could have been penis symbol, Hans took crumpled giraffe away from large one which represents his jealousy of father and wanting mother
- children fantasy represents relatively friendly resolution of Oedipus complex in which Hans replaces father as mothers main love object, but father still gets role as grandfather
- plumber fantasy represents identification with father, as Hans could see himself growing large penis like his fathers and becoming more like him.
8
Q
Describe the conclusions of Freud.
A
- Hans suffered phobia of horses because he was suffering from castration anxiety and going through Oedipus complex
- dreams and fantasies helped express this conflict and eventually resolved Oedipus complex by fantasising himself taking on fathers role and placing father as role of grandfather
9
Q
Evaluate the research method and sampling bias of Freud.
A
- case studies have particular problems with their sample
- use v small no’s of pps and these pps are unusual enough to be sufficiently interesting to be worth writing about
- small samples of unusual people are a problem as hard to generalise from them to pop
10
Q
Evaluate the data in Freud.
A
- exclusively qualitative data in this study, so had strengths of qualitative data
- a large vol of rich info in Freuds account of little Hans’ case
- Freud recorded v detailed info and this allowed later researchers to offer alternative interps of case
- but, compared to use of quantitative data, this method gives v little concrete info about Hans.
11
Q
Evaluate the ethical considerations in Freud.
A
- no deceit in this study, although Hans did not give formal consent to take part, his father did
- Hans not put through any experimental procedures that may cause harm or distress
- issues with confidentiality and privacy as Freud did use name ‘little Hans’ but boys real name was well known anyway
- no known whether being subject of Freuds study ever caused him later problems, but is questionable that his identity is public knowledge when he was linked to something so socially sensitive as Oedipus complex.
12
Q
Evaluate the validity in Freud.
A
- study raises particular probs with validity
- way data was collected could have affected validity as Hans father was fan of Freuds work so hard to know if this distorted his perception of events
- making of theoretical interps is also another validity issue as involves going way beyond info available to an observer, which is subjective, and good science requires an attempt at objectivity
13
Q
Evaluate the reliability.
A
- always a prob with reliability in clinical case studies as they are one offs and can’t be replicated, so cannot assess test retest reliability, nor can we assess inter rater reliability as Freud carried out analysis alone.
14
Q
Evaluate the ethnocentrism in Freud.
A
- is a serious problem with study
- Freud looked at a single child from v particular cultural context: middle-class Austrian society, and generalised Oedipus complex from this to development of all boys in wide range of cultural contexts
- this not just sampling bias, as parenting practices and cultural meanings of child-parent interaction vary massively between people living in diff cultural contexts
- Freud ignored this and proposed Oedipus complex as universal phenomenon based purely on a European interp of events
- highly ethnocentric
15
Q
Evaluate the practical applications of Freud.
A
- little Hans case been extensively used as an illustration of Oedipus complex by psychotherapists for training purposes
- so study has an important practical application
- a related strength of study is its theoretical importance
- hard to study the Oedipus complex but this case gives some evidence, however imperfect, so has good theoretical importance.
