Individual Differences studies Flashcards
What are the main assumptions of the psychodynamic approach
- Behaviour is caused by both NATURE and NURTURE - a combination of innate tendencies and life experiences
- We are strongly controlled by our UNCONSCIOUS mental processes. Which is why we often don’t know why we think and feel the way we do.
- Psychopathology (psychological disorders) occur when there is an unresolved unconscious CONFLICT
- To treat disorders or change behaviour, we need to access what is in the unconscious mind so that we can RESOLVE any conflicts
Why do we still pay attention to the controversial ideas of Sigmund Freud today
- Freud was a founding father of psychology - before him no-one thought it was important to study the mind and its links to behaviour
- Invented ‘talking therapy’ - before him, no-one thought you should talk about your problems/anxieties
- Was the first to link childhood experiences and adult well-being
What did Freud believe the personality was split up into
Id
Ego
Superego
What did Freud believe the id was about in the personality
Key principle = pleasure
- innate (born with it)
- selfish
- aggressive
- impulsive
What did Freud believe the ego was about in the personality
Key principle = reality
- mediates between the id and superego
- finds a compromise
- decision maker of socially acceptable behaviour
- develops around 2-3 years
What did Freud believe the superego was about in the personality
Key principle = guilt
- works on basis of morality
- tells us right from wrong
- often prevents us from doing what we would want
- moral conscience
- develops around 3-4 years, learn through parents
What were the 5 stages called Freud mentioned as we grow up and what are they
The psychosexual stages –> these explain how the mind develops along with the body
Oral (0-1 years)
Anal (1-3 years)
Phallic (3-5 years)
Latency (5-12 years)
Genital (12-18 years)
What do the psychosexual stages help to develop
The psychosexual stages help us to develop particular aspects of your pesonality
What is a fixation stage in the individual differences
During the psychosexual stages if a conflict is not resolved we develop a fixation at that stage. This means the conflict at that stage is going to affect our personality and a psychoanalysis would be able to identify which stage the problem occurred in.
It does not mean we get ‘stuck’ at that stage - we still continue through the rest of the stages
What did Freud use as a model for the personality and the conscious/unconscious mind
An ice berg
Where does the main conflict happen in our mind
Where the ego is not present
What is it called when information is forced from our conscious mind down to our pre-conscious and unconscious mind
Repression
What are the two studies in the individual differences area
Freud (1909)
Baron-Cohen et al (1997)
What is the key theme for both the individual studies
Understanding disorders
What is the key theme of the Freud study
Analysis of a phobia
What is the key theme for the Baron-Cohen at al study
Autism in adults
What is the definition of a phobia
An extreme or irrational fear if a certain stimulus, which often has a negative impact on the daily life of the sufferer
What happens during the phallic stage in the Freud study (both genders)
- Attention and pleasure focused on the penis
- Attraction to the opposite sex parent (oedipus complex)
- Boys experience castration anxiety
- Girls experience penis envy (elecra complex)
- Conflict resolved by identifying with same sex parent this:
a) Teaches gender roles
b) Reassures opposite sex and same sex parent that child is not attracted to them
How easily can we test the psychodynamic perspective
Can not easily be tested because there is no physical evidence/part of the personality as it is in the unconscious mind
Not falsifiable
Does it suggest negative behaviour can be easily changed in the psychodynamic perspective
Through psychoanalysis ‘talking therapy’ this helps the conflict in the mind to be resolved
Although very difficult to do as it is in the unconscious mind
Are the treatments effective and useful in the psychodynamic perspective
It is effective for certain disorders (like depression, phobias and anxiety)
It is NOT effective for more complex disorders (like schizophrenia)
Who does it blame for negative behaviour
Mainly blames the parents due to nurture and how they influenced their children at the different psychosexual stages
- -> this could be bad due to the blame being taken away from the individual
- -> this could be good as it could teach us about child care
How was the psychodynamic perspective developed
Developed his theories on the basis of evidence first (‘a posterior’) - he analysed his patients THEN worked out the details of his theories using the experience of his patients.
But he mainly analysed:
- women
- in vienna
- who were rich/upper class
- who already had psychological problems
What are some of the debates for the psychodynamic perspective:
Nature/nurture
Individual/situational
Holism/reductionism
Socially sensitive research
Nurture = childhood experiences and how they were brought up
Nature = everyone goes through the psychosexual stages
Individual = shows how everyone goes through the stages differently
Holism = not just influenced by one single factor
Socially sensitive research = can be very sensitive for parents to hear and acknowledge
What are the aims of the Freud study
- To analyse the phobia of a 5 yer old boy
- To investigate the oedipus complex and how it could be resolved by psychoanalysis (therapy)
What was used in the Freud study
Experiment or case study
Longitudinal or observation
Qualitative or quantitative
Primary or secondary
Experiment or case study. —> case study
Longitudinal or observation. —> Longitudinal
Qualitative or quantitative. —> Qualitative
Primary or secondary. –> primary data collected for this study but from a secondary source
Why was the Freud study not an experiment
Because there was no Independent variable and Dependent variable
What was the sample for the Freud study
1 boy between ages of 3-5 years (studied for 2 years)
What was the target population for the Freud study
Whole population of boys between ages of 3-5
What sampling method was used to obtain the participant in the Freud study
Self selected (because Hans’ father volunteered him)
Opportunity (family friend of Freud)
Breifly describe the procedure of the Freud study
- Hans’ father was a friend of Freud and follower of his theories
- Hans’ father recorded events and conversations with Hans, then told Freud about them in interviews and letters
- Took place when Hans was 3 until 5
- Freud met Hans once during his time
- Freud psychoanalysed Hans’ responses, using his own interpretations
What was the early years (Hans’ and his ‘widdler’) and what were Freud’s conclusions from this
- Hans realised he has a ‘widdler’ - phallic stage
- Realise big animals have big ‘widdlers’ (horses)
- Enjoys ‘widdling’ - fiddling with ‘widdler’
- Dreams about having children wiping their bum and helping with their ‘widdlers’
- Mum said she’d “cut off Hans’ ‘widdler’ if he kept touching it”
Freuds conclusions
- phallic stage = interested in penis
- Hans links horses to dad (because whiskers = beard, blinkers = glasses)
- Developing sexual attraction to mother (oedipus complex)
What was the early years (Hans’ death wish for his family) and what were freud’s conclusions for this
- Hans spent lots of time with hismother when dad was away in vienna.
- When dad returned, Hans was upset. Not to be with mum as much
- Often hit dad, then kiss him and say sorry
Freud’s conclusions
- Hans wishes dad was dead so he could take place as mum’s sexual partner
- Hans has castration anxiety (so has to apologise to dad)
What was the phobia (Hans’ phobia starts) and what were Freud’s conclusions from this
- Hans hears man say to daughter horse will bite her if she touches it
- Hans shows strong fear of horses (particularly white)
- Hans’ mum tells him it’s not proper for her to touch his ‘widdler’
Freud’s conclusions
Hans links his (unconscious) fear of castration to (conscious) fear of hoses (sublimation)
-More anxiety caused by mum’s sexual rejection of him
What is the phobia (further horse anxieties) and what are Freud’s conclusions from this
1-Hans saw horse with cart fall over - linked this to father dying
2-Linked sound of horse falling over to going to the toilet. ‘Lumf’ = poo
3-Linked horse pulling cart to pregnant woman (falling = giving birth) (also a death wish for his sister)
4-Horse falling over and kicking legs is linked to Hans sitting on the toilet
Freud’s conclusions
-All Hans’ anxieties are being linked in his mind to horse pulling cart (mum’s pregnancy, sister competing for mum’s attention, death wish for father)
What are the fantasies (giraffe dream) and what were Freud’s conclusions
- Hans dreamt big giraffe squashing the crumpled giraffe - big giraffe would call out when Hans tried take crumpled giraffe away
- Hans sat on crumpled giraffe anyway
- Real life;Hans goes into parents room in mornings. Dad tells him to leave but gets on bed with mm anyway
Freud’s conclusions
- Big giraffe = dad and crumpled giraffe = mum
- Hans able to have mum in dream because stays with crumpled giraffe
What are the fantasies (the plumber) and what were Freud’s conclusions
- Hans dreamt he was sitting in the bath, plumber came and unscrewed bath and stabbed him with ‘boring tool’
- Dreamt that plumber came back and removed his widdler and bum and replaced them with bigger ones
Freud’s conclusions
- Hans is afraid that dad wants to stop him spending time with mum (and will use big penis to get rid of him)
- Hans starting to realise he can resolve his conflict when he grows up and becomes more like dad (and get bigger penis)
What are the fantasies (Hans becoming a daddy) and what were Freud’s conclusions
- Hans dreamt about having children (he was mum)
- Then he realised he could be the dad and his mum could be the mum of his children
- He dreamt they were a family with his dad as the grandad
Freud’s conclusions
-hans has resolved the conflict because he had worked out how they could all be a family and he wouldn’t have to kill his dad
Internal validity - Freud
- Can’t know that we are actually testing what is in unconscious mind
- Conclusion depend on how Freud chose to interpret them
- All Findings depend on how Hans’ father reported them
External validity - Freud
- Case study = only one person, can’t be generalised to anyone (e.g. Girls)
- This is the only child, Freud did a case study of (yet his theories focus heavily on childhood)
Internal reliability - Freud
- No standardised procedures/controls
- Information gathered in various ways including letters, interviews, conversations
External reliability - Freud
-Can’t be replicated because it’s a case study - Freud’s interpretations could vary and interpretations by different psychoanalysts could vary significantly
What was concluded from a previous study Baron-Cohen did
People with autism have a common deficit: theory of mind (TOM)/ mind blindness and social interactions
What is the definition of theory of mind (TOM)
Mental ability to understand mental states and the mental stage of other people
What are the aims of the Baron-Cohen study
- To find out if individuals on the autistic spectrum had deficits with theory of mind
- To find out if there were gender differences in theory of mind
Which of these was the Baron-Cohen study:
Laboratory or Quasi
Quantitative or qualitative
Primary or secondary
Independent or matched pairs
Laboratory or Quasi. —> Quasi
Quantitative or qualitative. —> Quantitative
Primary or secondary. —> Primary
Independent or matched pairs. —> Matched pairs
Whats the Independent variable in the Baron-Cohen study
The type of person likely to have TOM deficits
Whats the Dependent variable in the Baron-Cohen study
Performance out of 25 on the eye task
What were some of the controls in the Baron-Cohen study
Quiet environment
Randomised order of tasks
What was the sample of group 1 in the Baron-Cohen study
16 participants with high functioning autism (4) or Aspergers (12)
13 male and 3 female
Self selected sample
What was the sample of group 2 in the Baron-Cohen study
50 normal adults
25 male and 25 female
Random sample
What was the sample in group 3 in the Baron-Cohen study
10 Tourette syndrome
8 male and 2 female
Snowball sample
Briefly describe the procedure of the Baron-Cohen study
- tested in a quiet environment either their own home or in a laboratory setting
- Presented the eye task, strange stories, basic emotion recognition task and the gender recognition task in a randomised order, participants would therefore not be exposed to same order of tasks
What is the eye task in the Baron-Cohen study
Photographs were coupled with two words to describe the mental state, one word was correct and the other one was a ‘foil’
What is the gender recognition task in the Baron-Cohen study
Participants were asked to identify the gender of each photograph like the ones in the eye task
What is the basic emotion recognition task in the Baron-Cohen study
Emotions used = Happy, sad, angry, afraid, disgusted, surprised
Required to identify the emotion of full faces (considered basic)
What is the strange stories in the Baron-Cohen study
Participants having a short story and then being asked questions about the story
What were the findings from the eye tests
(Out of 25)
Mean scores
Group 1 = 16.3
Group 2 = 20.3 —> males = 18.8 and females = 21.8
Group 3 = 20.4
What were the findings from the gender recognition test
Mean score on gender recognition test
Group 1 = 24.1
Group 2 = 23.3
Group 3 =23.7
What were the findings from the strange stories task
The autism group made significantly more errors on the strange stories task compared with other groups
What were the conclusions from the Baron-Cohen study
- Results seem to provide evidence that adults with autism do posses an impaired theory of mind
- Theory of mind deficits are independent from general intelligence
Internal validity - Baron-Cohen
+ very well controlled and standardised
+ Throughout the different groups, they were age matched
What was the aim of the Freud study
Freud aimed to document the case of Little Hans and provide support for his psychoanalytic theory, especially to provide support for the phallic stage of his stages of psychosexual development
What elements of method are there in the Freud study
longitudinal case study
observation
interviews
Who did Freud actually communicate with during the study
Little Hans’ father actually wrote letters to Freud about the behaviour of Hans’. Hans’ father observed and asked questions that were sent from Freud to Hans’ and then relayed the information back to Freud via letter
What was Freud’s sample:
age
gender
Little Hans’ = 1 Austrian Boy who was 5 years old throughout the whole study. Although Hans’ father had documented Hans’ behaviour from the age of 3
External validity - Baron-Cohen
-Small number of participants used in study = low generalisability
+ True and relatable to people with autism and Aspergers
Internal reliability - Baron-Cohen
+High number of controls, standardised
External reliability - Baron-Cohen
+Images were appraised by a group of judges
How does the Baron-Cohen study relate to these debates:
Nature vs Nurture
Determinism vs Free-will
Reductionism vs Holism
Individualism vs Situaltional
Nature = Born with deficit to theory of mind or not
Determinism = Due to theory of mind people can not control their theory of mind
Reductionism = All cam down to theory of mind instead of a range of factors
Holism = Variety of tasks were tested on the participants
Individual = Having autism/ theory of mind is very individual/ individual differences
How does the Freud study apply to everyday life
Psychoanalytic therapy does use these theories to treat people with phobias and other disorders - seems to work well for particular disorders (e.g. mood disorders like depression and anxiety disorders like phobias)
How did Freud comply with the ethical guidelines
Freud gained fully informed consent from parents which is fine due to Hans being too young to give consent.
Parents had the right tot withdraw and Hans’ name was confidential (Little Hans = not his real name)
Hans and his parents were not deceived
However, even though Freud was a competent professional psychoanalyst, Hans’ father also made suggestions and he wasn’t qualified
What debates does the Freud study link to: Nature/Nurture Free-will/Determinism Individual/Situational Reductionism/Holism additional debates
Nature = Everyone goes through the psychosexual stages Nurture = Resolution through upbringing
Determinism = Can’t control unconscious mind thoughts or change them (without professional help)
Reductionism = Only takes into account Freud’s views on Little Hans’ dreams
Individual = Doesn’t depend on situation. Depends on Hans’ individual experiences, focusing on how he’s different
Psychology is a science = Does not prove this due to a lack in objectivity, control and quantitative data (Also lacks falsifiability)
Usefulness of research = Helped to develop psychoanalysis as a treatment for phobias and other disorders
Socially sensitive research = Suggests we ALL have some socially unacceptable desires (attraction to parent). Also, suggests there are ‘correct’ ways for each gender to behave - Single parent or same sex parent will cause problem - Homosexuality is a result of a fixation at the phallic stage
