P2 Approaches: Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
What is psychic determinism
All behaviour is caused by unconscious internal conflicts, over which we have no control
What are the assumptions
- Unconscious processes, of which we are unaware, determine our behaviour
- Personality has three parts: the id, ego and superego
- Early childhood experiences determine adult personality
Who founded the psychodynamic approach
Signmund freud
What are the three aspects of the mind
- The conscious
- The preconscious
- The unconscious
What is the conscious
The small amount of mental activity we know about (e.g. thoughts, perceptions)
What is the preconscious
Things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried E.g. memories, stored knowledge
What is the unconscious
Things we are unaware of and can not become aware of (e.g. instincts, deeply buried memories)
How can we access the unconscious
- Dream analysis
- Free association
How do dream analysis work
Repressed ideas in the unconscious are more likely to appear in dreams that when we are awake - Freud referred to these ideas as the latent content of dreams
The manifest content is the dream as it appears to the dreamer
How does free association work
The individual is encouraged to relax and say anything that comes into their mind, no matter how absurd
The idea is that the ego will be unable to carry out its normal role of keeping check of the threatening unconscious impulses and the conflict can be brought into consciousness
What are Freudian slips
Slips of the toy hue which may also reveal what is really on our mind
What is the structure of personality
- Id
- Ego
- Superego
What is the id
- primitive part of our personality
- pleasure principle
- mass of unconscious drives and instincts
- only present at birth
What is the ego
- develops from 2 years old
-reality principle - focused on balancing other two parts with rational thought
What is the superego
- morality principle
- develop from 3-5 years old
- focused obeying learnt rules of society and uses guilt
What happens if the id is more dominant
The person can become impulsive and uncontrollable
What would happen if the superego is more dominant
The person can become incredibly moralistic and judgmental
What did Freud believe about children
That they’re born with libido (sexual urge)
Oral stage info
- age
- Focus of pleasure
- successful completion
- fixation
- 0-1
- mouth, tongue, lips
- weaning off breast feeding or formula
- smoking, overeating
Anal stage info
- age
- Focus of pleasure
- successful completion
- fixation
- 1-3
- anus
- toilet training
- orderliness, messiness
Phallic stage info
- age
- Focus of pleasure
- successful completion
- fixation
- 3-6
-genitals - resolving Oedipus/electra complex
- deviancy, sexual dysfunction
Latency stage info
- age
- Focus of pleasure
- successful completion
- fixation
- 6-12
- sexual urges sublimated into sports and other hobbies
- none
- none
Genital stage info
- age
- Focus of pleasure
- successful completion
- fixation
- 12+
- genitals
- reaching full sexual maturity
- if all stages were successfully completed then the person should be sexually matured and mentally healthy
What are defence mechanisms
Unconscious processes that reduce anxiety felt by the ego by distorting reality
What are the three defence mechanisms
Repression
Denial
Displacement
What is repression
Forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind
What is denial
Refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality
What is displacement
Transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion into a substitute target
Advantages?
- real world applications = introduced the idea of psychotherapy. Shows the value of the psychodynamic approach in creating a new approach to treatment
Disadvantages?
- untestable = Karl Popper argued that the approach doesn’t meet the criterion of falsification. It’s not open to empirical testing. Suggests them at freud’s theory was pseudoscience
