paper 2 Flashcards
What’s the main assumption of psychodynamic approach
A perception that describes unconscious forces that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour
What did Freud suggest?
Most of our mind is made up of unconscious
The unconscious contains suppressed memories, these can be excesses through dreams or parapraxes
The preconceived contains thoughts and memories which aren’t currently in conscious awareness but can be excesses if desired
Describe the ID
Is entirely selfish and operates on the pleasure principle
Is present at birth
Entirely unconscious
Describe the EGO
Mediator between the ID and SUPEREGO
Develops at the age of 2
It prevents conflict through regression, denial or displacement
describe SUPEREGO
It our internalised sense of right and wrong
Formed at 5
Describe the oral stage and the consequence
0-1
Pleasure in the mouth, mothers breast is the desired object
Oral fixation- smoking sarcasm nail biting
Describe anal stage and consequence
Pleasure is the anus, with holding or expelling po
Retentive- perfectionist
Exclusive- thoughtless
Describe the phallic stage and consequence
Pleasure is the genitals, Oedipus complex
Phallic personality- reckless narcissistic homosexual
Describe the Oedipus complex
In the phallic stage boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mum and hatred towards their dad
Fearing castration, boys resent their feelings and identity with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values
describe the Electra complex
Girls experience penis envy, they desire their father and hate their mother.
Girls overcome this by replacing their feelings with a desire for a baby
Evaluate the psychodynamic approach
Strength - - -
Many people who experience psychological disturbances do recollect childhood traumas (face validity)
By developing a method of treatment, Freud encouraged a more optimistic view regarding psychological distress. Treatment?
Weakness - - -
Lacks scientific validity therefore isn’t falsifiable
Freud used a biased sample of middle-class Viennese women 20-44 who had emotional problems, therefore can’t generalise
He only studied one child to developed his theory on psychosexual development
Very deterministic
What are the main assumptions of the humanistic approach
An approach to understanding behaviour that empathises the importance of subjective experience and each persons capacity for self-determination
Define free wills
The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external factors
Define self actualisation
Desire to grow psychologically and fulfil ones full potential. All 4 levels of mols lows hierarchy must be met to achieve this
What’s Moscow’s hierarchy of needs
Self actualisation Self esteem Love and belongingness Safe and security Psychological needs
What did Rogers argue
He argued that for personal growth to be achieved an individuals self concept must have congruence with their ideal self
We behave as we do because of the way we perceive the situation
Why would someone need client-centred therapy and what is it
Client-centred therapy aims to reduce the gap between self concept and ideal self in order to reach self actualisation
In therapy the client is responsible for improving their life, the client is consciously and rationally decides for themselves what is wrong and what should be done about it
Therapist hope to help their client to achieve personal growth and eventually self-actualise
Evaluate humanistic approach
Strength- - -
Real life application- therapy
Shifted the focus of behaviour to the individual rather than unconscious/genes
More holistic information into behaviour therefore more valid
Weakness- - -
Ignores biology
Unscientific- subjective concept
Ethnocentric ( biased towards western culture)
Their belief on free will is opposite to the deterministic laws of science
What’s the main assumption of the rcognitive approach
Behaviour is hard on internal mental process e.g. memory and perception. These processes can’t be observed so cognitive psychology is a study them indirectly by making inferences
Describe schema
Is a package of information developed through experiences
They act as a mental frame work for the interpretation of incoming information
Enables us to process information quickly and creates mental shortcuts that prevent us getting overwhelmed
Describe Theoretical and computer models
It is one way to study mental processes, it suggests that info flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include input storage and retrieval msmm
Computer models compares the mind to a computer by suggesting there are similarities in the way info is processed.
These modes use the concept of coding (turning info into useable format) and the use of stores to hold info
Describe cognitive neuroscience
Is the study of the influence of brain structures on mental process in advanced in brain imaging techniques such as fMRI
The focus on cognitive neuroscience has expended to include the use of computer generated models that read the brain
What are the advantages of advances in cognitive neuroscience?
Scientists have been ale to systematically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental processes
Scanning techniques are also useful in the neurological basis of mental disorders
Evaluate the cognitive approach
Strength- - -
Employs highly controlled and rigorous methods of study, this involves lab experiments to produce reliable objective data
Is the most dominant approach in psychology today and has been applied to a wide range of practical and theoretical contexts
Weakness- - -
Has a narrow focus on mental process, logical rather than emotional
Reductionism
Comparisons with computers the mind is infinitely more powerful and flexible than most advanced computer