Paper 2 - Freud on Little Hans Flashcards
What is Freuds theory on child development ?
Adult personality is shaped by childhood events. Children go through various stages of child development. At each stage the childneeds to resolve certain conflicts for healthy psychological development
What did Freud belive that the 3 rd stage of child developeent was ?
Phallic stage - At age 4-6 the child focuses on their genitals.
During this stage boys experience the Oedipus complex: Boys desire their mothers, they see their fathers as rivals,(wishing them dead) - a desire that is repressed and it is eventually resolved when a boy identifies with his father.
What was Freuds theory of mental disorder ?
Mental illness can be explained in terms of ego defence mechanisms - techniwues we use to protect ourselves from a full awareness of unpleasent thoughts and feelings. For example, repression involves blocking unacceptable feelings or memories from conciousness. These repressions and unconscious thoughts may lead to maldaptive behaviours such as phobias.
What is psychoanalysis ?
It refers to Freuds theory of personality development and also a form of therapy ‘talking cure’. As a form of therapy it aims to help patients become consciously aware of their unconscious repressed feelings . By consciously acknowledging these feelings, the patients can accept them and recover.
What is the aim of this study ?
Freud was allowed to test his theory on…
Child development and the oedipus complex,
The origins of mental health disorders such as phobias.
The value of psychoanalysis for tresting mental disorders
What was the sample in this study ?
An Austrian boy little Hans between the ages of 3-5 years old. Other mian poeple involved were his father, mother and younger sister. The family was selected because Hans’ father was one of Freuds main follwers and wanted to give Freud an opporutinury to explore his theories.
How was Little Hans’ data collected ?
Hans’ father recorded events and conversations with Hans. Both Freud and Hans’ father offered interpretations of Hans’ bahviour. On one occasion Hans met Freud.
How did concerns of Hans originally rise ?
When little Hans was 3 he started to show interest in his ‘widdler’, he observed that large animals like horses had big ones and thought that his parents also did. He got pleasure from touching his ‘widdler’ and from excretion. He imagined that when he had children he woukd help them with those things. Hans’ mother caught him playing with his ‘widdler’ and threatened to go to the doctor to get it cut off. Hans also felt a sexual desire for his mother which was repressed and expressed as an interest in girls and kissing them.
Explain Hans’ death wish towards his father
Hans aw his father as a rival for his mothers love and wished him dead, however he also loved him which gave him confliciting anxieties. During his sumemr holidays Had spent lots of time with his mother. When his father returned from Vienna Hanss wished for him to be away permanently and would hit his father then kiss where he hit.
Explains Hans’ anxieties towards his little sister
Hans wished Hannah would be dropped by his mother and drown , leading him to fear that his mother would drop him.
Explain Little Hans’ fear of white horses
When Hans was 4 and a half, he heard a man warn his daughter that a white horse might bite her if she touched it. This was linked to Hans’ mother telling him it would not be proper for her to touch his penis and feared it would be chopped off.
In order to cope with this Hans unconsciously transfered his anxiety to white horses, and therefore became afraid of them.
What happened when Hans visited Freud ?
Freud proposed that a white horse might be a symbol of his father because the blinkers and the black around its mouth reminded hans od his fathers mustache and glasses; symbols of manhood. Freud told Hnas that he was afraid of his father because he was so fond of his mothrt. This revelation enabled Hans to deal more directly with his phobia - he could walk to the park again. This is an example of psychoanalysis transfering unconscous thoughts to subconscious ones.
What was Freuds explanation for Hans’ fear of horses pulling heavy laden carts ?
Hans saw a horse pulling a cart fall over and kick its legs about - Hans thought the horse was dead
A heavy laden cart was seen to be like a pregnant woman, so when the heavy laden cart tips over, it represents giving birth. This anxiety was linked to Hans’ baby sister and wanting his mother’s love.
Explain Hans’ dream about giraffes
Hans said that in the night there was a big giraffe in the room and a crumpled one, the big one cakked out because he took the crumpled one away from it. Then it sat ontop of the crumpled one. This represented Hans’ parents and Hans’ father’s disaporval of Hans’ desire for his mother.
Explain Han’s criminal fantasies
Hans dreamt about going onto a train with his father and smashing windown before being taken off by a police officer. This represented that Hans wanted to do things with his mother that his father was doing which is seen as forbidden.
