psychodymamic approach Flashcards
who founded the psychodynamic approach?
Freud
how did freud believe behaviour could be explained?
he believed behaviour could be explained as an expression of unconscious conflicts. he also believed that what happened to us during our childhood would have a big impact on us later in life
what is the conscious mind?
the part of our mind we know about and have awareness of
what is most of our mind made up of?
the unconscious
what is the unconscious part of our mind?
it refers to our biological drives and instincts that effect our behaviour and personality.
what does the unconscious mind contain?
disturbing memories that have been repressed
what is the preconcious mind?
it is under the surface of the conscious mind and it includes any thoughts and ideas that we may be aware of during dreams or ‘slip of the tounges’
what are the 3 structures of the personality that determine our behaviour?
ID
EGO
SUPEREGO
what is the ID?
it is the primitive part of personality
it operates on the pleasure principle (gets what it wants)
it is the unconscious drives and instincts
only the ID is present at birth
through life the ID is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of needs (immediate gratification)
what is the EGO?
works on the reality principle
the mediator between the two other parts of the personality
the role is to reduce the conflict between demands of the ID and SUPEREGO
does this by using defence mechanisms
what is the SUPEREGO?
based on the morality principle
it represents the moral standards of the Childs same-sex parents and punishes the EGO for wrongdoing (through guilt)
our internalised sense of right and wrong
formed at the end of the phallic stage
encourages deferred gratification
what are the 5 psychosexual stages?
oral: 0-1 years
anal: 1-3 years
phallic: 3-5 years
latency
genital
what happens in the psychosexual stages?
each stage has a different conflict that the child must resolve in order to progress to the next stage. any unresolved conflict leads to fixation (getting stuck and therefore carrying certain behaviours associated with that stage through to adult life)
what is the oral stage?
the focus of pleasure is the mouth
the mothers breast is the object of desire
what are the consequences of unresolved conflict in the oral stage?
oral fixation: smoking, nail biting, sarcasm, critical
what is the anal stage?
focus of pleasure is the anus
child gains pleasure from expelling and withholding faeces
what are the consequences of unresolved conflicts in the anal stage?
anal retentive: perfectionist, obsessive
what is the phallic stage?
the focus of pleasure is the genital area
child experiences the oedipus or electra complex
what are the consequences of unresolved conflicts in the phallic stage?
phallic personality: narcissistic, reckless
what us the latency stage?
earlier conflicts are repressed
what is the genital stage?
sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty
what are the consequences of unresolved conflicts in the genital stage?
difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
what are the 3 defence mechanisms?
repression
denial
displacement
what do the defence mechanisms do?
they are unconscious strategies used by the ego to help it balance the conflicting demands of the ID and the SUPEREGO
they help the EGO prevent us from being overwhelmed by threats or trauma
they often involve some distortion of reality and are therefore regarded as psychologically unhealthy if used long term
what is repression?
forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind, it is forced into the back of the unconscious mind
what is denial?
refusing to acknowledge reality
what is displacement?
transferring feelings from their true source to a substitute target
what is the oedipus complex?
when boys aged 3-6 develops unconscious sexual desires for his mother
they display envy and jealously towards their father as they are with their mother
the hostile feelings towards the father leads to castration anxiety- an irrational fear that the father will castrate him for the feelings
the boy eventually identifies with the father and internalises their values, attitudes and behaviours
the boy then develops a masculine gender identity and eventual resolution to the complex
what is the electra complex?
a girl between the ages of 3-6 develops unconscious sexual desires for their father
they are then very hostile to their mother as she is with their father
this complex starts with the girls believing they had already been castrated
this feeling is blamed on the mother and the girl experiences penis envy
the girl needs to identify with their mother, but a girls motivation to give up her father is harder and less subtle, making the female SUPEREGO weaker
their identity becomes separate but eventually the resentment leads to the daughter identifying with the mother and to incorporate many similar characteristics and personalities
AO3: how is ‘supporting evidence’ a strength to the psychodynamic approach?
Bifulco et al. (1992) provided evidence for the importance of early childhood experiences. children whose mothers died in childhood were more likely to suffer with depression in adulthood. this suggests that early trauma can effect adulthood
AO3: how is ‘real life application’ a strength to the psychodynamic approach?
this approach led to psychoanalysis, an effective therapy. this uses a range of techniques in order to access the unconscious e.g. word association, free recall, dream analysis
this has also led to many other psychological therapies being developed. e.g. CBT and counselling
AO3: how is ‘nature of the evidence’ a limitation to the psychodynamic approach?
the approach and related theories are based on case studies. although these are detailed and carefully recorded, it is not possible to make universal claims about all people based on a small number of individuals who are psychologically abnormal. they are also highly subjective and lack scientific rigour (many concepts are unconscious so hard to test)
AO3: how is ‘free will versus determinism’ a limitation to the psychodynamic approach?
freud believes all behaviour is driven by unconscious forces and has deep symbolic meaning. it is said that all behaviour is said to be determined by unconscious conflicts that are rooted in childhood. therefore it has psychic determinism as it states we have no free will. therefore, other approaches have disagreed with this, some suggesting that our behaviour is determined by other forces.
