Psychodynamic

Question 1

Features

Answer 1

• 3 parts to personality
• 3 levels to the mind
• 3 ego defence mechanisms
• 5 psychosexual stages

Question 2

Assumptions of the approach

Answer 2

• therapeutic theory - all behaviour is driven by the unconscious mind
• very negative outlook on behaviour
• we are all “ slaves to the past “

Question 3

Three levels of the mind

Answer 3

Preconscious
Conscious
Unconscious

Question 4

Preconscious

Answer 4

• beyond everyday awareness
• easily accessible ( tend to emerge in dreams)

Question 5

Conscious

Answer 5

• everything you are aware of

Question 6

Unconscious mind

Answer 6

Where you repress traumatic, embarrassing and unacceptable
- don’t have to face it daily

• can be accessed by therapy ( free association)
• can emerge in behaviour
  Latent fear = true fear. ( can manifest fear representation)

Question 7

Structure of personality

Answer 7

3 levels to the mind : id, ego, superego
- tripartite

Question 8

ID

Answer 8

• pleasure principle
• immediate satisfaction
  “I want it, i want it now”
• 0-18 months old
• Freud described babies as a mass of ID

Question 9

Super ego

Answer 9

• morality principle
• sense of what is right and wrong
• 3-6 years
• stems from society/ parents

Question 10

Ego (the balancer)

Answer 10

• reality principle
• balances demands of the ID and superego
• found in the conscious mind
• 18 months - 3 years

Question 11

5 psychosexual stages

Answer 11

All children go through 5 stages
- however, Freud says you can get “ stuck “ in a stage which is known as FIXATION.
Old
Age
Pervs
Love
Girls

Question 12

Fixation

Answer 12

Too much/ too little pleasure

Question 13

Oral

Answer 13

Focused on the mouth ( caused by breastfeeding)
- ages 0-1
- unresolved conflict —> can be seen in smoking, pen chewing, nail biting in adult life

Question 14

Anal

Answer 14

Pleasure focused on the anus (potty training )
- ages 1-3
- children withhold/ expel faeces
Unresolved conflict —> can result in 2 different personalities
- anally retentive
- anally explosive

Question 15

Anally retentive

Answer 15

Personality is organised/ a perfectionist ( sometimes a narcissistic)

Question 16

Anally explosive

Answer 16

Personality is messy/ disorganised/ thoughtless

Question 17

Phallic

Answer 17

Focused pleasure is genitals
- ages 3-5
- Freud argues boys go through the Oedipus complex
- superego should be fully developed by this stage

Question 18

Oedipus complex

Answer 18

• boys develop a sexual attraction to their mother
• leads them to become jealous of their father
• they then develop castration anxiety (so boys will identify with their father )
• gain morals + ethics

Question 19

Electra complex

Answer 19

• girls desire father
• girls have penis envy (penis = power)
• therefore girls identify with their mother ( no penis ) and begin to desire a baby

Question 20

Latent

Answer 20

• early stages are repressed
• ages 5 -12
• focus on school + friendships
• can’t get “ stuck “ in this stage because there is no unresolved conflict

Question 21

Genital

Answer 21

• puberty onwards
• sexual relationships (genitals = the focus)
• unresolved conflict = difficult to form heterosexual relationships if stuck in this stage

Question 22

3 ego defence mechanisms

Answer 22

• denial
• displacement
• repression

Question 23

Denial

Answer 23

Refusing to accept reality

Question 24

Displacement

Answer 24

• take our true feelings and place them in a safet target

Question 25

Repression

Answer 25

• pushing things away from conscious awareness.