Psychodynamic

Question 1

Who is the key figure in the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 1

Sigmund Freud

Question 2

What are the main assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 2

Importance of the Unconscious
Importance of early childhood experiences
Importance of relationships

Question 3

What is the unconscious mind?

Answer 3

Thoughts and feelings we are not aware of, have an effect on our conscious mind

Question 4

What is psychic determinism?

Answer 4

Behaviour is a result of unconscious conflicts, no free will

Question 5

What does the psychodynamic approach suggest shapes our personality?

Answer 5

Events in our childhood

Question 6

What are Freud’s 5 stages of development?

Answer 6

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital

Question 7

Explain the 5 stages

Answer 7

Other than latency, each stage is a conflict that must be resolved, if unresolved can lead to a fixation, e.g. if oral stage is not resolved, can lead to smoking/nail biting

Question 8

What is the oral stage?

Answer 8

Fixated with mouth and lips (0-15 months)

Question 9

What is the anal stage?

Answer 9

Fascination with faeces (1-3 years)

Question 10

What is the phallic stage?

Answer 10

Fascination with genitals, unconsciously desire opposite sex parent (3-5 years)

Question 11

What is latency?

Answer 11

No specific fascination (6-puberty)

Question 12

What is the genital stage?

Answer 12

Adolescent sexual experimentation (puberty-adulthood), resolved by settling down into loving relationship in 20s

Question 13

What is the Oedipus complex?

Answer 13

Boy develops unconscious desire to possess mother and replace father, fears father will punish him, can lead to castration anxiety, identifies with father, develops superego and gender role

Question 14

What is the Electra complex?

Answer 14

Girl unconsciously desires father, thinks mother has already punished her (penis envy), identifies with mother, develops gender role and superego

Question 15

What is the most important type of relationship?

Answer 15

Parent-child relationships

Question 16

Why are childhood relationships so important?

Answer 16

They become a template for our adult relationships

Question 17

What are the three parts of the mind?

Answer 17

Conscious, preconscious, and unconscious

Question 18

What is the preconscious?

Answer 18

Things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried, also where we can become aware of thoughts and ideas during dreams, and ‘slips of the tongue’

Question 19

What are the two biological drives?

Answer 19

Eros- life drive
Thanatos- death drive

Question 20

What kind of things come under the life drive?

Answer 20

Procreation, survival, social cooperation

Question 21

What kind of things come under the death drive?

Answer 21

Aggression, risky behaviour, reliving trauma

Question 22

What are ways of accessing the unconscious mind?

Answer 22

Dream analysis
Rorschach Inkblot test
Free association (word association)
Hypnosis

Question 23

What are the two parts of dreams?

Answer 23

Manifest content- the dream we recall
Latent content- the real, hidden meaning, contains our unconscious desires

Question 24

What are the three parts of the personality?

Answer 24

Id, ego, superego

Question 25

What is the Id?

Answer 25

The personality construct we are born with, contains basic biological drives

Question 26

What is the ego?

Answer 26

Part of the conscious mind that must balance the drives of the id and the control of the superego. Children recognise they have their own desires, wants and needs, ego operates according to ‘reality principle’

Question 27

What is the superego?

Answer 27

Part of the personality that strives to be socially acceptable, opposes the Id, part of the conscious and unconscious

Question 28

What are defence mechanisms?

Answer 28

Distortions of reality that allow us to cope better with a situation

Question 29

What are the three main defence mechanisms?

Answer 29

Denial, repression and displacement

Question 30

What is denial? Give an example

Answer 30

Failing or refusing to acknowledge an aspect of reality, e.g. continuing to show up for work despite being sacked

Question 31

What is repression? Give an example

Answer 31

Forcing a distressing or threatening memory out of your conscious mind, e.g. Forgetting the trauma of a death

Question 32

What is displacement? Give an example

Answer 32

Transferring feelings from the true object of anxiety onto a substitute target/object, e.g. Slamming the door after an argument

Question 33

What are the other defence mechanisms?

Answer 33

Reaction formation- turning feeling into its opposite
Projection- thinking someone else has your thought or feeling
Rationalisation- trying to justify situation through explanation
Regression- revert to an old, immature behaviour
Sublimation- redirect feeling into socially productive activity, e.g. art

Question 34

Describe the Little Hans case study

Answer 34

Hans was afraid of horses moving, heavy horses driven fast, horses falling down, saw a bus horse fall down when walking with mother.
Type of horse he was most afraid of had black mouth and bunkers on eyes.
Similarly, his father had a dark moustache and wore glasses.
Freud suggested this displays his fear of his father, horse falling is his wish for his father to die.

Question 35

Strengths of the psychodynamic approach

Answer 35

Allows psychologists to suggest why individuals behave in ways they cannot understand
Useful applications- still used in society e.g. psychotherapy, evidence suggest psychoanalysis has long term positive effects

Question 36

Weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach

Answer 36

Unfalsifiable concepts
Generalisations based on small, unrepresentative case studies, e.g. Little Hans
Freud’s sample mostly limited to middle class Viennese women so lacks generalisability
Freud recorded information from memory after session with patients
Psychoanalysis is expensive and time consuming
Psychic determinism