Psychodynamic

Question 1

What are key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 1

• established by Freud
- people’s behaviour is outside of their conscious control
- all behaviours are driven by the unconscious mind; biological drives
- personality is made up of id, ego + superego
- events in childhood may impact adult behaviour
- unconscious thoughts can be interpreted through psychoanalysis

Question 2

What are the different parts of the mind?

Answer 2

concious - parts of the mind we’re aware of
preconscious - thoughts + memories we can access with effort - unconscious mind may seep into consciousness through dreams and Freudian slips
unconscious - biological drives + instincts which drive our behaviour - can also contain disturbing/threatening memories which aren’t accessible

Question 3

Describe the id, ego and superego

Answer 3

ID -present at birth
- exists in unconscious, driven by biological instincts
- operates on pleasure principle
- demands instant gratification of needs
SUPEREGO
- forms at the age of 5
- operates on morality principle
- internalised sense of right and wrong
- developed through identifying with same sex parent and taking on their morality
EGO
- develops ~ age 2
- mediates between unrealistic desires of id and overly critical superego
- realistic —> works on reality principle

Question 4

Describe the first psychosexual stage

Answer 4

Oral
- 0-1 years
- Libido cantered on the mouth, pleasure gained by putting objects into the mouth
- Conflict arises during breastfeeding —> desire to put everything in mouth vs expectation to refrain
- failure to resolve conflict = Abnormal behaviour in adulthood = nail biting, smoking , thumb sucking, only desiring oral sex, binge eating, sarcasm, highly critical

Question 5

Describe the second psychosexual stage

Answer 5

Anal
- 1-3 years
- Libido is centred on the anus, pleasure derived from holding on to and expelling faeces
- Conflict between wishing to defecate at will vs being expected to control defecation
- Anal retentive = perfectionist, obsessive, punctual, tidy (behaviours)
irritable, strict, uptight, (personality)
- Anal expulsive = sloppy, disorganised, thoughtless

Question 6

Describe the third psychosexual stage

Answer 6

Phallic
- 3-6 years
- Libido is centered towards genitals, masturbation occurs frequently
- conflict is oedipus complex - sexual desire for opposite sex parent + fear of same sex parent vs identification w/ same sex parent
- inability to resolve conflict leads to : reckless + risky behaviours, homosexuality and narcissism

Question 7

Describe the fourth psychosexual stage

Answer 7

Latency
- 6 years - puberty
- libido is dormant and no further psychosexual development occurs; most sexual instincts are repressed and sublimated towards other goals

Question 8

Describe the final psychosexual stage

Answer 8

Genital
- puberty
- Libido (sexual desire ) becomes conscious
- Conflict between desire for many vs society’s desire for you to choose one heterosexual partner
- inability to resolve conflict leads to perversions/unusual sexual desires and unable to form heterosexual relationships

Question 9

What are defence mechanisms?

Answer 9

Unconscious strategies that help the ego to protect us temporarily from trauma, involving distortions of reality

Question 10

Describe the 3 defence mechanisms

Answer 10

Repression –> forcing a distressing memories out of the conscious mind
Denial –> Refusing to acknowledge aspects of reality
Displacement –> transferring feelings from the true source of distressing emotions onto a substitute target

Question 11

Describe the oedipus complex

Answer 11

~ young boy desires his mother and has murderous hatred for his father
~ boy fears father will castrate him
~ to resolve conflict, boy repressed feelings towards mother and identifies with father by taking on male role in society

Question 12

Describe the oedipus complex

Answer 12

~ young boy desires his mother and has murderous hatred for his father
~ boy fears father will castrate him
~ to resolve conflict, boy repressed feelings towards mother and identifies with father by taking on male role in society

Question 13

What is the electra complex?

Answer 13

• young girl attaches to father due to desire to have a penis (Penis envy)
• begins to resent mother, blames her for castration
• girl realises she will never have a penis & represses feelings
• converts desire for penis to a baby (identifying with the mother), taking on the female role in society

Question 14

What case study was used as evidence for the Oedipus complex?

Answer 14

Little Hans
- Hans had a phobia of horses, especially ones who would bite him
- Freud concluded this was actually a displacement of his fear of his father
- advised father to ensure Hans he would not castrate him
- phobia disappeared shortly after, Freud applied this to all male children

Question 15

What are strengths of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 15

Explanatory power
- dominated psychology and is used to explain a huge range of psychological concepts
- First identified the connection between childhood experiences and later behaviour
- many ideas filtered into literature and everyday language
Practical application
- led to development of psychoanalysis
- involves techniques designed to access the unconscious
- successful for those with mild neurosis (anxiety depression. Etc) but not psychosis
- basis for many modern day counselling / talk therapies

Question 16

What are the weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 16

Case studies
- it is difficult to make universal claims based on one unique case
- Freuds interpretation of each case was subjective; questions validity
- reduces scientific credibility
Unfalsifiable
- many Freudian concepts revolve around the unconscious, making them almost impossible to test
- conducting research to prove or disprove is difficult, labels it a pseudoscience
- lacks scientific credibility