Psychodynamic Flashcards
How did Freud suggest unconscious thoughts can be accessed?
Through dreams and/or parapraxes (slips of the tongue)
What is the preconscious?
Where we store unconscious thoughts that could be made conscious if desired
What principles do the id, ego and superego operate on?
Id- Pleasure principle
Ego- Reality principle
Superego- Morality principle
When do the ego and superego develop?
Ego- around age 2
Superego- around age 5 (ego of phallic stage)
What are psychosexual stages?
Five stages of child development, 1,2,3 and 5 are marked by a different ‘conflicts’ that the child must resolve. Leaving these conflicts unresolved leaves the child to carry certain behaviours and conflicts through their life.
What is the first psychosexual stage and what are the consequences of its unresolved conflict?
The Oral Stage (0-1 yrs): the child focuses on oral pleasure- sought pleasure is usually related to mother’s breast.
Consequences surround oral fixation and can include: smoking, nail biting, sarcasm and critical attitudes
What is the second psychosexual stage and what are the consequences of its unresolved conflict?
The Anal Stage (1-3 yrs): the child focuses on anal pleasure- sought pleasure is usually related to withholding faeces.
Consequences surrounding the anal stage can include:
Anal retentive consequences- perfectionism, obsessiveness
Anal expulsive consequences- sloppiness, thoughtlessness, messiness
What is the third psychosexual stage and what are the consequences of its unresolved conflict?
The Phallic Stage (3-5 yrs): the child focuses on genital pleasure and experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex- sought pleasure is usually related to genitals
Consequences surrounding the phallic stage include: the ‘phallic personality’-narcissistic. reckless, possibly homosexual
What is the fourth psychosexual stage?
The Latency Stage- Earlier conflicts are repressed.
this stage does not have a conflict to overcome
What is the fifth psychosexual stage and what are the consequences of its unresolved conflict?
The Genital Stage (comes at time of puberty): Sexual desires become conscious.
Consequences surrounding the genital stage include: difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
What is the Oedipus complex?
The idea that young boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and a murderous hatred towards their father.
To overcome this conflict, they repress their feelings and identify with their father
What is the Electra complex?
The idea that young girls experience penis envy and ‘desire’ their father.
To overcome this conflict, they replace this with a desire for a baby and identify with their mother
What is the Little Hans case study and how can it be explained?
Little Hans was a 5 yr old boy who gained a phobia of horses after seeing one collapse in the street.
It is suggested by Freud that the fear of castration experienced during the Oedipus complex was displaced onto horses
What are some advantages of using the psychodynamic approach?
+Can explain many aspects of behaviour
+Has influenced treatment of certain mental health issues with the emergence of psychoanalysis
What are some disadvantages of using the psychodynamic approach?
- Relies too much on case studies rather consistent evidence
- The fact that many of these processes are unconscious means that it is impossible to prove or disprove
- Psychoanalysis can be considered dangerous in some cases
- Very deterministic “psychic determinism”
