Psychodynamic Appr Flashcards
What des the psychodynamic approach believe?
Believes our behaviour is influenced by emotions that are beyond our conscious awareness, buried into our unconscious mind as a result of events in early childhood, which may have been traumatic.
What are the psychodynamic approach assumptions?
Influence of childhood experiences
The unconscious mind
Tripartite personality
What are the psychosexual stages?
development stages that freud argued psychological development in childhood takes place in.
Expenses during childhood shape our adult personality
Each stage represents the fixation of libido on a different area of the body
What can problems at stage of psychosexual development lead to?
Fixation (stuck) at the body part associated with that stage, which will have long-lasting effects on personality
What are the 5 psychosexual stages?
oral - (0 -18 months)
Anal - (18 - 3 years)
Phallic - (3 - 5 years)
Latency - (5 years - puberty)
Genitals (puberty onwards)
How can fixation through stages occur though?
Frustration - stage hasn’t been resolved as needed haven’t been met, e.g. child is under-satisfied
Overindulgence - the needs of the child have been more than satisfied, the result = child feels to comfortable & reluctant to move on to the next stage.
What are the key events for each psych-stage?
O= breast feeding, weaning onto solid food
A= Potty training
Ph= the Oedipus complex leads to superego & gender identity
L= Acquiring knowledge and understanding of the world.
What are the origins of libido for each psych-stage?
0= mouth; sucking, chewing, swallowing, biting.
A= anus; withholding, expelling, playing with faeces.
Ph= genitals; masturbation
L= little/no sexual motivation
G= genitals; heterosexual intercourse
what are the outcomes of fixation for each stage?
O-F = pessimism, envy,sarcasm
O = neediness, optimism, gullibility
A-F = stubborn, possessive, overly tidy.
O= messy, disorganised, reckless
Ph - self-assured, vain, problems with sexuality, difficulty building /maintaining relationships in adulthood.
How does the maternal deprivation hypothesis affect relationships?
The relationship acts as a prototype for all future relationships, its disruption would impair the persons ability to relate to others.
The first 2 1/2 years are especially important but theres continuing sensitivity up to the age of 5 yrs
How does one in denial of their sexuality form relationships?
try to form relationships which aren’t in line with their true feelings; resulting in these relationships being dysfunctional & eventually breaking down.
How do defence mechanisms affect relationships?
They affect our overall personality & will inevitably affect our relationships
Those in dishonest relationships may deal with their guilt through rationalisation
What is the maternal deprivation hypothesis?
the view that the ability to form meaningful social relationships in adulthood was dependent on a close, warm & continuous relationship with the mother in the first few years of one’s life.
What are other examples of defence mechanisms?
Displacement (transfer of impulses from 1 person/object to another
Projection (undesirable thoughts are attributed to someone else)
Repression (pushing painful memories deep down into unconscious mind to effectively forget them)
What is the boy example of ego defences?
Cannot deal with what he perceives as maternal rejection when a new baby brother is born.
May regress to an earlier developmental stage, soiling his clothes & becoming more helpless.
What is the superego, what is its aim?
forms at around 4 yrs, embodying a Childs sense of right and wrong as well as their ideal self
seeks to perfect + civilise our behaviour
learned through identification with one’s parents or others.
How do the tripartite personalities interact?
The id & superego are often in conflict.
the ego acts as a referee by resolving the conflict and considering consequences of a persons actions.
How are unresolved conflicts presented, why?
show up in our fantasies and dreams
they appear in disguised forms, in the shape of symbols as the conflicts are so threatening
What does freud believe the U.M determines?
much of our behaviour + we are motivated by unconscious emotional drives
the unconscious contains unresolved conflicts that have a powerful effect on our behaviour and experience
What is the ego defence mechanisms?
the ego protects itself with ego defences that can be the cause of disturbed behaviour if they’re overused
This is because conflicts between all tripartle’s create anxiety
What does Freud compare the mind to?
an iceberg- much of what goes on inside the mind lies under the surface
this is the preconscious and unconscious
What is the unconscious mind?
Not logical, ruled by pleasure seeking
Cannot be directly accessed, but expresses itself indirectly through, e.g. dreams
What is the ego, what is its aim?
conscious/rational part of mind, developing around 2 years
works out realistic ways of balancing the demands of the id in a socially acceptable way
governed by the reality principle
What is the id, what is its aim?
impulsive/ unconscious part of personality, present at birth
pleasure principle = demands satisfaction
Aims to gain pleasure and gratification at any cost
assumption 3
the tripartite personality:
- freud believed that the adult personalty is structured into 3 parts that develop at different stages in our lives. e.g. the ID = impulsive (=unconscious) part of personality, present at birth. It demands immediate satisfaction referred to as the pleasure participle. ID main aim = gain pleasure and gratification at any cost
Ego=conscious, rational part of the mind developing at around age of 2 yrs. function = work out realistic ways of balancing the demands of the id in a socially acceptable way. Governed by the reality principle.
Superego= last part of mind to develop. Forming around age of 4yrs. Embodies the child’s sense of right and wrong as well as their ideal self. Superego seeks to perfect and civilise our behav. Learned through identification with parents and others.
id + superego = often in conflict (battle of right snd wrong). Thus, the ego acts as a referee to resolve the conflict considering the consequences of a persons actions. Although described as a structural model, these 3 parts are symbolic processes.
assumption 2
assumption 1
-freud believed that experiences during childhood share our adult personality. Proposing that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of developmental stages called psychosexual stages each representing the fixation of libido on a diff area of the body.
There are 5 psychosexual stages; oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. Problems at any stage of development can result in the child getting fixated at the body part associated with that stage, having a long term effect on personality. Fixation at any of these stages can occur through frustration, or overindulgence.
Compare and contrast the behaviourist and psychodynamic approaches in terms of their similarities and differences. [10]
successfully applied: similarity
psychodynamic - this approach highlights that childhood is a critical period in development; meaning who we are + become is greatly influenced by childhood experiences. Freud was the first to recognise that psychological factors could be used to explain physical symptoms like paralysis. Psychoanalysis was influenced by F, widely used to ppl overcome psychological problems (needs evidence to support). Generally this approach is useful for helping understand mental health problems e.g. it can be caused by childhood trauma +/or UC conflicts.
behaviourist - behav. principles have been applied in real world, most notably - treating mental disorders + in education. E.g. classical conditioning principles have been applied in aversion therapy to help ppl with additions + in S.D. to help ppl with phobias. In education, operant conditioning underlines successful learning strategies like reinforcement to help shape behav.
reductionist + over simplified:
psychodynamic - accused of ‘mechanic reductionism’ as it simplifies complex human behav to the mechanics of the mind and early childhood experiences. So, it ignores other important influences on behav. like biochem + genetics. E.g. during 50s/60s, a main explanation for autism = some mothers were very distant from their children (‘refrigerator mum’) + autism was a withdrawl from lack of involvement. This was an oversimplification of autism. Therefore, a weakness of this approach = oversimplification + ignorance over other important factors.
scientific approach:
Behaviourist - behaviourism = 1st introduced ed by John.b Watson, recognising that Parlov’s work on conditioned reflexes could be used to create a really objective, + therefore scientific, psychology. Behaviourism embodies the truly scientific approach, seeking to study behav that’s observable + operationalised in terms of stimulus and response behav. Behaviourists believe we can analyse, quantify + compare behav. through the use of science.
Using examples from psychology, describe two assumptions of the psychodynamic approach. [4 + 4]
influence of childhood experiences:
-freud believed that experiences during childhood share our adult personality. Proposing that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of developmental stages called psychosexual stages each representing the fixation of libido on a diff area of the body.
There are 5 psychosexual stages; oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. Problems at any stage of development can result in the child getting fixated at the body part associated with that stage, having a long term effect on personality. Fixation at any of these stages can occur through frustration, or overindulgence.
Tripartite personality:
- freud believed that the adult personalty is structured into 3 parts that develop at different stages in our lives. e.g. the ID = impulsive (=unconscious) part of personality, present at birth. It demands immediate satisfaction referred to as the pleasure participle. ID main aim = gain pleasure and gratification at any cost
Ego=conscious, rational part of the mind developing at around age of 2 yrs. function = work out realistic ways of balancing the demands of the id in a socially acceptable way. Governed by the reality principle.
Superego= last part of mind to develop. Forming around age of 4yrs. Embodies the child’s sense of right and wrong as well as their ideal self. Superego seeks to perfect and civilise our behav. Learned through identification with parents and others.
id + superego = often in conflict (battle of right snd wrong). Thus, the ego acts as a referee to resolve the conflict considering the consequences of a persons actions. Although described as a structural model, these 3 parts are symbolic processes.
Describe the procedures of Watson and Rayner’s (1920) research ‘Conditioned emotional reactions’. (8)
responses were recorded with motion picture camera.
emotional tests on his response to certain objects; white rat, rabbit, dog, monkey, mask with hair + without, cotton wool, e.t.c (different times) - it was first time seeing these objects
then tested with loud sound (hammer on steel bar). length=2m, diameter = 2cm
one experiment got al’s attention, the other created the sound.
Establishing a CER (stage 1): white rat presented to 11M, 3D y/o Al who started to reach for it, as the sound came simultaneously.
Testing the CER (stage 2): 11M, 10D y/o Al shown rat with no sound to see if stage 1 affected his behav.
He was exposed to joint stimulation 5 times.
Stage 3: Generalisation
11M 15D y/o Al variously presented with rat, wooden blocks, rabbit, dog, seal fear coat, cotton wool, & Watsons hair to see if his learned feared link generalised to other objects
Changing the environment: (stage 4)
11M 20D y/o Al’s CER was ‘freshened’ using some j.s.
then taken to a new environment = large well-lit lecture room with 4 ppl + placed on the table in the centre
The effect of time (stage 5):
12M 21D y/o Al at the lab in the interim but no emotional tests conducted. Final test involved Santa mask, fur coat, rat, rabbit, dog, and the blocks.
Identify and explain two strengths of the biological approach. (4+4)
scientific
B.A. = explained in terms of brain, neurotransmitters, and localisation of brain function meaning B explanations have clear variables that can be measured, tracked, + examined. This enables psychologists to conduct scientific research studying these variables. E.g. research on drug therapy has investigated the links between psychoactive drugs + the production of certain neurotransmitters + linked to this behaviour.
Raine et al made use of PET scans to compare 14 areas of the brain in NGRI with non murderers. These are scientific insofar as they fulfil the aims of scientific research - to conduct objective, well-controlled studies + to demonstrate causal relationships. A strength of B.A. is that it lends itself to scientific research that can then be used to support biological explanations.
succesful applications:
B.A. has led to many successful applications like research into the relationship between abnormal levels of neurotransmitters + criminal behav. has implications for offering pharmalogical treatments to criminals, leading to decreases in recidivism rates + safer societies. e.g. Cherek et al 2002 = males with conduct disorder + criminal behaviour has low levels of aggression + impulsivity after a 21 day course of a SSRI antidepressant compound to a control group taking placebo. Shows how B.A explanations lead to treatments that are scientific, easily administrated, and widely successful.
similarities between psychodynamic and behaviourist
determinism
similarities both deterministic:
psychodynamic - Freud saw infant behav. as determined by innate forces (libido) + adult behav as determined by childhood experiences. So, it follows that we have no free will in who we become/how we behave. This is deterministic as it sees our personality as pre-determined by forces that we cannot change/don’t have a choice about - as humans we have no free will when it comes to our personality. This is a weakness as we are able to change the way we behave if we want to. This view may give ppl a plausible excuse for behaving unreasonably/ an excuse for criminal behaviour, implying ppl cannot be held responsible for their own behav.
Behaviourist - app believes behav is only influenced by associations made between certain environment stimulus/ reinforcement provided by our environment
It doesn’t consider thought processes, suggesting we aren’t making a choice when we behave, undermining the choice of free will. Implications of this = ppl are not responsible for their behav + should be punished to change instead’ve being taught to think responsibly.
