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AQA A level Psych p2-Approaches > Psychodynamic approach > Flashcards

Psychodynamic approach Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the psychodyamic approach and who is the father

A
  • Sigmond Freud
  • it is a perspective that describes the different focuses, most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and expereince
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2
Q

Main assumptions

A
  • unconscious mind is the driving force behind out behaviour and unconscious mind
  • eros- life instinct, helps the individual to survive, it directs life sustaining activities
  • thanatos- death insincts, a set of destructive forces present in all human beings. Freud believed that eros is stronger than Thanatos
  • childhood experiences influence on the development of adult personality
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3
Q

Freud was interested in hysteria. He concluded patients had an unconscious mind and thats where the cause of the hysteria was. He said there are three levels of consciousness. What is the conscious

A
  • the part of the mind we can access and is visible to all

- thoughts that are currently the focus of your attention

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4
Q

Freud said there are three levels of consciousness. What is the pre-conscious

A
  • made up of thoughts that could surface at any time into the conscious
  • many memories reside here as they are accesssible, but not at the forefront of our minds
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5
Q

Freud said there are three levels of consciousness. What is the unconscious

A
  • made up of memories, desires and fears which cause anxiety so have been repressed
  • we cannot access these and bring them to our conscious
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6
Q

Freud said there are three parts of the personality. What is the id

A
  • basic animal part of the personality that contains our innate, agressive and sexual instincts
  • it wants to be satisfied by whatever possible and obeys the ‘pleasure principle’
  • it accounts for unreasonable behaviour and appears at birth
  • 0-18 months
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7
Q

Freud said there are three parts of the personality. What is the ego

A
  • exists in both the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind and acts as a rational part known as the ‘reality principle’
  • develops within the first three years after birth and balances the id and the superego to keep our behaviour in line
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8
Q

Freud said there are three parts of the personality. What is the superego

A
  • both the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind
  • it is the part of the mind that takes our morals into consideration and involved in making us feel guilty
  • develops 3-6 years
  • includes ideas about how to behave and that we adopt from our parents
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9
Q

The id, ego and superego go through 5 stages of psychosexual development. What are they

A
  • oral
  • anal
  • phallic
  • latent
  • genital
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10
Q

Why do conflicts develop between the parts of the personality

A
  • Freud believed that these three different parts of consciousness can be in conflict- conflict between id and ego ebcause id wants instant satisfication and the superego tries to impose morals
  • these conflicts can lead to anxiety so ego mediates between the id and superego to reduce anxiety
  • it does this by using an unconscious defence mechanism
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11
Q

Explain the iceberg analogy

A
  • the three represent different levels of consciousness and govern the way we act and think
  • iceberg- tip of iceberg is conscious part made up of ego and superego, but majority of personality comes from the unconscious mind, below surface. Made up of the id
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12
Q

Defence mechanisms- repression

A
  • unpleasant memory is pushed into the unconscious mind where it is not accessible to the conscious mind and cannot cause anxiety
  • does still affect behaviour in the unconscious mind
  • effect on behaviour- no recall of event/situation
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13
Q

Defence mechanisms- denial

A
  • refusal to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation. Reduces anxiety caused by the situation
  • someone may believe the situation is not negative and that it should not cause anxiety
  • not positive thinking- resistance to accept reality
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14
Q

Defence mechanisms- displacement

A
  • when the focus of a strong emotion is expressed onto a neutral person or object- reudes anxiety by allowing expression of that emotion
  • someone may exhibit very strong emotion but focus it onto an uninvoved person or object
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15
Q

Defence mechanisms- projection

A
  • when an individual may attribute their undesirable characteristucs onto others e.g. someone who is unfriendly may accuse other people of being unfriendly
  • the individual is able to distance themselves from said attributes/behaviours
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16
Q

Freud believed early expereinecs influenced development. He proposed there are 5 stages of development. What is the oral stage

A
  • 0-18 months

- focus for pleasure and gratification is the mouth- biting and sucking

17
Q

Freud believed early expereinecs influenced development. He proposed there are 5 stages of development. What is the anal stage

A
  • 18 months to 3 years
  • keeping or discharging faeces
  • if a child loves potty then the child is thought to be in the anally expulsive stage
18
Q

Freud believed early expereinecs influenced development. He proposed there are 5 stages of development. What is the phallic stage

A
  • 3-6 years
  • focus for pleasure moved to the genitals from the anus
  • boys experience Oedipus and girls experience Electra comples
  • boys experience intense sexual feelings for mother
  • girls develop penis envy
19
Q

Freud believed early expereinecs influenced development. He proposed there are 5 stages of development. What is the latent stage

A
  • 6-11 years
  • the libido is displaced throughout the body and it is a calm time in development with no complexes
  • repressed sexual urges
20
Q

-Freud believed early expereinecs influenced development. He proposed there are 5 stages of development. What is the genital stage

A
  • 12 years onwards
  • awakened sexual urges
  • libido focused on the genitals
21
Q

Explain how a child may become fixated at a stage

A
  • each stage focuses on obtaining pleasure through a certain part of the body
  • how a parent rause a child affects how much pleasure is obtained through that stage
  • if a child doesn’t recieve enough pleasure or too much during a stage of development, they will become fixated at that stage e.g. oral stage might bite nails
  • this experience is repressed into the unconscious but influences adult personality. Severe fixation could lead to a psychological disorder
22
Q

Freud (1909)- Little Hans- method

A
  • Freud carried out a case study of a child called Hans who had a phobia of horses
  • he was observed by his father, who made note of Hans’s dreas and stuff he said
  • he passed this onto Freud
23
Q

Freud (1909)- Little Hans- results

A
  • Hans was afraid of horses because he thought they might bite him or fall on him
  • during the study he developed an interest in his ‘widdler’
  • his mum had told him not to play with it or she’d cut it off
  • Hans told dad about a dream where he was married to hismum and his dad was his grandfather
24
Q

Freud (1909)- Little Hans- conclusion

A
  • Hans had reached the phallic stage of development and showed the ‘Oedipus complex’ as he anted to have an exclusive relationship with his mother and was jealous of his father
  • Hans had sexual feelings for his mother
  • the horse symbolised dad because to Hans, they both had big penises
  • his fear of horses is displacement- a defence mechanisms that protected him from his real fear of his father
  • Hans suffered from castration anxiety so was afriad he would be castrated by his father if he had feelings for his mother
25
Q

Freud (1909)- Little Hans- evaluation

A
  • case study- provides detailed data but results cen’t be generalised
  • findings provided evidence to support Freud’s theories
  • results were based enitrely on observation and interpretation so a cause and effect relationship can’t be established
  • other explanations e.g. Hans’s anxiety may have come from mother threatening to cut his penis off
  • Freud analysed information from Hans’s father- could be biased
26
Q

How are the different fixations manifested

A
  • oral receptive- gullible, suck thumb
  • oral agressive- agressive, chew nails
  • anal retentive- tidy, stubborn, doesn’t like to spend money
  • anal expulsive- generous, likes to spend money, creative
  • phallic- vain, impulsive, anxious
27
Q

Strengths of this approach

A
  • highlights how important childhood experiences are in later development- has formed basis for other important theories
  • first theory to focus on psychological causes of disorder. Before this, the focus has been on physical causes or things like possession by evil spirits
  • offers methods of therapy which may uncover unconscious conflicts. Patients can then understand the causes of their problems, resolve them and release their anxieties
28
Q

Weaknesses of this approach

A
  • Freud’s claims are based on his subjective interpretations of his patients’s dreams therefore unreliable and open to bias
  • his theories are related to the unconscious mind- they are unfalisiable (can’t be proved wrong)
  • psychoanalysis may take a long time and be expensive. It may be emotionally distressing and inaccurate
  • focus on patient’s past rather than on the problem’s they are currently suffering
  • based on case studies- can’t be generalised

AQA A level Psych p2-Approaches (7 decks)

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