Psychodynamic Approach

Question 1

Conscious

Answer 1

The tip of the iceberg’. Mental activity we have full awareness of including easily recalled memories, motivations, etc.

Question 2

Preconscious

Answer 2

Mental processes just below the conscious ‘surface’.
- contains memories and stored knowledge that can be recalled to consciousness under particular circumstances

Question 3

Unconscious

Answer 3

This is the largest part of the mind and contains our inner drives, unconscious struggles and conflicts, repressed experiences and anxieties.
-The underlying unconscious drive is sexual.
-Unacceptable sexual or aggressive thoughts, painful memories, irrational desires are all buried within the unconscious mind.
-comprises mental processes that are inaccessible to consciousness but that influence judgments, feelings, or behaviour.

Question 4

Frued

Answer 4

-suggests the unconscious mind is the primary source of the human behaviour
-he believes dreams contain hidden desires and material (unconscious) can leak out during dreams
-believes personality has 3 main components (id,ego,superego)

Question 5

Id

Answer 5

instinctual basis of personality present from birth, which drives us to satisfy our biological needs and is driven particularly by s_____ and a_____________. It works on the p____________________ p_____________________ which is instinctive urge to seek p_______________ and avoid pain . It focuses on the self and is often irrational and emotional. It seeks immediate gratification, responding directly and immediately to basic urges, needs, and desires. It is the unconscious part of the mind.

Question 6

Ego

Answer 6

the r_____________ planning part of personality, which mediates the demands of the id and superego. Appears from around age 2, child learns that they can’t always have what they want. This works on the r___________ principle which tries to meet the id’s needs but in a socially acceptable / realistic way (the conscious part of the mind). The ego works out realistic ways to satisfy the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society. Defence mechanisms are employed by the ego to protect the conscious mind from unpleasant experiences.

Question 7

superego

Answer 7

the moral aspects of personality, which develops around age 3-6. It acts as the conscience or moral guide, is based on parental and societal values and is largely within the unconscious part of the mind. If the _________ was in charge, behaviour would be pleasure seeking, with little regard for moral values. If the ______________ was dominant, the person would be ruled by guilt towards even socially acceptable pleasures.

Question 8

defence mechanisms

Answer 8

Defence mechanisms operate at an unconscious level and help ward off such unpleasant feelings (i.e. anxiety) or to deal with unresolvable conflict that exists. They are an unconscious method that aim to reduce anxiety and protect the ego from threatening material.

Question 9

Repression

Answer 9

this is when the unconscious blocks unacceptable thoughts and impulses from your conscious mind. This then prevents the conscious mind having to think about the issue (eg sexual abuse or trauma) and might, in the short-term, reduce feelings of guilt or anxiety associated with the event

Question 10

denial

Answer 10

This is a refusal to accept reality of a situation to avoid any painful feelings that might be associated with that event. The person acts as if the traumatic event has not happened – something that those around them find to be quite bizarre

Question 11

displacement

Answer 11

directing a strong emotion away from the target onto a neutral object or person. These emotions, thoughts and feelings are directed towards a third party rather than towards the individual who caused them. The third party is often a helpless /innocent victim or object.

Question 12

psychosexual stages of development

Answer 12

• oral stage. (birth to 1 1/2 years)
  -anal stage. (1 1/2 to 3 years
  -phallic stage (3 to 6 years)
  -latency. (6years to puberty)
  -genital. (puberty onward)

Question 13

frueds beliefs about psychosexual development

Answer 13

Freud proposed that personality development in childhood takes place during five psychosexual stagesl.
-During each stage sexual energy (libido) is expressed in different ways and through different parts of the body.
-As a person grows physically certain areas of their body become important as sources of potential frustration (erogenous zones), pleasure or both.

Question 14

Oral Stage

Answer 14

-infants pleasure centres on mouth

-fixation consequences=
Nail-biting, smoking, gum-chewing, and excessive drinking.

Question 15

Anal Stage

Answer 15

-childs pleasure focuses on anus

-fixation consequences=
Harsh potty training is thought to cause adults to be anal retentive: perfectionists, obsessed with cleanliness, and controlling.
Liberal training, on the other hand, is said to cause a person to be anal expulsive: messy, disorganized, oversharing, and having poor boundaries.

Question 16

Phallic Stage

Answer 16

-Childs pleasure focuses on genitals

-fixation consequence=
Fixation at the phallic stage develops a phallic character, who is reckless, resolute, self-assured, and narcissistic–excessively vain and proud. The failure to resolve the conflict can also cause a person to be afraid or incapable of close love; Freud also suggested that fixation here could be a root cause of homosexuality.

Question 17

Latency Stage

Answer 17

-child represses sexual interest and develops social and intellectual skills

-fixation consequence=
Not a stage as such, but if you fail to pass through the result would be an immaturity and an inability to form fulfilling relationships as an adult

Question 18

Genital Stage

Answer 18

-a time of sexual reawakening;source of sexual pleasure becomes someone outside the family

-fixation consequences=
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

Question 19

Eros and Thanatos

Answer 19

• We possess innate ‘drives’ (or ‘instincts’) that ‘energize’ our minds to motivate behaviour as we develop through our lives. Drives create psychic energy that can build up and cause tension and anxiety if it is not released.

According to Sigmund Freud, there are only two basic drives that serve to motivate all thoughts, emotions, and behavior. These two drives are, simply put, sex and aggression. Also called Eros and Thanatos, or life and death, respectively, they underlie every motivation we as humans experience