Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
What are 3 assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
- Behaviour is influenced by unconscious forces
- The imporagncd of early childhood experiences
- A focus on the whole person
What is Freud’s theory of the mind?
He compared the mind to an iceberg. The top which sits above the water represents the conscious mind, the part we access, whereas the part below the water represents the pre conscious and unconscious
What is free association?
A process where the unconscious can be accessed
What does the human personality consist of?
- Id
- Ego
- Superego
What is the id?
Present from birth, it is completely unconscious and is the pleasure principle, it seeks satisfaction
What is the ego?
Develops at about 2 years to meet the demands of the id in a socially acceptable way, it is conscious and is the reality principle
What is the superego?
Develops at about 5 years, during the phallic stage, it’s is unconscious and is the morality principle, has a sense of right and wrong
What does a well adjusted person develop?
A strong ego so that she or he can cope with this internal, unconscious conflict through the use of ego defence mechanism which help to keep the conflict locked in the unconscious
What happens if a persons ego is weak?
They would not be able to manage the internal conflict which could possibly lead to psychological disorders
What are the 3 defence mechanisms?
- Repression
- Denial
- Displacement
What is repression?
Pushing memories into the unconscious so they appear forgotten
What is denial?
Refusing or rejecting reality
What is displacement?
Feelings are redirected to an alternative safer place
What are the 5 psychosexual stages?
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genitals
What happens in the oral stage?
Mouth satisfaction gained from putting things in the mouth so feeding is important
What are personality traits from the oral stage?
- Under gratified: smoking, aggressive, eating when stressed
- Over gratified: gullible, dependant on others
What happens in the anal stage?
Anus pleasure gained from bowel movements, conflict arises when parents demand that the child is toilet trained
What are personality traits from the anal stage?
- Under gratified: difficulty expressing emotions, obsessed with cleanliness
- Over gratified: messy, disorganised, lack of respect
What happens during the phallic stage?
Child has unconscious sexual desires for the opposite sex parent and fears punishment from the same sex parent for the desires, this causes conflict
What are personality traits from the phallic stage?
The individual may have problems with sex and their sexual identity in the future. Freud believe unresolved conflict could lead to homosexuality
What happens in the latency stage?
This is a time of consolidation and rest. During this stage the conflicts and issues of the previous stages are repressed with the consequences that children are unable to remember
What happens in the genitals stage?
The individual becomes interested in the opposite sex
What are the personality traits of the genitals stage?
If fixtations have formed in the first five years they begin to emerge and exert their influence on personality
What was Little Hans?
He had a phobia of horses, Freud believed that the boy had displaced fear of his father on horses as he was expiring the oedipus complex
What are 3 evaluation points?
- Less scientific than other approaches
- Highlights links between childhood experiences and adult characteristics
- Uses case studies
