Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
What is the key assumption of the psychodynamic approach?
That most behaviours are caused by the unconscious mind, and most of the mind is unconscious
Freud suggests that personality contains a tripartite structure, consisting of…
Id, ego, super-ego
What is the id, and what part of the mind is it? Present from?
Desire for instant gratification (pleasure principle) .
It causes impulses and urges.
It is part of the unconcious mind
Present from birth
What is the super-ego? What part of the mind? Age?
Responsible for following rules and morals. (morality principle)
Concious, preconcious and unconcious mind
3-5 years
What is the ego? What part of mind? Present from?
(Reality principle), maximise pleasure and minimise pain
2-4 years old
What is the ego? What part of mind? Present from?
Reality principle, maximise pleasure and minimise pain
2-4 years old
What are the psychosexual stages?
Oral - pleasure of mouth (0-18 months) UC- biting nails/ smoking
Anal - faces - pleasure of anus (18 months - 3 years) UC - narcisstic/ reckless
Phallic - sexual urge (3-6 years) UC- female jealous/ male obsessed
Latency - repressed sexual (6-12 years)
Genital stage - awakened urges (12+) UC- inability to form heterosexul relationships
Outline the defence mechanisms
Repression - moving a traumatic memory to the unconcious mind
Denial - refusing to accept the reality of a situation
Displacement - when an individual transfers negative feelings from one person or thing to another
3 AO1s
Personality, defence mechanisms, psychosexual stages
What are the 4 AO3s
AO3- Impact of childhood on developing personality Hammersley et al 2003 (+)
AO3- Case studies Freud 1909 (-)
AO3- Positive practical applications (+)
AO3 - Lacks falsifiability (-)
AO3- Impact of childhood on developing personality (+)
Hammersley et al. (2003) assessed different types of hallucinatory experiences and found an association with child trauma in 96 participants receiving treatment for bipolar disorder.
connections -> mental health and childhood -> utility
AO3- Case studies (-)
E: For instance, the study by Freud (1909) focuses on Little Hans’ Phobia on horses.
not universal -> extrapolate to every human -> population validity -> question usefullness
AO3- Positive practical applications (+)
E: For example, Lewis (1992) found that out of 140 college students, those with clinical levels of depressive symptoms scored significantly higher on the oral pessimism questionnaire than the remaining sample.
practical value -> reintegrate -> treat disorders -> credibility
AO3 - Lacks falsifiability (-)
Adrian Furnham described that approach as “unscientific nonsense”
empirical -> unconcious directly observed -> unfalsifiable
