Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
Key assumptions on the psychodynamic approach
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Behaviour was determined by psychological factors rather than biological or environmental ones
Behaviour is largely controlled by the unconscious mind
Use case study methods
Believe that early childhood experience determines our behaviour and personality
Our personalities dynamic and tripartite
why did Freud suggest free will is a delusion
Freud says
Whenever we make a choice or decision, Hidden mental processes which we are unaware of and have no control over determine these choices
Psychodynamic approach
AO1
The role of the unconscious
Structure of personality
Defence mechanisms
Psychodynamic approach
AO1
The role of the unconscious
According to Freud, the unconscious mind influences our behaviours as most of our mind is made up of the unconscious
Freud uses the metaphors of an iceberg to describe the human mind
The top of the iceberg is visible
CONSCIOUS MIND
Thoughts and perceptions we are aware of
Larger bottom part of iceberg
UNCONSCIOUS MIND
Instinct and deeply buried memories we cannot become aware of but have a strong influence in behaviour.
Many of these disturbing
Completely inaccessible unless via therapy
PRECONSCIOUS MIND
thoughts and ideas we become aware of during dreams or slip of tongues.
Represents what you have stored in LTM
Can he retrieved through recall or recognition.
Psychodynamic approach
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Structure of personality
Freud described the structure of personality as TRIPARTITE - 3 parts
ID EGO SUPEREGO
ID: operates on the pleasure principle
Described as the aggressive and selfish part of the personality that demands immediate gratification
Entirely unconscious
Present from birth
Superego: Operates on Morality principle
opposite and enforced moral restrictions against ID
Develops through identification of with same sax parent - represents the moral standards of the child’s same sex parent.
Formed at phallic stage (5)
Ego: operates on reality principle
Mediator between ID and SUPEREGO
Role is to reduce conflict between 2 by enforcing defence mechanisms.
Develops at age 2
Psychodynamic approach
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Defence mechanisms
Ego uses defence mechanisms to manage conflict between ID and SUPEREGO.
to prevent painful upsetting and disturbing unconscious thoughts becoming conscious and into awareness.
Included REPRESSION DENIAL AND DISPLACEMENT
DISPLACEMENT: transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion on a substitute object
DENIAL refusing to accept some aspects of reality
REPRESSION forcing distressing memory into unconscious to prevent feeling too much anxiety .
People with over strong Id with excessive use of defence mechanisms = increasingly detached from reality = psychological disorders
Psychodynamic approach
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Psychosexual stages
5 developmental stages that all children pass through. At each stage there is a different conflict, the outcome of which determines future development .
ORAL 0-1
ANAL 2-3
PHALLIC 4-5
LATENT - 6-11
GENUTAL - 12+
What sort of personality was someone have if they have a week superego
Selfish
not think about consequences of their actions
What sort of personality would someone have if they have a strong superego
Selfless
have strong morals
but might always feel guilty
What are defence mechanisms
Used by the ego to event painful upsetting or disturbing thoughts and conflicts becoming conscious or into awareness
unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflicts between id and the superego
What are the characteristics of the oral stage
Mouth is the first area to be associated with gratification because of feeling
If weaning is not handled sensitively individuals with be fixated at this stage
bite their nails, suck their thumb, smoke cigarettes
(Oral character)
ID: 0 to 1 years
What are the characteristics of the anal stage
Gratification comes from expelling and with holding faeces
if toilet training isn’t handled sensitively and individual be fixated at this stage and
be excessively organised, tidy, concerned with bodily cleanliness
may also be mean and stubborn (anal character)
EGO & ID (2-3)
What are the characteristics of the phallic stage
Gratification gained from the genital area of the body
the important developmental process is the development of gender identity through the Oedipus and Electra complexes
fixation may result in adult always looking for a mother figure or homosexuality
(4-5 SUPEREGO)
What are the characteristics of the latency stage
A period of relative calm and which ego defence mechanisms are developed fixations not normally occur this stage
6 to 12yes
What are the characteristics of the genital stage
Gratification is associated with sexual relationships
sexual desire becomes conscious with the onset of puberty
(13-18)
What is the Oedipus complex
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Boy starts to develop sexual desire for his mother
Boy in state of conflict fearing his father will castrate him he presses desire
Instead identifies with father and takes on his gender role and moral values
Internalises fathers superego to avoid castration
What is Electra complex
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Girl realises she has no penis
blames her mother
starts to sexually desire father who has one
Girl realises she can’t have father nor penis so replaces desire for desire for a baby
In doing so identifies with mother takes on her gender roles and moral values
Internalises her mother superego in order to have own child
How do psychoanalysts study behaviour
Case studies
Little Hans case study
Feared
Freud explanation
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Feared horse would bite him
Freud explained PHOBIA as resulting from Oedipus Electra complex and the egos use of the defence mechanism “displacement”
He claimed that he had displaced his fear of castration by his father due to having sexual thoughts about his mother into another object - horses biting him
Evaluation of psychodynamic approach
Psychic determinatistic
Practical application
Case study method
Evaluation of psychodynamic approach
Limitation Psychic determinatistic
Approach explains all behaviour even accidents as determined by unconscious conflicts that are routed in childhood such that any free will we think we may is an illusion
Even something as random as a slip of tongue is driven by unconscious
Limitation as it ignores crucial influences on our behaviour such as free will - incomplete explanation
Evaluation of psychodynamic approach
Strength : practical application
Offers a therapy called psychoanalysis
Which may uncover unconscious conflicts
Patient can then understand causes to problems and release their anxieties
This is a strength as it is seen as a fore-runner to modern psychotherapists.
Although Freudian therapies may have claimed success in many patients, have been criticised as inappropriate for people suffering mental disorders such as schizophrenia.
Limitation not appropriate for all.
Evaluation of psychodynamic approach
Strength Based on case studies
Freud’s theory based on intensive cause studies of single individuals who were often in therapy
Detailed and carefully recorded
- strength qualitative data
However, based on small individuals who were psychologically abnormal
Furthermore, Freud interpretations unlikely to be matched to any other researchers conclusions
Limitations lacks generalisability and scientific credibility.
