Psychodynamic approach Flashcards
Approaches to psychology
What is the psychodynamic approach?
Describes the different forces that operate on the mind (mainly unconscious), and direct human behaviour
What is the unconscious?
The part of the mind that we are unaware of but which directs much of our behaviour
What are the three parts of the structure of personality?
Id
Ego
Superego
What is the structure of personality?
Includes the three pieces that describe personality
What is the preconscious?
Part of the mind, which contains thoughts and memories that are not currently in conscious awareness, but can be accessed
What are psychosexual stages?
Freud claimed that child development happens in 5 stages- the psychosexual stages
What is the first psychosexual stage?
Oral (0-1 years)
Focus of pleasure is the mouth
Mother’s breast is the object of desire
Consequence= oral fixation
What is the second psychosexual stage?
Anal (1-3 years)
Focus of pleasure is the anus
Child gains pleasure from expelling and withholding faeces
Consequence= anal retentive- perfectionist, obsessive, anal expulsive- thoughtless, messy
What is the third psychosexual stage?
Phallic (3-6 years)
Focus of pleasure is the genital area
Consequence= phallic personality- narcissistic, reckless
What is the fourth psychosexual stage?
Latency (10 years-puberty)
Earlier conflicts are repressed
Consequence= none
What is the fifth psychosexual stage?
Genital (puberty)
Sexual desires become conscious alongside onset puberty
Consequence= difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
What are the three main defence mechanisms?
Displacement
Denial
Repression
What is displacement?
Diverting emotions from their original source, towards a less dangerous one
What is denial?
Refusing to believe events or admit they are experiencing certain emotions that provoke anxiety
What is repression?
Preventing unacceptable desires, motivations or emotions from being conscious
What is the ID?
Primitive, operates on pleasure
Biological component
Selfish principle
What is the EGO?
Based on reality, mediator
Psychological component
Rational principle
What is the SUPEREGO?
Morality, phallic stage
Social component
Moral principle
What are the strengths of the psychodynamic approach?
- Explains wide range of principles
- Connects childhood experiences to later developments
- Real-world application
- Introduced the idea of psychotherapy
What are the limitations of the psychodynamic approach?
- Untestable (lacking in scientific credibility)
- Not open to empirical testing
- Subjective studies
- Ignores concept of free will
- Cannot be applied to all mental disorders
What are some of the principles explained by the psychodynamic approach?
- Personality development
- Origins of psychological disorders
- Moral development
- Gender identity
What is the oedipus complex?
Occurs in the phallic stage, little boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother, and murderous feelings towards their father
What is the electra complex?
Young girls develop penis envy towards their father- this is later replaced by the desire to have a baby
What are the psychodynamic contributions to modern society?
- Understanding of importance of early childhood on personality (Bowlby’s theory of monotropy- attachment to caregiver)
- Understanding of child development in stages (Piaget’s theory of cognitive development)
- Understanding psychoses and developing the ‘talking cure’ (psychoanalysis- dream therapy)
What was the study of Little Hans?
- Hans wanted his father and sister to go away= unconscious sexual desire for mother
- fear of being bitten by horses= fear of castration (repression)
- Dreams of wiping children’s bottoms= fixated in anal stage (denial)
- Dream that ‘widdler’ had been replaced with a pipe= resolution to oedipus complex- wanted to be a man like his father
Strength-
I= Real world application- introduced idea of psychotherapy
D= Freud brought about psychoanalysis- first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically not physically. Techniques like dream analysis used to access the unconscious- claims to bring repressed emotions into conscious mind. Forerunner to talking-therapies like counselling
E= Shows the value of psychodynamic in creating a new approach to treatment
Limitation-
I= Downsides to psychoanalysis
D= Inappropriate and harmful for those experiencing serious mental disorders, like schizophrenia. Symptoms (paranoia, delusional thinking) mean those with the disorder have lost a grip on reality and cannot articulate thoughts, as required by psychoanalysis
E= Suggests Freudian theory cannot apply to all mental disorders
Strength-
I= Good ability to explain human behaviour
D= Psychodynamic approach used to explain wide range of phenomena, including personality disorders, moral development, gender identity. Important in drawing attention to connections between childhood experiences to later development (e.g: parental relationships)
E= Suggests the approach had a positive effect on psychology
Limitation-
I= Uses untestable concepts
D= Popper argues psychodynamic approach does not meet criteria of falsification. Not open to empirical testing. Freud’s concepts (e.g: Oedipus concept) occur at an unconscious level, so are hard to test. Ideas (e.g: little Hans) are based on subjective concepts
E= Suggests Freud’s theory was pseudoscientific, not established fact
Psycho determinism
Strength-
- Advocates psychic determinism- we are slaves to out past, so behaviour and personality is hugely mapped out. Freud regards free will as an illusion
Limitation-
- Represents too extreme of a view. Early childhood influences our behaviour, but idea that we are determined by early year conflicts is too extreme and leaves no room for free will
