psychodynamic approach

Question 1

what are the four parts of the psychodynamic approach

Answer 1

• the role of the unconscious
• structure of personality
• psychosexual stages
• defence mechanisms

Question 2

what is psychic determinism

Answer 2

this is an idea that all behaviour is cause by unconscious internal conflicts, over which we have no control

Question 3

three levels of consciousness

Answer 3

conscious mind, preconscious mind, unconscious mind

Question 4

conscious mind

Answer 4

what we are directly aware of

Question 5

pre-conscious mind

Answer 5

not directly aware of but can be accessed/revealed through dreaming

Question 6

unconscious mind

Answer 6

the part we are completely unaware of, inferences can be made through the psychoanalysis (analysing symbols in dreams
the unconscious stores our biological drives and instincts (eg hunger) as well as disturbing thoughts repressed from the conscious

Question 7

ways of accessing the unconscious mind

Answer 7

dream analysis
free association

Question 8

two features of dream analysis

Answer 8

the manifest content
latent content
a therapist interperets the dreams in order to provide insight about what the dream really represents

Question 9

what is manifest and latent content

Answer 9

manifest content is the dream as it appears to the dreamer
latent content is the hidden meaning behind the dream

Question 10

free association

Answer 10

the patient is encouraged to relax
then the therapist reads a list of words (eg mother, childhood) and the patient immediately responds with the first word that comes to mind
it is hoped that fragments of repressed memories will emerge in the course of free association

Question 11

freuds tripartite personality is made up of three components

Answer 11

Id, ego and superego

Question 12

the Id

Answer 12

the id operates on the pleasure principles
the id is the selfish beast of the personality
it is contained in the unconscious part of the mind

Question 13

the superego

Answer 13

the superego operates on the morality principle
the superego is the consciece
the superego opposes the desires of the id. the superego is in constant conflict with the id
it is formed at the end of the phallic stage
contains the child’s internalised sense of right and wrong

Question 14

the ego

Answer 14

the ego operates on the reality principle
the ego is the executive of the personality
the ego uses its cognitive abilities to manage and control the id and balance its desires against the restrictions of reality and the superego

Question 15

the balance between the id and the superego

Answer 15

the ego needs to balance the demands of the id and superego
if this fails it may result in conflicts and psychological disorders

Question 16

what does the ego use to protect the unconscious from id-superego conflicts

Answer 16

defence mechanisms (unconscious strategies)

Question 17

three defence mechanisms

Answer 17

repression, denial, displacement

Question 18

repression

Answer 18

forcing a distressing memory from the conscious mind into the unconscious

Question 19

denial

Answer 19

refusing to believe something because it is too painful to acknowledge the reality

Question 20

displacement

Answer 20

transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target

Question 21

what happens if we overuse defence mechanisms

Answer 21

the ego can become increasingly detached from reality and in time can cause a psychological disorder

psychoanalysis aims to understand defences and unconscious motives driving self-defence behaviours

Question 22

what is psychosexual development

Answer 22

children pass through a series of age-dependent stages during development
each stage has a designated “pleasure zone” and “primary activity”
each stage requires resolution of a particular conflict
failure to successfully navigate a stage’s particular conflict is known as fixation - leaving some energy in a stage

Question 23

5 stages of psychosexual development

Answer 23

oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

Question 24

oral stage:
age, focus of libido, development, and adult fixation example

Answer 24

0-1
mouth
weaning off of breast feeding
smoking, biting nails

Question 25

anal stage:
age, focus of libido, development, and adult fixation example

Answer 25

1-3
anus
toilet training
orderliness, messiness

Question 26

phallic stage:
age, focus of libido, development, and adult fixation example

Answer 26

3-6
genitals
resolving oedipus/electra complex
deviancy, sexual dysfunction

Question 27

latency stage:
age, focus of libido, development, and adult fixation example

Answer 27

6-12
none
developing defence mechanisms
none

Question 28

genital stage:
age, focus of libido, development, and adult fixation example

Answer 28

12+
genitals
reaching full sexual maturity
if all stages were successfully completed then the person should be sexually matured and mentally healthy

Question 29

strengths of psychodynamic approach (practical application)

Answer 29

practical applications:
therapy called psychoanalysis based in freuds psychodynamic approach
psychoanalysis can help treat emotional problems by exploring their unconscious causes. the psychoanalyst helps the client explore their own dreams and childhood memories and work out what they mean. lean about defence mechanisms they are using and unresolved conflicts in their unconscious

Question 30

supporting evidence - case study

Answer 30

little hans:
(freuds interpretation)
fear of horsed symbolic for fear of father
white horses, blinkers and noseband symbolic for pale skin, glasses and moustache
dreams and fantasies symbolic for resolution of conflict (oedipus complex)

Question 31

weakness of case study method

Answer 31

generalisability - freud based his entire theory of the oedipus complex on one boy (little hans) so this suffers from generalisability issues. also the cave study method can be criticised for being subjective and based on freud’s own interpretations

Question 32

weakness of unconscious concepts

Answer 32

unconscious concepts are unfalsifiable.
since we are unaware of the unconscious, then it is not possible to objectively measure it. therefore this means that the psychodynamic approach does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification. karl popper argued that a theory is not scientific if if it is not falsifiable.

Question 33

weakness - psychic determinism

Answer 33

freud suggested that all behaviour is the product of unconscious, internal conflicts (between the id and the superego and mediated by the ego) over which we have no control. this means that every action, even accidental slips of the tongue, has some kind of meaning and can give us insight into our unconscious. however, this adds to the subjectivity of interpretations of these meanings, and therefore is not in line with scientific methods of investigating behaviour.