Psychodynamic approach

Question 1

what are the three basic assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 1

1-the unconscious mind
2-instincts/drives
3-early childhood experiences

Question 2

what is meant by ‘the unconscious mind’ as an assumption?

Answer 2

believe the driving force behind behaviour is the unconscious mind
argues if we have problematic or challenging behaviour then we must access the unconscious mind to sort it out

Question 3

what is meant by ‘instincts/drives’ as an assumption?

Answer 3

argues instincts and drives motivate our behaviour
means we’re driven by instincts to go through a series of stages in development of our behaviour and responsibility

Question 4

what is meant by ‘early childhood experiences’ as an assumption?

Answer 4

early childhood is said to be pivotal in who we become, as most of our psychological development is argued to be formed before 6 years old

Question 5

what is the role of the unconscious?

Answer 5

uses the analogy of an iceberg, whereby the tip of the iceberg above the water is our conscious mind, as it is visible to all, but the large expanse below the water is where the pre-conscious and unconscious lie

Question 6

what are the three levels of thought identified by freud?

Answer 6

-conscious mind (the part we can access)
-pre-conscious mind (thoughts that can surface at any point eg memories)
-unconscious mind (thoughts that don’t easily/never surface, where the drives that motivate our behaviour lie, as well as trauma)

Question 7

what are the three elements of personality?

Answer 7

the id, the ego and the superego

Question 8

what is the id?

Answer 8

0-18m
the ‘pleasure principle’
childlike, hedonistic and selfish, does what will be the best for yourself regardless of how it will affect others

Question 9

what is the ego?

Answer 9

18m-3y
the ‘reality principle’
delays the id’s drive for pleasure, and acts as a balance between the id and the superego

Question 10

what is the superego?

Answer 10

3-6y
the ‘morality principle’
acts as a persons conscience
does what is best for others, and doesn’t allow anything that is morally wrong

Question 11

what are defence mechanisms?

Answer 11

-methods we use unconsciously to reduce anxiety (anxiety weakens the ego)
-repression, denial, and displacement

Question 12

what is repression?

Answer 12

an unpleasant memory is pushed into the unconscious mind where it isn’t accessible so cannot cause anxiety
does still affect behaviour in the unconscious mind
no recall of the event or situation

Question 13

what is denial?

Answer 13

refusal to accept the reality of the situation, reducing anxiety
may believe the situation isn’t negative so can’t cause anxiety

Question 14

what is displacement?

Answer 14

the focus of a strong emotion is expressed onto a neutral person or object, reducing anxiety by allowing expression

Question 15

what are the 5 psychosexual stages of development?

Answer 15

-oral
-anal
-phallic
-latent
-genital

Question 16

what happens at the oral stage of development?

Answer 16

-from birth
-focus for pleasure is the mouth
-child gets pleasure from biting and sucking
-initially the child is oral passive, (sucking and swallowing, breast feeding), goes into oral aggressive (biting and chewing, teething)
-if a child is weaned from breastfeeding too early or late, or feeding patterns were erratic, its argued the child will become fixated on the oral stage
-if its an orally passive fixation, the person may be dependant, very passive and gullible
-if its an orally aggressive fixation, the person may be aggressive, either physically or verbally
-general fixation signs include chewing on pens/nails, and smoking

Question 17

what happens at the anal stage?

Answer 17

-around 18m/o
-libido moves from mouth to anus, pleasure is gained from defecating (where kids become potty trained)
-if the child loves using the potty, they’re seen as in the anally expulsive stage (adult fixation leads to generosity, demonstrative with their emotions, may have explosive fits of temper)
-if parents are strict about potty training, the child becomes anxious and try’s not to use it (anally retentive), adult fixation shows organisation, being neat and reluctant to spend their money

Question 18

what is the phallic stage?

Answer 18

-around 3y/o
-libido moves from the anus to the genitals
-boys experience the oedipus complex, girls experience the electra complex

Question 19

what is the oedipus complex?

Answer 19

-boy experiences intense sexual feelings for his mother, sees father as a rival, but since the father is much bigger the child feels threatened and could try to harm him
-freud says the boy is worried his father will castrate him (castration anxiety)
-boy tries to befriend his father to combat anxiety, by acting similarly (identification) which resolves the oedipus complex
-its argued if there is no father present, it will lead to homosexuality (little evidence irl)

Question 20

what is the electra complex?

Answer 20

-girls realise they don’t have a penis, they think their mother has removed it, so around 3y/o they develop penis envy
-when their desire for a penis isn’t fulfilled, they move to desiring a baby
-little girls see their father the same way boys see their mother, also go through identification
-fixations at the phallic stage can lead to jealousy and anxiety

Question 21

what is the latent stage?

Answer 21

-6y/o
-libido is displaced throughout the body
-no complexes to resolve or foci for pleasure
-quiet period of development

Question 22

what is the genital phase?

Answer 22

-12y/o
-libido returns to the genitals where it stays for the rest of their life

Question 23

what was the little hans classic research?

Answer 23

-1909
-hans had a fear of horses, his father reported everything he said and did to give to freud for analysis
-freud said hans behaviour and dreams were due to problems in the phallic stage
-said hans had a fascination with his penis, noticed animals had much larger penises
-hans’ father went away for a while, hans enjoyed his mothers presence, when father returned hans resented him
-hans was hostile towards his newborn sister (oedipus complex)
-freud said he was experiencing castration anxiety
-hans recovered from his phobia
-source of info was biased, freud only met hans once
-freud had a biased perspective, as he had already published his work on the psychosexual stages of development
-hans saw a horse collapse on the street when he was young, could have conditioned him

Question 24

briefly evaluate the psychodynamic approach

Answer 24

-highlights the importance of childhood experiences, which strengthens the case for children’s rights reform
-freud’s ideas are used by some psychologists today, so clearly some believe there is validity to his work
-some of freud’s patients made a recovery following the therapy
-freud’s ideas are untestable, so makes them unscientific
-much evidence comes from case studies that lack reliability so can’t be generalised, as well as being culturally specific and typically from wealthy families
-its argued that people that recovered with the therapy could be because of ‘spontaneous recovery’

Question 25

what was eysenck’s research?

Answer 25

-1952
-meta-analysis of thousands of psychodynamic therapy patients, found 66% recovered, but also found that 70% of people suffering from neurotic disorders and didn’t receive treatment also recovered, supporting spontaneous recovery

Question 26

nature or nurture?

Answer 26

neither
argues for innate drives represented by the id but the way a parent raises a child effects this

Question 27

useful?

Answer 27

some therapists today use the basic ideas, but it isn’t common practice

Question 28

reductionist or holistic?

Answer 28

reductionist
all elements of behaviour should be taken into account

Question 29

deterministic or free-will?

Answer 29

deterministic
our behaviour is dictated by our unconscious mind which we can’t control

Question 30

scientific?

Answer 30

no
unconscious mind can’t be measured scientifically

Question 31

idiographic or nomothetic?

Answer 31

elements of both
focuses on unique childhood, but also generalises innate drives to everyone

Question 32

extrapolation?

Answer 32

no
can’t test unconscious mind of animals