Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
assumption of the psychodynamic approach
several dynamics, mosly the unconsious, operate on the mind and direct behaviour
3 parts of the mind
consious
preconsious
unconsioius
3 parts of the personality
ego
supergo
id
conscious
thoughts and perceptions we are aware of
preconscious
memories and stored knowledge we aren’t aware of but could be, if we wanted to, made aware of through dreams and slips of the tongue
unconscious
unacceptable thoughts we are not, and cannot be, aware of
storehouse of drives and instincts containing threatening or disturbing repressed memories
age of development, features, part of mind and principle
ego
- develops around 2
- in conscious
- works on the reality principle, mediating b/w id and superego to reduce conflict b/w their demands, using defence mechanisms
denial
refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality
age of development, features, part of mind and principle
id
- present from birth
- in unconsious
- primitive part of personality operating on pleasure principle
- mass of unconscious drives and instincts that is selfish and demands instant gratification
age of development, features, part of mind and principle
superego
- develops end of phallic stage, around 5
- in preconscious
- based on morality principle, internalised moral standards from same sex parent
- punishes i=ego for wrongdoing through guilt
defense mechanisms
unconscious mechanisms used by the ego to prevent us being overwhelmed by temporry threats/traumas
often involing distortion or denial of reality
3 defence mechanisms
- repression
- denial
- displacement
repression
distressing memory kept from conscious mind
displacement
transferring unpleasant feelings from source of distress onto a substitute target - usually a safe person or object
what occurs when a psychosexual conflict is unresolved?
fixation, where a child becomes ‘stuck’, carrying behaviours related to that stage to adulthood
5 psychosexual stages
- oral
- anal
- phallic
- latency
- genital
age, description, consequence
oral stage
- 0-1 years
- focus of pleasure = mouth and mother’s breast = object of desire
- oral fixation - smoking, nail biting, sarcasm, criticism
age, description, consequence
anal stage
- 1-3 years
- focus of pleasure in anus and pleasure gained from witholding and expelling faeces
- anal retentive - perfectionist and obsessive
- anal expulsive - thoughtless and messy
age, description, consequence
phallic stage
- 3-5 years
- focus on genital area and child experiences oedipus or electra complex
- phallic personality - narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual, sexual anxiety and envy
latency
earlier conflicts are resolved
age, description, consequence
genital stage
- from puberty
- sexual desires become consciousand focus of pleasure is genitals
- difficulty forming hetersexual relationships
oedipus complex
- at end of phallic stage, boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother
- hate father and fear he will castrate them if they find out, so repress these feelings, ientifying father and taking on his gender role and moral feelings
electra complex
- at end of phallic stage, girls develop incestuous feelings for father and hatred of mother, because experience penis envy
- afraid mother will stop loving her if she finds out
- over time, give up desire for father, replacing it with desire for a baby
psychodynamic approach evaluation phrase
false appeal explains case of Hans’ psyche
outline case of Little Hans (3 points)
- phobia of horses after seeing accident with carriage
- became afraid his dad woould castrate him after mum threatened to castrate him
- had dreams interpreted by Freud as signs he was in love with his mother and hated his father
practical applications of psychodynamic approach
- psychoanalysis using range of techniques to access the unconscious to help patients with neurosis
psychic determinism
everything we do, even accidentaly, is determined by the unconscious and preconscious which are out of our control
falsifiability
ability of a scientific theory to be proved true or false and be empirically tested
intuitive appeal of psychodynamic approach
most people can relate to defence mechanisms of repression, denial and displacement
explanatory power of psychodynamic approach (2 points)
- has drawn attention to connection between experiences and childhood, e.g. relationship with parent and later development
- has been used to explain many phenomena including gendeer and personality development
