Psychodynamic Approach

Question 1

What are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 1

1) devised by Sigmund Freud
2) behaviour is caused by unconscious, underlying psychological forces
3) childhood is a critical period in development
4) mental disorders arise from unresolved, unconscious conflicts originating in childhood

Question 2

What is the unconscious mind?

Answer 2

The part of the mind that is inaccessible to conscious thought which influences behaviour and personality and contains threatening/disturbing memories which have been repressed

Question 3

What are the features of the id?

Answer 3

1) operates in unconscious mind
2) acts upon pleasure for immediate satisfaction
3) irrational, primitive
4) present at birth

Question 4

What are the features of the ego?

Answer 4

1) mediates between id and superego
2) conscious, rational
3) develops during first 2 years of life

Question 5

What are the features of the superego?

Answer 5

1) embodies conscience and sense of right and wrong
2) represents moral standards
3) impacted by social norms
4) develops around age 5

Question 6

What are defence mechanisms?

Answer 6

Methods used to unconsciously reduce anxiety that stop an individual becoming aware of unpleasant thoughts and feelings

Question 7

What are the three types of defence mechanism?

Answer 7

1) repression
2) denial
3) displacement

Question 8

What is repression?

Answer 8

Forcing a distressing/threatening memory out of the conscious mind

Question 9

What is denial?

Answer 9

Failing/refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

Question 10

What is displacement?

Answer 10

Transferring feelings from true object of anxiety onto a substitute target/object

Question 11

What are the psychosexual stages and ages they occur at?

Answer 11

1) oral (0-1 years)
2) anal (1-3 years)
3) phallic (3-6 years)
4) latency
5) genital

Question 12

What is the fixation in the oral stage?

Answer 12

Focus of pleasure is mouth; mother’s breast is object of desire

Question 13

What is the fixation in the anal stage?

Answer 13

Focus of pleasure is anus; child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces

Question 14

What is the fixation in the phallic stage?

Answer 14

Focus of pleasure is genital area; child experiences Oedipus/Electra complex

Question 15

What is the fixation in the latency stage?

Answer 15

Earlier conflicts (sexual impulses) are repressed to allow child to focus on developing social and intellectual skills

Question 16

What is the fixation in the genital stage?

Answer 16

Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty

Question 17

What is Freud’s Little Hans case study?

Answer 17

• Hans develops a fear of horses so father refers him to Freud
• Freud concluded that it was because Hans was passing through the phallic stage
• Oedipus link: mother told him off for masturbating and wanting sister to drown, he witnessed a horse and cart accident, his father had similar features to a horse (dark face = beard, blinkers = glasses) and he wanted his father to die

Question 18

What are the strengths of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 18

1) significant as it draws attention to a connection between experiences in childhood and later development
2) practical applications like psychoanalysis employing techniques to access unconscious (forerunner for many modern-day psychotherapies)
3) evidence to support so,e aspects of approach means it may be credible to explain behaviour

Question 19

What are the weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 19

1) psychoanalysis is inappropriate or harmful for people suffering from more serious mental disorders (eg schizophrenia) as sufferers have lost their grip on reality and can’t articulate thoughts
2) evidence from case studies is subjective so not scientific and relies on data from small groups so may not be representative
3) untestable concepts and doesn’t meet scientific criteria of falsification - pseudoscientific
4) psychic determinism dismisses any influence of free will and suggests all behaviour is driven by unconscious forces determined by childhood experiences