psychodynamic approach

Question 1

what are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach

Answer 1

• the driving force behind our behaviour is the unconscious mind
• instincts or desires motivate our behaviour from birth
• early childhood experiences determine our personality and adult behaviour
• psychoanalysis should be used to make the unconscious conscious

Question 2

evaluate freud’s psychosexual stages

Answer 2

(+) contribution to society- drawn attention to possible longterm effects of traumatic childhood events like child abuse and parental separation, therefore contributing to well being

(-) gender biased- focuses entirely on male development so cannot be applied to females, and can be argued as androcentric

(-) difficult to test scientifically- some concepts like libido are difficult to measure and therefore can’t be tested, so little scientific evidence

(-) based on case studies- used recollections of his adult patients which he interpreted. his studies were biased and not empirical

Question 3

discuss the conscious/ unconscious

Answer 3

• the conscious part of the mind is the part we can access, and the unconscious mind is the part that isn’t accessible- it holds thoughts that won’t easily surface and may never do so, as they are either traumatic or unacceptable

Question 4

discuss Freuds structure of personality

Answer 4

freud assumed that the primary driving force in a persons mental life is the sexual instinct which operates at an unconscious level in a part of the personality called the id which develops from birth, and is the childlike and hedonistic part of your personality. another part of the personality is called the ego- this satisfies the id and develops from 18 months to around three years, it is able to delay the id’s drive for pleasure. a third part of the personality is called the superego which represents the persons conscience and ideal self and is developed from 3 to 6 years holds someone back from behaving a certain way if its thought to be wrong

Question 5

what is repression

Answer 5

a type of forgetting where a painful or disturbing memory is pushed into the unconscious mind where it is not accessible to the conscious mind. the memory still exists but the person is unaware of the anxiety it causes

Question 6

what is denial

Answer 6

the refusal to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation

Question 7

what is displacement

Answer 7

when the focus of a strong emotion is expressed onto a neutral person of object

Question 8

what are defence mechanisms

Answer 8

• everyday methods that we use to unconsciously reduce anxiety
• the ego uses defence mechanisms to manage the demands of the id and the superego to reduce unconscious conflict

Question 9

what is Freuds psychoanalysis

Answer 9

• therapist and patient build up a therapeutic relationship and the therapist lets the patient talk without making judgement and as the patient starts to reveal unconscious conflict their ego may use a defence mechanism called resistance- which psychoanalysis therapists mean is good as it is getting to the unconscious problems. it aims to explore unconscious urges and thoughts

Question 10

what is the oral stage

Answer 10

• from 0-12 months
• focus of pleasure is the mouth and mothers breast is the object of desire
• if a child is weaned from its mothers milk to early of late when freud suggests that will become fixated at the oral stage
• as an adult this may mean they smoke, bite nails and are sarcastic and critical

Question 11

what is the anal stage

Answer 11

• from 1-3 years
• focus of pleasure is the anus and the child gets pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces
• if the child loves using the potty and Is overly keen to do so the child is thought to be anally expulsive, as an adult this translates into someone who is thoughtless or messy
• if the parents are very strict about potty training the child will become anxious about the potty and try to hold the faeces rather than use potty, this is called anally retentive. as an adult this may translate to obsessive and being a perfectionist

Question 12

what is the phallic stage

Answer 12

• from 3-5 years
• focus of pleasure is the genital area. boys experience the oedipal complex and girls experience the electra complex
• the oedipal complex is where the boy experiences intense sexual feelings for his mother and sees his father as a rival and wants his father to leave so the mother can focus on him. freud said the boy is worried his father will castrate him, so he acts similar to the father so he can see him as an ally (Identification)
• the electra complex is where the girls realise they don’t have a penis and think their mother has castrated her. so develop ‘penis envy’ the desire for a penis is expressed through the desire for a baby

Question 13

what are the latent and genital stages

Answer 13

• latent stage, from 6-12, is when earlier conflicts are repressed
• the genital stage from 12+ years is where sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty

Question 14

summarise the case study of little Hans

Answer 14

the case study of a boy called Hans noticed that animals including horses had much larger penises than him. his father went away for a while and he enjoyed his mothers attention and when his father returned he resented his presence. freud argued this to be evidence of the oedipal complex- he suggested that Hans was experiencing sexual attraction towards his mother and his father was therefore a rival for her affections- Hans was experiencing castration anxiety

Question 15

what is a strength of the psychodynamic approach (evidence)

Answer 15

supported by the case study of little Hans

Question 16

what is a strength of the psychodynamic approach (contribution)

Answer 16

made a significant contribution to our understanding of psychological disorders and inspired further research in this area. Freuds theory was the first to emphasise the role of the unconscious and early experience which paved the way for other psychologists and greatly changed the ways in which people viewed themselves. this is a strength as Freuds theory has been hugely influential and helped develop psychologists knowledge of the causes and treatment of abnormality and enabled scientific progress- without his contribution our knowledge of psychopathology could be very limited

Question 17

what is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach (difficult to study)

Answer 17

not easy to empirically test. Freuds emphasis on early childhood means that retrospective case history evidence is used- which can be confounded by memory bias and individuals subjective interpretation of their own life furthermore some concepts are not empirical and his hypotheses are not fully operationalised. his claims about the cause of psychopathology aren’t directly viable and its possible his assumptions are incorrect. the psychodynamic approach therefore lacks scientific rigour and isn’t accepted widely.

Question 18

what is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach (case studies)

Answer 18

the evidence on which he based his theory is unscientific. the case studies uses had a small sample was an opportunity sample of his friends. the techniques he used conducting his case studies such as the interpretation of content of dreams from patient reports were open to bias and subjectivity. the psychodynamic approach therefore lacks verifiable evidence