Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
Who and when was the psychodynamic approach developed
Developed by sigmund Freud in 1900
What are the 3 main assumptions of the psychodynamic approach
- the unconscious mind has most influence on our personality by determining our thoughts and feelings
- human behaviour is the result of conflicts between our personalities, id, ego, superego
- early childhood experiences shape our personality
What are the 3 roles of the conscious mind
The consious: mental activity that we are aware of
The pre conscious: things we could become aware of if we tried to
The unconscious : things we aren’t aware of and cannot become aware of
What are 4 ways of measuring the unconscious mind
- Rorschach ink blot
- Freudian slip
- free association
- dream analysis
How is the Rorschach ink blot used for measuring the unconscious mind
Diff people will see diff things depending on the unconscious connections they make
The ink blot is a projective test where patients project info from their unconscious to interpret the ink blot
How is the Freudian slip used for measuring the unconscious mind
Unconscious thoughts that transfer to the consious mind and become a slip of the tongue, where we reveal what is really on our mind by saying something we didn’t mean to
How is free association used to measure the unconscious mind
The therapist says a word and the patient responds with whatever immediately comes to their mind. It is hoped that fragments of repressed memories will emerge in their answer
How is dream analysis used to measure the unconscious mind
It is said that repressed memories emerge in our dreams , even though sometimes our actual memories can be altered in a dream, so we must distinguish between obvious content and the hidden dream content
What does the tripartite consist of and what is it
Our unconscious personality
ID
EGO
SUPER EGO
What is the ID
Works on the pleasure principle
What is the EGO
Works on the reality principle
What is the SUPER EGO
Works on the morality principle
What is a defence mechanism
Unconscious strategies the ego uses to manage and reduce conflict between the id and super ego to make us feel better
What are the 3 defence mechanisms
Repression
Denial
Displacement
What is repression
Forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind
What is denial
Refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality
What is displacement
Transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a subsitute target
What are the 5 psychosexual stages in order
Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latency
Genital
What is the oral stage and when does it develop
Mouth
0-1 year
What is the anal stage and when does it develop
Anus
1-3 years
What is the phallic stage and when does it develop
Gentians, Oedipus and electra complex
3-5 years
What is the latency stage and when does it develop
Conflicts are replaced, ego matures , develop defence mechanisms
6-12 years
What is the genital stage and when does it develop
Focus of pleasure is the genitals, sexual desired become consious, puberty
12+ years
What is the Oedipus complex
When boys are the age of 5-6 develop sexual feelings for their mother and are in competition with their father
What is the electra complex
When daughters form sexual feelings for their fathers and are in competition with their mothers
Evaluation of the complexes
Westemark said that we have an innate tendency to not be sexually attracted to those we have grown up with
Evaluation: practical application
The psychodynamic approach has practical application as it has introduced therapies to access the unconscious, still used today, psychoanalysis, dream analysis is used to treat unconscious conflicts, has positive effects on the lives of many
Evaluation: case studies
Freud used case studies to collect information and data, for example he used little hans as evidence for the Oedipus complex. He did this by conducting observations and recording them accurately, producing rich, detailed, and extremely valid data to support the psychodynamic assumptions
Evaluation: unconscious concepts
Since we are unable to measure unconscious concepts of our brain , then it is not possible to come up with ways to objectively and systematically measure it. According to Karl popper, the psychodynamic approach does not meet the scientific criteria of falsification. This does little to nothing to the scientific credibility of science as it has shaped a inaccurate view of how much supporting empirical evidence there us
