Psychodynamic Approaches

Question 1

Key concepts - Unconscious

Answer 1

The part of the mind that we are unaware that directs behaviour

Question 2

Key Concepts - Tri-partite Structure of Personality

Answer 2

Consists of 3 parts: the id, the ego and superego

Question 3

Key Concepts - Defense Mechanisms

Answer 3

Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflicts of the id and the superego

Question 4

Key Concepts - Psychosexual Stages

Answer 4

Each is associated with a conflict that must be resolved before individual can advance to the next

If not resolved they get fixated and behaviours may carry on through life

Question 5

Key Concepts - Psychic determinism

Answer 5

Unconscious forces are inborn and control and determine behaviour

All we say and do has a cause

Question 6

Psychodynamics

Answer 6

Psych = mind. Dynamics = interaction

• Describes interaction of various parts of the mind
• Application of theory is psychoanalysis which aims to resolve childhood issues that can cause psychological problems

Question 7

The Psyche - The Conscious Mind

Answer 7

Thoughts that a person is currently aware of or is remembering

Question 8

The Psyche - The Preconscious Mind

Answer 8

Info that isn’t our conscious mind but can be brought into the conscious mind w/o psychoanalysis

Question 9

The Psyche - The Unconscious Mind

Answer 9

Thoughts + motives that lie beyond a person’s normal awareness
=> contains a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, feelings and memories

Only assessed by psychoanalysis

Question 10

Tri-partite Model of Personality - The Id

Answer 10

Primitive part of the personality which operates on pleasure principle + demands instant gratification

=> develops first in human mind
=> can only want
=> strives to satisfy our basic instincts related to sexual and aggressive drives

Question 11

Tri-partite Model of Personality - The Ego

Answer 11

Conscious part of the psyche - works on reality principles

=> a mediator between id and superego

Question 12

Tri-partite Model of Personality - Superego

Answer 12

Internalised sense of right and wrong based on morality principle

=> punishes the ego through guilt develops around age 5

Question 13

Psychosexual stage - Oral (0-1yrs)

Answer 13

Pleasure centre is mouth
Cause of fixation - early weaning or deprivation of love or food

Results in - smoking, biting nails or sarcasm

Question 14

Psychosexual stage - Anal (1-3yrs)

Answer 14

Pleasure focus is the anus
Cause of fixation - harsh or lax toilet training

Results in - anal retentive (obsessiveness, tidiness and meanness) or anal explusive (thoughtless or messy)

Question 15

Psychosexual stage - Phallic (3-5yrs)

Answer 15

Pleasure centre is the genital area
Cause of fixation - no father figure or very dominant mother

Results in - self obsession, sexual anxiety and envy

Question 16

Psychosexual stage - Latency (pre-teen)

Answer 16

Earlier conflicts are repressed

Question 17

(S) Real World Application - introduced idea of psychotherapy

Answer 17

=> Introduced idea of psychotherapy in form of psychoanalysis - 1st attempt to treat mentall disorders psychologically + was a forerunner for talking therapies like counselling
=> Designed to access the unconscious and bring repressed emotions to conscious mind

SHOWS value of the approach in creating a new type of therapy

Question 18

(L) Counter to Real World Application - not helpful to mental disorder

Answer 18

Regarded as inappropriate/harmful for those with schizoprenia due to delusional thinking + paranoia
=> lost grip of reality + can’t articulate thoughts for psychotherapy

SUGGESTS Freudian theory doesn’t apply to all disorders

Question 19

(S) Explanatory Power - Can explain human behaviour

Answer 19

Huge influence on psychology alongside behaviourism for first half of 20th century
=> Explained personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development etc.
=> Draws attention to connection between childhood experience and later development

SUGGESTS overall positive impact on psychology as well as literature art etc.

Question 20

(L) Untestable Concepts - Karl Popper

Answer 20

Argued this approach doesn’t meet scientific criterion of falsification - not open to empirical testing + can’t be disproved e.g the id and Oedipus Complex occur unconsciously so can’t be tested

=> Ideas based on subjective case studies like LIttle Hans = not universal
SUGGESTS Freud’s theory was pseudoscientific instead of established fact

Question 21

(L) Psychic Determinism

Answer 21

• Approach suggests behaviour is rooted in childhood conflicts - no accidents (slip of the tongue is driven by unconscious forces + has deep meaning)

=> Critics claim this is extreme => dismisses possible influence of free will on behaviour