PSYCHODYNAMIC Assumptions

Question 1

Oral Stage

Answer 1

Childs libido is focused on the mouth
Feeding
Children begin to explore the world with their mouths, picking up objects and sucking them
The child’s ego begins to form
How does this shape adult personality?
Healthily - Ability to trust, form relationships, enjoy food and drink
Too much gratification - Optimistic, gullible, too dependent (oral receptive)
Not enough gratification - Aggressive, pessimistic, full of envy (oral aggressive)

Question 2

Anal Stage

Answer 2

Libido is focused on the anus
Toilet training takes place
Ego develops as the child has to learn to delay their gratification’
Id has to wait to be satisfied
How does this shape adult personality?
Healthily - Patient, deals with authority
Too much gratification - Messy, disorganised, carless, defiant (anal expulsive)
Not enough gratification - Stubborn, possessive, overly-tidy (anal retentive)

Question 3

Phallic Stage

Answer 3

Libido is focused on the Genitals
Ego has formed, bit the superego is not present
Develops through the complexes
The resolution of these complexes is vital
Superego is the mental representation of the same sex parent
If parents do not sensitive help their children, the child may end up sexually over or under confident as an adult

Question 4

Oedipus complex

Answer 4

• Young boy focuses his sexual energy onto his mother
• Begins to see his father as a threat and is jealous as the father is able to possess the mother in a sexual way
• Starts to fear his father, if his father knew about his feelings for his mother, he would castrate him (castration anxiety)
• Boy realises that one way to possess his mother is to become his father
• Internal representation of his father becomes his superego

Question 5

Electra Complex

Answer 5

• Girls realise they don’t have a penis and feel as if they have already been castrated, start to develop penis envy
• Start to develop sexual feelings towards him as a way of possessing his penis
• See their mother as a rival for the father, as the mother does not possess a penis, the girl blames the mother for her ow lack of a penis, believes her mother has castrated her
• Can possess father by identifying with the mother
• Penisy envy is not as fearful so a weaker superego, never fully resolve the complex so are not as moral
• Replaces her penis envy with a desire for a baby

Question 6

Latency Stage

Answer 6

Libido is dormant
Child focuses on understanding the world and building same sex parents

Question 7

Genital Stage

Answer 7

Libido is focused on the genitals, gratification comes from opposite sex
Adult personality is set, so any issues that were encountered will be revisited
The events of the complexes has been repressed
May be conflict between adult and child
If they have made it through the previous stages with issue, they will be well adjusted, capable of love and to be loved, hard working, contribute to society
Genital character

Question 8

Unconsious mind

Answer 8

Our ‘unconscious’ mind influences our behaviour
Ruled by seeking pleasure
Cannot be directly accessed but expresses itself indirectly
Freudian slip
Can access the preconscious mind if we think about it
There are ego defence mechanisms that protect the ego from unconscious thoughts and feelings that can cause stress is they become conscious
May help in the short term, but overused, can lead to disturbed behaviour
Repression - Pushing bad experiences or negative emotions into the unconscious so you can no longer think about them
Displacement - Transferring undesirable impulses from one person to an object or another person
Projection - Undesirable thoughts or emotions are attributed to someone else

Question 9

Tripartite Personality

Answer 9

The id is the primitive biological part of the mind
Present in a newborn infant and consists of basic biological impulses or drives
Said to work on the pleasure principle
Drives motivate us to behave in certain ways and humans are motivated to satisfy urges and wishes
The ego develops as the child grows
Ego aims to gratify the ids impulses in line with what is realistically possible and morally acceptable
Works on the reality principle
The superego develops last
Judges on whether actions are right or wrong (conscious)
Internalised representation of the same sex parent
Violating the superegos standard or even the impulse to do so may cause anxiety
The id and the superego are often at odds about what is morally right, the ego meditate between the two
The three parts of the personality can lead to problems and mental disorder
Ability to be able to function despite the conflict as ego strength
Strong ego = manage these pressures
Weak ego = may give into the id and superego

Question 10

Relationship Formation - Childhood

Answer 10

Different stages of psychosexual development and use the idea of fixation to explain the nature of relationships in adulthood
If there is a fixation at the phallic stage, this will result in an adult who is not capable of loving another person and entering a relationship
If the oedipus complex is not successfully resolved, then the relationship problems can occur
May lead to homosexuality