Section 5 : The Approaches in Psychology - The Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
Who developed the psychodynamic approach
Sigmund Freud
What does Psycho refer to
The mind
What does dynamic refer to
Change or activity
What does the psychodynamic approach emphasise
The active nature of mental processes and their role in shaping personality and behaviour
What does the psychodynamic approach assume
-Human behaviour has unconscious causes that we are not aware
-Form birth, humans have a need to fulfil basic biological motivations
-Childhood experiences are really important influence on the development of adult personally and psychological disorders
What is hysteria
A disorder involving physical symptoms such as headaches, paralysis and blindness but with no apparent cause.
Freud was interested in….
Hysteria
What did freud conclude about his parent
That they had an unconscious mind as they couldn’t give any conscious reasons
What were the three levels of consciousness he identified
-Concious
-Preconcious
-Unconcious
What does conscious refer to
This is what we are aware of at any given time, hearing, seeing, smelling, thinking
What does preconscious refer to
This is made up of memories that we can recall when we want to E.g. recall what we did on the weekend
What does unconscious refer to
This is made up of memories, desires and fear which causes us extreme anxiety and therefore been repressed or forced out of conscious awareness
What will influence behaviour
Even if repressed the unconscious still influences behaviour
The unconscious part of the mind can be accessed with…
The help of a psychoanalyst using methods Freud developed
What are the three parts of the personality
id
ego
superego
What is the id
-The basic animal part of the personality that contains our innate, aggressive and sexual instincts
-Wants to be satisfied by any means possible
-obeys the ‘pleasure principle’
-accounts for unreasonable behaviour and appears at birth
What is the ego
-exists in both conscious and unconscious part of the mind
-acts as a rational part known as ‘reality principle’
-develops within the first 3 years after birth
-balances id and superego to keep behaviour in line
What is the superego
-both in conscious and unconscious parts of mind
-part of mind that takes our morals into consideration - involved in making us feel guilty
-develops around four to five years old
-it includes ideas about how to behave that we adopt from our parents
What did Freud believe about the three different parts of the personality
That they can be all in conflict
Give an example of the parts of the personality in conflict
-Conflict between the id and superego
-id wants instant satisfaction
-superego tries to impose morals
What do conflicts in the parts of the personality lead to
Anxiety. The ego then will mediate between the id and superego to reduce this anxiety
What are the several unconscious defence mechanisms
Repression
Denial
Displacement
What does the unconscious defence mechanism repression refer to
-involves the ego stopping unwanted and possibly painful thoughts from becoming concious
-E.g. someone who experienced a traumatic event may not recall it later. The memory was repressed
What does the unconscious defence mechanism refer to
-where a threatening event or an unwanted reality is simply ignored and blocked from conscious awareness
-E.g. drug addict may deny that they have a problem
What does the unconscious defence mechanism displacement refer to
-happens when a negative impulse is redirected onto something else
-could be another person or an object
-e.g. boss made you angry at work, you might redirect your anger by kicking a door at home
What were the five stages that Freud developed
Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latent
Genital
What age are you if your at the oral stage
0-18 months
What age are you if your at the anal stage
18 months - 3.5 years
What age are you if your at the phallic stage
3.5 - 6 years
What age are you if your at the latent stage
6 - puberty
What age are you if your at the genital stage
Puberty - adult
What are the characteristics of someone in the oral stage
Sucking behaviour
What are the characteristics of someone in the anal stage
Keeping or discarding faeces
What are the characteristics of someone in the genital stage
Gential fixation
What are the characteristics of someone in the latent stage
Repressed sexual urge
What are the characteristics of someone in the genital stage
Awakened sexual urges
What does each psychosexual stage does it focus on
Obtaining pleasure through a certain part of the body
What affects how much pleasure is obtained through a stage a person is in
How a parent would raise their kid
How does a child become fixated at a stage
If a child doesn’t receive enough pleasure or they receive too much during a stage if development they will become fixated at that stage
What could severe fixation lead to
A psychological disorder
What was Freuds case studies
As a part of psychoanalysis Freud carried out case studies on patients using several methods to reveal conflicts, fears and desires buried in their unconscious mind
What was the method of Freud 1909 - Little Hans
-case study on a child called Hans who had a phobia of horses
-Hans was observed by his father who made notes of Hans dreams and stuff he said
-he passed these observations to Freud
What were the results of Freud 1909 - Little Hans
-Hans was afraid of horses as he thought they might bite or fall on him
-Hans developed an interest in the horses penis
-Hans’ mum told him not to play with it or she’d cut it off
-Hans told his dad about a dream where he was married to his mum and his dad was now his grandfather
What was the conclusion of Freud 1909 - Little Hans
-Hans reached the phallic stage and showed evidence of the Oedipus complex
-The horse symbolised hans father as they both had big penises
-Fear of horses is an example of displacement - protected from his real fear of his father
-Hans suffered from castration anxiety - he was afraid that his father would find out about his feeling for his mother
Give the evaluations for Freud 1909 Little Hans
-Results cannot be generalised
-Findings provided evidence to support Freuds theories
-Results based entirely in observation and interpretation - cause and defect can’t be established
-Results could be biased as Freud analysed information from Hans’s father
What are the strengths of the psychodynamic approach
-First theory to focus on psychological causes of disorders
-one of first approaches to suggest mental health disorders may be linked to unresolved conflicts related to biological needs
-offers therapy which may also uncover unconscious conflicts
-freuds theories places emphasis on how experience in early childhood can affect later development
What are the weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach
-based on subjective interpretations, unreliable and open to bias
-related to unconscious mind which can be accessed, his theories are unfalsifiable
-psychoanalyst may take a long time, expensive conflicts uncovered may cause distress and possibly inaccurate
-focused on the patients past rather than on problems that they are currently suffering
-can’t be studied, approach is based on case studies
-not possible to established cause and effect as they used unscientific research methods
