The psychodynamic approach Flashcards
What are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
The psychodynamic perspective starts with the pioneering work of Sigmund Freud.
It states that much of our behaviour is driven by unconscious motives.
Childhood is a critical period in development
mental disorders Aris from unresolved unconscious conflicts originating from childhood
Resolution occurs through accessing and coming to terms with repressed ideas.
What is Freud’s tripartite model of the mind?
Freud suggested we all have these three characters in our mind all at the same time.
The id - the pleasure principle, occurs from birth, ‘I want it now’
The ego - the reality principle, occurs from the age of 2, its role is to reduce conflict between the id and the superego by using defence mechanisms
The superego - the morality principle, occurs from the age of 5, superego punishes the ego for wrongdoing (guilt) ‘you can’t have it it’s not right’
What are the defence mechanisms?
Repression - forcing a distressing memory out of the mind
Denial - refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality
Displacement - transferring feelings from its true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target
What is Freud’s tripartite model of personality?
Conscious - the part of the mind we are aware of, the everyday thoughts and feelings
Preconscious - thoughts and memories not accessible at all times, but easily recalled, where the ego exists
Unconscious - the biological drives and instincts, repressed memories thoughts and feelings, where the superego and id exist
What are the psychosexual stages?
Freud claimed that development through childhood happened in 5 stages
According to freud, successful development through psychosexual stages is essential for healthy personality in adulthood
Each stage has a different conflict the child has to overcome in order to progress successfully to the next stage.
The order is Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital
What is the oral stage within the psychosexual stages, what age does it occur and what are the consequences if there is unresolved conflict?
The oral stage is where the focus of pleasure is the mouth, the mother’s breast is the object of desire
It occurs between the ages of 0-1 years old
The consequences are oral fixation, with smoking, biting nails, sarcasm and critical
What is the anal stage within the psychosexual stages, what age does it occur and what are the consequences if there is unresolved conflict?
The anal stage is where the focus of pleasure is the anus, the child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces
It occurs between the ages of 1-3 years old
The consequences with anal retentive is perfectionism and obsessiveness and with anal expulsive is thoughtlessness and messiness
What is the phallic stage within the psychosexual stages, what age does it occur and what are the consequences if there is unresolved conflict?
The phallic stage is where the focus of pleasure is the genital area, the child experiences the oedipus or Electra complex
It occurs between the ages of 3-5 years old
The consequences are a phallic personality, with narcissism, recklessness and possibly homosexuality
What is the latency stage within the psychosexual stages and what age does it occur?
The latency stage is where early conflicts are repressed
It occurs between the ages of 6-puberty
What is the genital stage within the psychosexual stages, what age does it occur and what are the consequences if there is unresolved conflict?
The genital stage is where sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty
It occurs between the ages of 11+, puberty and beyond
The consequences are difficulty in forming heterosexual relationships
What is oedipus complex?
In the phallic stage, Freud claimed that little boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and murderous hatred towards their love rival, the father
Fearing that their father will castrate them boys repress their feelings for their mother and identify with the father, taking on his gender role and moral values
What is the Electra complex?
Freud suggested that girls of a similar age to when the Oedipus complex occurs for boys experience penis envy, they desire their father as the penis is the primary love object and hate their mother
They are thought to give up this desire for their father over time and replace this with a desire for a baby, identifying with their mother within this process
What are the strengths of the psychodynamic approach?
Explanatory power - although Freud’s theory is controversial in many ways, it has still had a huge influence on psychology and the western contemporary thought. Alongside the behavioural approach, the psychodynamic approach remained the dominant force of in psychology for the first half of the 20th century and has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality development.
Practical application - Alongside the psychodynamic approach, Freud also brought to the world a new form of therapy, psychoanalysis. Employing a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious, such as hypnosis and dream analysis, psychoanalysis is the forerunner to many modern-day psychotherapies that have since been established.
What are the weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach?
The case study method - Freud’s theory was based on the intensive study of single individuals who were often in therapy, like little Hans. Although Freud’s observations were detailed and carefully recorded, critics have suggested that it is not possible to make such universal claims about human nature based on studies of such a small number of individuals who were psychologically abnormal.
Untestable concepts - The philosopher of science Karl Popper argued that the psychodynamic approach does not meet the scientific criteria of falsification, in the sense that it is not open to empirical testing. Many of Freud’s concepts are said to occur at an unconscious level, making them difficult, if not impossible, to test.
According to Popper this afford psychodynamic theory the status of pseudoscience, fake science, rather than real science.
