the psychodynamic approach Flashcards
What is the psychodynamic approach?
A perspective that describes the different forces, most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour.
What is the Id?
Entirely unconscious, the Id is made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demands immediate gratification - operates on the pleasure principle.
What is the Ego?
The mediator that balances the conflicting demands of the Id and Superego - works on the reality principles.
What is the Superego?
Formed at the end of the phallic stage, it is an individual’s internalised sense of right and wrong - based on the morality principle.
What is a defence mechanism?
Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the Id and the Superego.
What are psychosexual stages?
Freud claimed that child development occurred in 5 stages. Each stage is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve to progress to the next stage. Any conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation, resulting in certain behaviours associated with that stage being carried through to adult life.
What are the 5 psychosexual stages?
Oral (0 - 1 years) - Anal (1 - 3 years) - Phallic (3 - 6 years) - Latency - Genital.
Evaluation for the psychodynamic approach.
- Real-world application
- Explanatory Power
- Untestable concepts
Evaluation: Real-world application.
Freud created a new form of therapy called psychoanalysis. It employed a range of techniques designed to assess the unconscious, such as dream analysis.
Evaluation: Explanatory power.
Freud’s theory is able to explain human behaviour, and has been used to explain a wide range of things such as personality and moral development.
Evaluation: Untestable concepts
The psychodynamic approach is not open to empirical testing. Many of the concepts are said to occur at an unconscious level, making it a pseudoscience as it is impossible to test.
