The Psychodynamic Approach

Question 1

Role of the unconscious

Answer 1

The conscious mind is just the tip of the iceberg
Most of our mind is made up of the unconscious- storehouse of biological drives and instincts that has a significant influence on our behaviour and personality
Contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed or locked away and forgotten
Accessed during dreams or freudian slips

Question 2

Structure of Personality

Answer 2

ID- operates on the pleasure principle (the id gets what it wants) It is a seething mass of unconscious drives and instincts. Only the id is present at birth. Throughout life the id is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs

Ego- reality principle and is the mediator between the other two parts of the personality. The ego develops around the age of 2 and its role is to reduce the conflict between the demands of the id and superego. It manages this by employing a number of defence mechanisms

Superego- formed at the end of the phallic stage around the age of 5. It is our interalised sense of right and wrong. Based on the morality principle it represents the moral standards of the childs same-sex parent and punishes the ego for wrongdoing

Question 3

Psychosexual Stages

Answer 3

Oral- 1/2 years= focus of pleasure is the mouth, mother’s breast is the object of desire
Oral Fixation= smoking, biting nails, sarcastic and critical

Anal- 1/3 years= focus of pleasure is the anus, child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces
Anal retentive- perfectionist, obsessive
Anal explosive- thoughtless, messy

Phallic- 3/5 years= focus of pleasure is the genital area, child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex
Phallic personality- narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual

Latency- Earlier conflicts are repressed

Genital- Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

Question 4

Defence Mechanims

Answer 4

Repression- forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind

Denial- refusing to acknowledge some aspects reality

Displacement- Transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target

Question 5

AO3- Psychodynamic Approach
The case study method

Answer 5

Based on intensive study of individuals
Although Freud’s observations were detailed and carefully recorded, critics 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
Highly subjective
- Idiographic Approach

Question 6

AO3- Psychodynamic Approach
Untestable Concepts

Answer 6

Doesn’t meet the scientific criterion 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 to test
Believes the psychodynamic approach is a pseudoscience

Question 7

AO3- Psychodynamic Approach
Practical Application

Answer 7

New form of therapy- psychoanalysis
Access the unconscious, such as hypnosis and dream analysis
The forerunner to many modern day psychotherapies that have since been established
HOWEVER psychoanalysis has been criticised as inappropriate, even harmful for people experiencing more serious mental disorders