The Psychodynamic Approach

Question 1

What did Freud say all human behaviour could be explained by?

Answer 1

All human behaviour can be explained by inner conflicts of the mind.

Question 2

To what extent do childhood events influence adult life?

Answer 2

Childhood events have great influence on adult life.

Question 3

What relationships within a family are considered extremely important?

Answer 3

The most important relationships are the ones between parent and child.

Question 4

Behaviour is a result of which part of the mind?

Answer 4

The unconscious.

Question 5

How is the mind structured?

Answer 5

The conscious and unconscious.

Question 6

What is the conscious mind?

Answer 6

The part of the mind we can access and are aware of. Contains all of our current thoughts.

Question 7

What is the unconscious mind and what does it contain?

Answer 7

The part of the mind we cannot access in everyday life. It can be accessed through dreams or by slips of the tounge. Contains biological drives and also unpleasant repressed memories.

Question 8

What does the id do?

Answer 8

Causes us to act selfishly and demands immediate gratification.

Question 9

When does the id develop?

Answer 9

Develops at birth.

Question 10

What principle does the id operate on?

Answer 10

It operates on the pleasure principle.

Question 11

What does the ego do?
How does it do it’s job?

Answer 11

Mediates between demands of the superego and id and aims to reduce conflicts between them by employing defence mechanisms.

Question 12

What age does the ego develop at?

Answer 12

Develops at 2 years.

Question 13

What principle does the ego operate on?

Answer 13

The reality principle.

Question 14

What does the superego do?

Answer 14

Acts as our internalised sense of right and wrong. It represents the moral standards of the same sex parent and punishes the ego for wrongdoing through guilt.

Question 15

What age does the superego develop at?

Answer 15

Develops at age 3-5 years.

Question 16

What principle does the superego act on?

Answer 16

The morality principle.

Question 17

What are psychosexual stages?

Answer 17

Stages that represent child development.

Question 18

What happens if a child fails to pass through one of the psychosexual stages?

Answer 18

The child will develop a fixation as a result of the unsolved conflict.

Question 19

Give the order of the psychosexual stages.

Answer 19

Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latency
Genital

Question 20

Give the ages at which each psychosexual stage occurs at.

Answer 20

Oral 0-1yrs
Anal 2-3yrs
Phallic 3-5yrs
Latency 6-12yrs
Genital 12+yrs

Question 21

What does the oral stage involve? Give an example.

Answer 21

Focuses on pleasure of the mouth, through sucking on the mothers breast for example.

Question 22

Give 3 consequences of failing to resolve the conflicts of the oral stage.

Answer 22

Sarcasm, nail biting, critical etc

Question 23

What does the anal stage involve? Give an example.

Answer 23

Focuses on pleasure of the anus. This is done by withholding or expelling faeces.

Question 24

Give the anal retentive and anal expulsive consequences of filing to resolve the stage.

Answer 24

Anal retentive - Perfectionist, obsessive.
Anal expulsive - Thoughtless, messy.

Question 25

What does the phallic stage involve?

Answer 25

Focuses on pleasure of the genital area.

Question 26

What are the consequences of leaving the phallic stage unresolved?

Answer 26

Phallic personality - Narcissistic and reckless.

Question 27

What happens during the latency stage?

Answer 27

Earlier sexual conflicts are repressed.

Question 28

What happens during the genital stage?

Answer 28

Sexual desires become conscious.

Question 29

What consequences occur if conflicts of the genital stage are left unresolved?

Answer 29

Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships.

Question 30

Briefly explain the Oedipus complex.

Answer 30

Boys develop a sexual desire for their mother. He fears that his father will find out and castrate him, so to resolve this, he identifies with his father.

Question 31

Briefly explain the Electra complex.

Answer 31

Girl develops a desire for her father and blames her mother for removing her penis. To solve this, she replaces penis envy by identifying with her mother and replaces this with desire for a baby.

Question 32

When are defence mechanisms used and why?

Answer 32

Defence mechanisms are used when the ego becomes too overwhelmed, helping it to be protected from temporary threats and traumas.

Question 33

What are the long term effects of defence mechanisms? Why are they bad?

Answer 33

They are psychologically unhealthy as they can cause distortion of reality.

Question 34

What is denial?

Answer 34

Forcing yourself to believe that something traumatic never really happened.

Question 35

What is repression?

Answer 35

Forcing unpleasant memories out of the conscious mind, into the unconscious.

Question 36

What is displacement?

Answer 36

Redirecting negative emotions away from the source to a less threatening recipient.

Question 37

Explain the strength of the approach having real life application, using the example of psychotherapies and counselling.

Answer 37

Freud developed psychoanalysis which aimed to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically by trying to access the unconscious mind. This aims to bring repressed thoughts to the conscious so they can be dealt with. Therapies such as counselling have also been developed as a result of this. This shows the value of the approach up to this day.

Question 38

Explain the strength of the approach having strong explanatory power using the examples of its influence on psychology, explaining phenomena and impacts of parent/child relationships on development.

Answer 38

The approach has remained a key force in psychology and has been used to explain phenomena such as personality development and gender identity. The approach has also draw significant connection to childhood relationships with parents to how we later develop. This suggests the approach has had a positive impact on psychology.

Question 39

Explain the limitation of the approach having untestable concepts, such as the unconscious, mentioning Karl Popper.

Answer 39

For example, Karl Popper stated that the approach isn’t scientific enough and therefore cannot be falsified. This is because it focuses on concepts that can’t be tested, such as the unconscious mind, which cannot be accessed. This means that the approach lacks scientific credibility.

Question 40

Explain the limitation of the approach using case studies, such as little Hans.

Answer 40

For example, the case study of little Hans is very specific. This means that it would be unreliable for Freud to claim that all boys experience the Oedipus complex, as he has only analysed the experience of one boy. In addition to the this, the claims that Freud were making were very abstract. This reduces the reliability of the approach.