the psychodynamic approach

Question 1

Who was Freud?

Answer 1

-Sigmund Freud- the father of modern psychology
-Came up with the psychoanalytic theory- psychodynamic approach
-A therapist in the late 1800s
-Based many of his therapies on his patients and advocated talking therapies

Question 2

What are the main assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 2

1) Unconscious activity is the key determinate of how we behave
2) We possess innate drives (or instincts) that energize our mind as we develop through our lives
3) Our (three part) personality- the psych- is compromised of the id, ego and superego
4) Childhood experiences have significant importance in determining our personality when we reach adulthood

Question 3

What is the conscious mind?

Answer 3

Everything we are currently aware of
e.g. thoughts, perceptions

Question 4

What is the preconscious mind?

Answer 4

Things we can easily access
e.g. memories, stored knowledge

Question 5

What is the unconscious mind?

Answer 5

Primal instincts and things that makes us feel uncomfortable
e.g. fears, irrational wishes, shameful experiences, selfish needs, unacceptable desires

Question 6

What is the id?

Answer 6

-the primitive, selfish part of our personality
-operates on the pleasure principle
-formed at birth
-in the unconscious mind

Question 7

What is the ego?

Answer 7

-the rational part of our personality
-operates on the reality principle
-formed 18mo-3yrs
-mostly in the conscious mind

Question 8

What is the superego?

Answer 8

-the moral conscience, the judgemental part
-operates on the morality principle
-formed 3-6 yrs- an internalisation of our parents’ values
-mostly in the unconscious mind

Question 9

How is a healthy personality achieved?

Answer 9

Ego should moderate the demands of the ego and superego

Question 10

What happens if the id becomes dominant?

Answer 10

Person is aggressive, impulsive and criminal

Question 11

What happens if the superego becomes dominant?

Answer 11

Person is extremely moralistic and judgemental (especially of themselves)

Question 12

What are the psychosexual stages of development?

Answer 12

-Freud believed our personality was formed in five stages
-Our sexual energy (libido) is centred in different areas of the body as we develop
-We experience tension from this energy and pleasure is gained at different stages through its expression
-If we are under or over gratified at a certain stage, we experience fixation, which can have personality impacts

Question 13

Describe the oral stage.

Answer 13

-Age 0-2
-Pleasure centre- the mouth (where the libido is focussed)
-Possible cause of fixation- deprivation of love or food, early weaning
-Pleasure gained from sucking/eating
-Possible results of fixation- biting nails, smoking, sarcasm

Question 14

Describe the anal stage.

Answer 14

-Age- 2-3
-Pleasure centre- the anus
-Possible cause of fixation- parents place demands on the child (toilet training- either too harsh or too lax)
-Possible results of fixation- obsessiveness, tiredness, meanness
Get pleasure from expelling/retaining faeces

Question 15

Describe the phallic stage.

Answer 15

-Age- 3-5
-Pleasure centre- the genital area
-Possible cause of fixation- no father figure, very dominant mother
-Sexual energy focused on the genitals. Major conflict- Oedipus complex.
-Possible results of fixation- envy, self-obsession, sexual anxiety

Question 16

Describe the latency stage.

Answer 16

-Age-6-12
-Conflicts of previous stages are repressed- childhood amnesia
-Libido- latent- buried

Question 17

Describe the genital stage.

Answer 17

-Age- 12+
-Culmination of psychosexual development- sexual energy remains fixed in the genitals

Question 18

What is the Oedipus Complex?

Answer 18

-phallic stage- 3-5
-boys desire their mother, want her sole attention, want to get rid of their father
-anxiety about their fathers finding out
-castration anxiety
-fear of the father= hide true feelings
-in time, bond with fathers, internalise sense of morality (superego develops)

Question 19

What is the electra complex?

Answer 19

-Freud rejected this- didn’t see a substitute for castration anxiety
-Freud recognised that females bonded with their mothers but as it is not motivated by fear of castration , he argued that women became morally weaker

Question 20

What is a defence mechanism?

Answer 20

When anxiety becomes too great due to a traumatic situation, the ego uses defence mechanisms to protect itself
e.g. denial, repression, displacement

Question 21

What is denial?

Answer 21

Refusal to accept that a situation is happening

Question 22

What is repression?

Answer 22

Thoughts and memories related to the trauma that are pushed into the unconscious mind where they cannot be accessed

Question 23

What is displacement?

Answer 23

Redirecting unpleasant thoughts or feelings onto a safe object or individual

Question 24

Summarise the Little Hans case study