the psychodynamic approach

Question 1

what is the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 1

a perspective that describes the different forces (dynamics), most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience

Question 2

who is the main psychologist?

Answer 2

Freud

Question 3

what is the role of the unconscious?

Answer 3

•Freud suggests that most of our mind is made up by the unconscious
•the unconscious also contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed

Question 4

what are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 4

•unconscious processes determine our behaviour
•personality has three parts, the id, the ego and the superego
•innate drives (instincts) motivate our behaviour and cause us to go through a series of psychosexual stages
•childhood experiences have significant importance in determining our personality when we reach adulthood

Question 5

what are the three parts of your personality?

Answer 5

the id
the ego
the superego

Question 6

what is the id?

Answer 6

it is entirely unconscious, the id is primitive and made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification. pleasure principle

Question 7

what is the ego?

Answer 7

it works on the reality principle- it balances the conflicting demands of the id and the superego. it resides in our conscious and unconscious minds and develops at age 1-3 years

Question 8

what is the superego?

Answer 8

works on the morality principle, represents our conscience and makes us feel guilty. it represents our ideal self and how we ought to be. this resides in our conscious and unconscious minds and develops at around 3-5 years old

Question 9

what analogy does freud use to describe the mind?

Answer 9

the iceberg analogy

Question 10

what does the iceberg analogy show?

Answer 10

what parts of our personality reside in the conscious and unconscious

Question 11

what are psychosexual stages?

Answer 11

five developmental stages that all children pass through. at each stage there is a different conflict, the outcome of which determines future development

Question 12

when does our id develop?

Answer 12

we are born with it

Question 13

when does our ego develop?

Answer 13

during the anal stage, at around 2- 2 1/2

Question 14

when does our superego develop?

Answer 14

during the phallic stage

Question 15

what are the 5 psychosexual stages? what ages do they occur?

Answer 15

•oral (0-1)
•anal (1-3)
•phallic (3-5)
•latency (5-puberty)
•genital (puberty-adulthood)

Question 16

what is the oral stage?

Answer 16

focus of pleasure is on the mouth, mothers breast is usually the object of desire. characteristics include sucking and biting.

Question 17

what are the consequences of unresolved conflict in the oral stage?

Answer 17

oral fixation- smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical

Question 18

what is the anal stage?

Answer 18

focus of pleasure is the anus. the child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces.

Question 19

what are the consequences of unresolved conflict in the anal stage?

Answer 19

anal retentive- perfectionist, obsessive
anal expulsive- thoughtless, messy

Question 20

what is the phallic stage?

Answer 20

focus of pleasure is in the genital area. child experiences oedipus of electra complex.

Question 21

what is the consequence of unresolved conflict in the phallic stage?

Answer 21

phallic personality- narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual

Question 22

what is the latency stage?

Answer 22

earlier conflicts and experiences are repressed

Question 23

what is the genital stage?

Answer 23

sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty

Question 24

what is the consequence of unresolved conflict in the genital stage?

Answer 24

difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

Question 25

what are defence mechanisms?

Answer 25

unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego

Question 26

what are 3 defence mechanisms?

Answer 26

•repression
•denial
•displacement

Question 27

what is repression?

Answer 27

forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind and into the unconscious

Question 28

what is denial?

Answer 28

refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality- blocking it from conscious awareness

Question 29

what is displacement?

Answer 29

transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target

Question 30

evaluation points

Answer 30

+explanatory power
-/+ case study methods
-untestable concepts
+practical application
-psychic determinism

Question 31

strength: explanatory power

Answer 31

•freud’s theory has had a huge influence on psychology
•it has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality/ moral development, abnormal behaviour and gender
•it draws attention to the connection between our childhood and adulthood

Question 32

the case study method

Answer 32

•freud’s theories are often based off the case studies of single individuals in therapy (like Little Hans)
•although the case studies have a high amount of detail, the information obtained through them may not be able to be generalised, as they were based on a small number of psychologically abnormal individuals
•also, interpretations of behaviour were highly subjective
•Freud’s methods lack scientific rigour

Question 33

limitation: untestable concepts

Answer 33

•Popper suggested that the psychodynamic approach does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification, in the sense that it is not open to empirical testing (and the possibility of being disproved)
•many of Freud’s concepts (such as the oedipus complex) are said to occur at an unconscious level, making them difficult (if not impossible) to test
•according to popper, this affords psychodynamic theory the status of pseudoscience (‘fake’ science) rather than real science

Question 34

strength: practical application

Answer 34

•freud brought about a new form of therapy- psychoanalysis
•employing a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious, such as hypnosis and dream analysis
•while psychoanalysis has had much success, it has been criticised for being inappropriate for more serious mental disorders (like schizophrenia)

Question 35

limitation: psychic determinism

Answer 35

•freud believed, that in relation to human behaviour, there was no such thing as an ‘accident’
•like saying a dress is ‘fattening’ instead of ‘flattering’ is driven by unconscious forces and has deep symbolic meaning
•this approach suggests all behaviour- even accidents- are determined by unconscious conflicts that are rooted in childhood such that any free will we think we have is an illusion