The Psychodynamic Approach

Question 1

Who is the father of this approach?

Answer 1

Sigmund Freud

Question 2

Freud adopted the use of psychic determinism. What does this idea refer to?

Answer 2

This is the idea that all behaviour is caused by unconscious internal conflicts, over which we have no control over

Question 3

How many levels of consciousness are there? What is each level called?

Answer 3

There are three levels: the conscious, preconscious and unconscious

Question 4

Conscious:
Are people aware of it?

Preconscious:
Are people aware of it?
How is the preconscious revealed?

Unconscious:
Are people aware of it?
How do people observe the unconscious?
What does the unconscious store?

Answer 4

People are aware of their conscious. The preconscious is not completely aware to people. It is revealed through dreams, slips of the tongue and Freudian slips (parapraxes)

People are completely unaware of their unconscious and can be observed through psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. It stores our biological drives and instincts (hunger, thirst and sex)

Question 5

How did Freud view personality?

Answer 5

Freud viewed personality as tripartite. Being made up of three parts called the Id, Ego and Superego

Question 6

What were the three parts Freud viewed personality to be made up of?

Answer 6

The Id
The Ego
The Superego

Question 7

The Id:
Driven by what things?
What does it drive the person to be/do?
Where is this part of your personality evident in life?
What level of consciousness does it reside?

Answer 7

The Id is driven by the pleasure principle and constantly seeks gratification

Drives the person to be selfish to satisfy their own needs/wants. Evident at birth, as babies only care about their own needs. The Id resides in the unconscious mind, therefore people may not understand

Question 8

The Ego:
What principle drives this?
What does the ego do?
When does the ego develop?
What does the ego use to resolve conflict?

Answer 8

The Ego is driven by the reality principle.
The Ego acts a go between the Id and Superego resolving conflicts.

The Ego normally has develop at around 3yrs and is the driver of defence mechanisms (repression, denial and displacement) to resolve conflicts

Question 9

The Superego:
When is it formed?
Operates on what principle?
Acts as a what for children?
What is the superego in conflict with?

Answer 9

The superego is formed at the age of five.
Operates on the morality principle and acts a moral compass and contains the internalised sense of right and wrong.
The superego is in conflict with the Id

Question 10

How many stages are there in the Psychosexual stages of development?

Answer 10

There are 5 stages

Question 11

Explain how Freud developed the psychosexual stages

Answer 11

Freud suggested that there are a series of developmental stages through which all children progress, in the same order

Each stage is characterised by a conflict, which must be resolved to pass to the next stage, apart from latency

Failure to do so results in fixation at the stage, where dysfunctional behaviours associated with that stage are carried towards to adulthood

Question 12

Oral stage:
What age does this stage occur?
Describe where pleasure is derived from? What is the outcome of the unresolved conflict?

Answer 12

This stage occurs at 0-18months
Pleasure is derived from the mouth through sucking, chewing and biting

If the conflict is unresolved, it will resolve in over eating, chewing gum, smoking and oral fixation

Question 13

Anal stage:
What age does this stage occur?
Describe where pleasure is derived from? Example?
What is the outcome of the unresolved conflict?

Answer 13

The anal stage occurs around 18mths - 3yrs
Pleasure is derived through the anus and example would be withholding/expelling waste

If the conflict is left unresolved it will result in:

anal retentive: perfectionist and obsessive
anal expulsive: thoughtless and messy

Question 14

Phallic stage:
What age does this stage occur?
Describe where pleasure is derived from? What is the outcome of the unresolved conflict?

Answer 14

The phallic stage occurs at 3-6yrs
Pleasure is derived from the genital area. The child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex

If this conflict is not resolved it will result in a phallic personality of being narcissistic, reckless and possibly homosexual

Question 15

What is the Oedipus complex?

Answer 15

The Oedipus complex states that boys in the phallic stage develop feeling for their mother and a hatred for their father.

In fear that their fathers may castrate them they repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their fathers moral values and take their gender roles

Question 16

What is the Electra complex?

Answer 16

Freud states that girls in the phallic stage start to experience penis envy. The girls desire their father and hate their mothers.

This complex lacks details however it is thought that the girls eventually give up their desire for their fathers and replace it with the desire for a baby - identifying with their mother

Question 17

What is the Electra complex?

Answer 17

Freud states that girls in the phallic stage start to experience penis envy. The girls desire their father and hate their mothers.

This complex lacks details however it is thought that the girls eventually give up their desire for their fathers and replace it with the desire for a baby - identifying with their mother

Question 18

Latency stage:
What age does this stage occur?
Describe where pleasure is derived from? What is the outcome of the unresolved conflict?

Answer 18

The latency stage occurs at 6-11yrs where there is no pleasure centre at this point, with no conflicts to be resolved. Therefore there are no outcomes of unresolved conflicts

Question 19

Genital stage:
What age does this stage occur?
Describe where pleasure is derived from? What is the outcome of the unresolved conflict?

Answer 19

The genital stage occurs at 6-12yrs where sexual desires becomes conscious alongside the onset of puberty

If this conflict is not resolved a child will have difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

Question 20

What is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach? (untestable concepts)

Answer 20

Psychologists argued that the psychodynamic approach does not meet scientific criterion of falsification, as it does not allow empirical testing, so cannot technically be disproved.

Additionally many of Freud’s concepts are based on the unconscious level, making them difficult to test.

Therefore this makes the psychodynamic approach a pseudoscience, a fake science

Question 21

What is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach? (case studies)

Answer 21

Freud’s theory was solely based on the intensive study of single individuals who were often in therapy, like the case of Little Hans.

Critics argue that the theory lacks population validity as universal claims about human nature cannot be made based on a small number of individuals who were deemed psychologically abnormal.

Furthermore it can be argued that Freud’s observations were extremely subjective and other psychologists would not have drawn the same conclusions. In comparison to other approaches, Freud’s methods lack scientific rigour