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 & direct human behaviour & experience

Question 2

What did Sigmund Freud suggest?

Answer 2

There are three parts to the mind:
- The conscious mind- what we are aware of, the part of the mind we are using to form conscious thoughts
- The preconscious mind- sits just below the surface of the conscious mind: it is where memories can be retrieved if needed
- The unconscious mind- largest part of the iceberg and sits below the surface, may hold disturbing & threatening memories plus the effects of trauma

Question 3

How did Freud believe unconscious thoughts could be accessed?

Answer 3

• During dreams
• Or through slips of the tounge
• e.g. ‘ I loathe my husband sm’ rather than ‘I love my husband sm’

Question 4

What are the 3 structures Freud came up with of personality?

Answer 4

• The Id
• The Ego
• The Superego
• All develop at different points in a person’s life and each is qualitatively distinct from the other
• They are not separate entities: they work together but not necessarily in harmony

Question 5

What is the Id?

Answer 5

• Present from birth (Freud describes babies as being ‘bundles of id’)
• The id is the primitive part of our personality and operates on the pleasure principle
• It is selfish and demanding, gets what it wants
• It contains unconscious biological drives, instincts and and urges
• The Id is very important in early life to ensure infants survival, is why an infant will cry until its needs are met

Question 6

What is the Ego?

Answer 6

• Develops around the age 2
• The ego operates on the reality principle, rather like a sensible adult
• It is the mediator between the Id & Superego, having to mediate between them at all times

e.g. ‘I’d like to have that but it may take time to get it & I must accept that it may never happen’

Question 7

What is the Superego?

Answer 7

• Develops around the age of 5 (end of phallic stage)
• The superego operates on the morality principle *
• It is our internalised sense of right & wrong, it is our conscience
• Represents the moral standards of the same-sex parent
• It punishes the ego through feelings of guilt when it does something wrong and it rewards the ego with feelings of pride when it does something right
• It tries to civilise our behaviour and suppress the unacceptable urges of the Id

• rather like a disapproving teacher or parent e.g. ‘Why would anyone want that? It’s wrong and it means that you are weak to want it’

Question 8

What did Freud state about a healthy personality?

Answer 8

• For a healthy personality there had to be a balance between the Id, Ego and Superego
  However;
• If the Id is more dominant, the person can become impulsive & uncontrollable as they are acting on their most basic wants with no concern for consequences
• If the Superego is more dominant, the person can become incredibly moralistic & judgmental, not accepting anything they consider against their moral judgment

Question 9

What are psychosexual stages?

Answer 9

• According to Freud, children go through 5 psychosexual stages
• They must go through all 5 stages to become well-adjusted adults
• During each stage the child fixates on a different part of the body
• During each stage the child goes through conflict which they must resolve to move through stage successfully
• If they don’t resolve conflict in each stage, can result in adult fixation

Question 10

What are the 5 Psychosexual Stages?

Answer 10

• Oral
• Anal
• Phallic
• Latency
• Genital

Question 11

What is the Oral stage?

Answer 11

• Occurs 0-1 years old
• Mouth is focus of pleasure
• Conflict can arise when weaning off bottle or breast

Consequences of unresolved conflict:
Oral Fixation: Smoking, overeating, biting nails etc

Question 12

What is the Anal stage?

Answer 12

• Occurs 1-3 years old
• Anus is focus of pleasure
• Conflict can arise when toilet training

Consquences of unresolved conflict:
Anal retentive: Neatness, perfectionism

Anal expulsive: Messiness, insensitivity

Question 13

What is the Phallic stage?

Answer 13

• Occurs 3-6 yrs old
• The genital area is the focus of pleasure
• Conflict can arise & cause the Oedipus or electra complex

Consequences of unresolved conflict:
Vanity,overambition, narcissism

Question 14

What is the latency stage?

Answer 14

• Earlier conflicts become repressed

(no consequences)

Question 15

What is the Genital stage?

Answer 15

• Genitals are the focus of pleasure
• Sexual desires become conscious with the onset of puberty

Consequences of unresolved conflict:
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

Question 16

What is the oedipus complex?

Answer 16

• Boys desire closeness with the opposite sex parent i.e. their mother
  T- he same-sex parent (the father) is a rival who the boy wants out of the way
• Boys fear that their father will castrate them (castration anxiety loss of penis)
• To reduce anxiety boys use defence mechanisms and identify with their father
• This reduces the threat & the boy internalises male characteristics & comes out of the Oedipus complex

Question 17

What is the electra complex?

Answer 17

• Girls desire closeness with the opposite sex parent i.e. their father
• Girls do not fear their same-sex parent (the mother) as they believe that they have already been castrated; instead they experience penis-envy
• Girls fear losing their mother’s love
• To reduce anxiety the girls identify with their mother
• This reduces the threat and girls internalise female characteristics and come out of the Electra complex

Question 18

What was the study of Little Hans?

Answer 18

• Freud supported his concept of Oedipus complex with case of little Hans
• Hans was a 5 yr old boy who developed a phobia of horses after seeing one collapse in the street
• Freuds suggested that Hans phobia was displacement in which his repressed fear of his father was transferred (displaced) onto other horses
• Thus, horses were merely a symbolic representation of Han’s real unconscious fear- the fear of castration experienced by the Oedipus complex

Question 19

What are defence mechanisms?

Answer 19

• Used by the ego to help it balance the conflicting demands of the Id & Superego

These mechanisms are unconscious & ensure the ego is able to prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary traumas and/or threats

Question 20

What are the 3 defence mechanisms?

Answer 20

• Repression
• Denial
• Displacement

Question 21

What is repression?

Answer 21

• Unpleasant memories are pushed down into the unconscious mind and so are unable to cause anxiety

Question 22

What is denial?

Answer 22

• Refusal to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation, which stops the situation from causing anxiety

e.g. I am sure that my partner loves me even though she frequently stays out all night

Question 23

What is displacement?

Answer 23

• The focus of a strong emotion is expressed onto a neutral person or object, which reduces anxiety as it allows the expression of that strong emotion

e.g. I shout at my husband because I cannot shout at my boss

Question 24

Give one strength of the Psychodynamic Approach?

Answer 24

• Real world application
• Freud brought to world a new form of therapy- psychoanalysis
• This was 1st attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically
• New therapy employed a range of techniques to help clients by bringing their repressed emotions into their conscious mind so they can be dealt with

Shows value of the psychodynamic approach in creating a new approach to treatment

Question 25

Give another strength of the Psychodynamic Approach.

Answer 25

• Freud’s theory is controversial but it has had a huge influence on psychology & Western contemporary thought.
  For example, the psychodynamic approach remained the dominant force in psychology for the first half of the 20th century to explain a wide range of phenomena such as personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development & gender.
• The approach has also been significant in drawing attention to the connection between experiences in childhood, such as our relationship with our parents, & later development.

Question 26

Give one limitation of the Psychodynamic Approach.

Answer 26

• Much of the approach is untestable
• Karl Popper argued that the PA does not meet scientific criteria of falsification
• Many of Freuds concepts (such as id & oedipus complex) are said to occur at an unconscious level making them almost impossible to test
• Furthermore his ideas were based on subjective data of single individuals such as little Hans making it difficult to make claims about human behaviour