The Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
What are the key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
The driving force behind our behaviour is the unconscious mind
Instincts motivate our behaviour
Early childhood is important in making us who we are as psychological development takes place by the time we are 6.
What is the structure of personality?
Id-Present at birth, it gets what it wants and is selfish
Ego-It develops at around 2 and is the mediator between the id and the superego
Superego-It is formed at around 5 and is based on the morality principle.
What are the Psychosexual stages?
Oral-0-1 year, focus of pleasure in mouth
Anal-1-3 years, pleasure from expelling faeces
Phallic-3-5 years, focus in genital area
Latency-5-puberty, conflicts repressed
Genital-Puberty+, sexual desires
What are the defense mechanisms?
They are unconscious and help to stop the ego being overwhelmed
Repression-Forcing a memory out of the mind
Denial-Refusing to acknowledge reality
Displacement-Transferring feelings onto another target
What is the Oedipus complex?
In the Phallic stage, boys show hatred for their father but then they fear their father will castrate them and so they repress feelings for their mother and identify with their father.
What is the Electra complex?
Girls experience penis envy and hate their mother but overtime they give up desire for their father and instead have a desire for a baby, therefore identifying with their mother.
What are the strengths of the Psychodynamic approach?
It had a lot of influence on psychology
It draws attention to the importance of childhood experiences
It has practical application as new therapies were developed from it.
What are the weaknesses of the Psychodynamic approach?
It is based on case studies such as Little Hans which were highly subjective and on people who were already ill
|t can’t be scientifically tested and so it doesn’t meet the scientific theory of falsification
It is based on determinism as Freud believed that there was no such thing as free will.
