Freud (1909) Little Hans

classical yr 12 individual differences study

Give some background to the study

• Hans was cheerful before his phobia of horses developed, there was a difference in what he said and thought

• psychoanalysis (interpreting his behaviour and why he was thinking and behaving the way that he was)

• Freud believed Hans was passing through the phallic stage

What were the aims of Freud’s study?

1. to help with Hans’ phobia

2. find evidence for his theories

What was the sample?

Hans, 3-5 years old

Explain the procedure

• just before 3 he become interested in his ‘wilder’ and had a tendency to master-bate

• when 3 ½, he got a baby sister who he resented and wished his mother would drop her in the bath and drown

• later he developed a fear of being bitten by white horses, after his father saying “don’t put your finger into the white horse or it will bite” and from seeing the horse fall and kick about

• he was anxious his mother would go away and prone to dreams/fantasies (giraffe fantasy, 2 plumber fantasy, parenting fantasy)

• after the parenting fantasy, both the ‘illness’ and analysis came to an end

What were the findings?

• his fear of horses was considered as a subconscious fear of his father

• and everything is explained by the oedipus complex

What were some of the conclusions of the study?

Freud concluded that his study of Hans provided support for:

-his theory of psychosexual development

-his suggestion that boys in the phallic stage experience the oedipus complex

Explain the giraffe fantasy

there’s a big one and a crumpled one, big one called out and Hans moved crumpled one away and sat on it —> dad was the big giraffe and the crumpled one was the mum

Explain the plumber fantasy

the plumber came and took away his behind and his widdler with pincers —> interpreted by Freud to be the resolution of the oedipus complex

What could you class this study as?

longitudinal study