6)psychodynamic approach

What are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

It results from unconscious processes. Psychodynamic conflict explains behaviour and behaviour is motivated by drives- according to Freud our two drives are sexual and aggressive. And childhood experiences ate important as they shape adult personality

What did Freud believe about the unconscious force?

They are the primary motivators of our behaviour. It contains the ID which is the source of our aggressive and sexual drives

How did Freud think we could access unconscious urges?

Through slips of the tongue, free association, dreams analysis and in neuroses

What lies between the conscious and unconscious minds?

The pre conscious mind

What is the pre conscious mind?

It acts as a go between. If is through this that unconscious thoughts or desire rise to the surface and become conscious of the

What is the ID?

The primitive aspect of our personality based on the pleasure principle. It is present from both and is concerned with satisfying our desires- its unconscious

What is the EGO?

The mediator between the other two elements and is based on the reality principle it develops from our experience and it spans all three levels of consciousness

What is the SUPEREGO?

it is our internal sense of right and wrong and is therefore based on the morality principle. It develops around the age of five and represents the moral standards set by our same sex parents. It spans all three levels of consciousness

What does psychodynamic conflict between the Id, ego and superego causes?

Anxiety

How does the ego try to reduce anxiety?

It uses a number of defence mechanisms which involve distortion of reality

How does denial work?

It reduces anxiety by refusing to see the unpleasant aspect of reality

How does displacement work?

Taking out impulses on a less threatening target

How does regression work?

By returning to a previous stage of development

How does repression work?

Blocking out distressing thoughts memories and feelings

What are the five sequence of stages that personality is developed through?

Psychosexual stages

Why is the psychosexual stages called the psychosexual stages?

To emphasise the most important influence in development is the need to express sexual energy or libido

What happens if a child experiences severe problems or excessive pleasure

It leads to a fixation

What’s the oral phase?

Age: 0-1

Focus of libido: mouth

Experience and conflicts: sucking and biting bring pleasure, weaning from bottle or breast feeding

Frustration: oral aggressive, hostile, sarcastic, smoking

Overindulgent: oral dependent, gullible

What’s anal?

Age: 1-3

Focus: Anus

Experience/conflicts: expelling/retaining faeces. Toilet training forms ego.

Frustration: analysis retentive, stingy, organised and neat

Overindulgent: anal expensive, messy

What’s the phalic stage?

Age: 3-5

Focus: genitals

Experience/conflict: generals bring pleasure, oedipus and electra complex lead to formation of superego

Overindulgent: phalic personality, vain and narcissistic

What’s the latency stage?

6-12

Focus: none

Experience/conflicts: conflicts and issues from earlier stages are repressed so must children are unable to remember much of their early years.

What’s the genital stage?

Age: puberty onwards

Focus: genitalS

Experiences and conflicts: genitals bring renewed pleasures, leading to sexual intercourse and beginning of adult life

Fixation results: fixation is good

Genital personality type: well-adjusted, mature and able to love and be loved

What’s the oedipus complex?

In the phalic stage, boys develop incestrous feelings toward their mother and murderous hatred for their rival in love- their father. They fear that their father will castrate them (castration anxiety). The boys repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values

What’s the electra complex?

Girls of the same age experience penis envy, they desire their father and hate their mother. Freud was less clear on the process in girls. They are taught to give up their desire for their father and replace this with desire for a baby, while identifying with their mother in the process.

What leads to the development of superego?

The process of identification leads to the child taking on the roles and values of the same sex parents

Which evidence supports the existence of oedipus complex?

The cause study of little hans

Outline little Hans case study

Freud’s case study of Little Hans (1909) involved a 5-year-old boy who developed a phobia of horses. Freud interpreted this as an unconscious conflict caused by the Oedipus complex: Hans desired his mother and feared his father. His anxiety was displaced onto horses, which he associated with his father. This supports the idea that unconscious conflicts in early childhood can influence behaviour.

Why was the psychodynamic approach a pioneering approach?

It was the first approach which argued that childhood development was importante for explaining adult behaviour. This led to the development of a new field of psychology, developmental psychology

What scientific support does the psychodynamic have?

Fisher and Greenberg (1996) carried out a meta analysis of 2500 studies testing the different aspects of psychoanalysis. They found support for existence of unconscious motivations as well as the defence mechanism of repression, denial and displacement.

When was the approach effective to explaining a phobia when behaviourist therapy was not?

Wolpe (1973) attempted to use his method of systematic desensitisation to treat a woman fear of insects. But it turned out her husband had an insect nickname. He was dead. Her fear attempted to be simply a displacement of her marital problems

Why is the psychodynamic androcentric?

Freud view of women and female sexuality weren’t near as developed as men’s. Freud did not even suggest the electra complex but a followed did. This leads to alpha bias were the difference between gender is exaggerated.

Why is it a limitation that the approach suggest that our behaviours are controlled through physic determinism?

It’s a depressing view of human behaviour. It conflicts our general experience where we feel like we have free will.

Why is the psychodynamic approach is regarded as one of the least scientific approach?

Control- Freud did not believe in the manipulation of an independent variable when studying human behaviour. Falsability- without substantial evidence, it is impossible to falsify the theories