psychodynamic approach

The psychodynamic approach believes behaviour is explained through …

unconscious activity, innate drives and early childhood experiences

Unconscious activity is the key

determinate of behaviour

We possess innate drives/instincts that energise our minds to…

motivate behaviour as we develop

Our 3 part personality (tripartite) is compromised of the…

id, ego and superego

What is the id?

primitive pleasure principle, gets what it wants, innate

What's the ego?

develops at 2yrs old, mediates id and superego through defence mechanisms

What's the superego?

develops at 5yrs old, morality principle, same moral standards as same sex parent, punishes ego for wrongdoing through guilt

What're defence mechanisms?

unconscious, prevent us from being overwhelmed by trauma or temporary threats

What're the 3 defence mechanisms?

repression, denial, displacement

Define repression

forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind

Define denial

refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

Define displacement

transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotions onto a substitute target

Psychosexual stages of delevopment:
each stage marked by…

in each stage (except latency) there's…

erogenous zone, conflict that must be resolved to develop successfully

What if there’s unresolved conflict?

leads to… child becomes…

fixation, stuck and carries certain behaviours into adult life

What's the first stage + the focus of pleasure?

oral stage, 0-2yrs, mouth

What's the second stage + the focus of pleasure?

anal stage, 2-3yrs, anus, withholding/expelling faeces

What's the third stage + the focus of pleasure?

phallic stage, 3-6yrs, genitals, oedipus and electra complex

What's the fourth stage + the focus of pleasure?

latent stage, 6-puberty, early conflicts either repressed or resolved

What's the fifth stage + the focus of pleasure?

genital stage, puberty onwards, genitals, sexual desires become conscious

What's a fixation consequences during the oral stage?

smoking, biting nails

What's a fixation consequences during the anal stage?

perfectionist or messy

What's a fixation consequences during the phallic stage?

narcissistic, reckless, homosexuality

What's a fixation consequences during the latent stage?

no fixation

What's a fixation consequences during the genital stage?

difficulty forming relationships

What're the levels of consciousness?

conscious, preconscious, unconscious

What does the conscious contain?

thoughts, memories, feelings were aware of and can think and talk about rationally

What does the preconscious contain?

memories and information that can be brought to the conscious fairly easily

What does the unconscious contain?

fears, biological instincts/urges, traumatic experiences, not easily accessed but can be accessed through…

dreams, slip of tongue (freudian slip)

What's the oedipus complex?

boys identify with their father and take his morals due to fear of castration

Whats the electra complex?

girls identify with their mother and take her morals, replace penis envy with a desire for a baby

Why do these complexes have a rivalry with the opposite sex parent at the start?

oedipus, boys fear of castration, electra, girls penis envy

AO3- Evaluation: strength

Practical applications

Psychoanalytic therapy- helps see how unconscious affects client’s behaviour.

Can improve symptoms

Therefore, useful in…

development of therapy, improving lives

AO3- Evaluation: limitation

Lacks scientific methods

Little Hans- fear of horses being a displaced fear of his father = Freud’s subjective interpretation

Non falsifiable - can’t observe unconscious scientifically

Therefore, lacks…

validity

AO3- Evaluation: limitation

May be gender biased

Developed views on male sexuality (oedipus complex)

Freud = ignorant of female sexuality, said women = morally inferior as weaker identification, weaker superego so morally inferior

Therefore, lacks…

validity

AO3- Evaluation: limitation

Can’t generalise to all cultures

Psychoanalysis benefits western more than non

China- depressed person avoids thoughts instead of discussing

Therefore, findings only apply to…

western cultures