The psychodynamic perspective

1st principle

Psychodynamic psychologists believe that behaviour and feelings as adults are largely rooted in our early childhood experiences

2nd principle

They also believe that a great deal of behaviour is driven by unconscious processes which we are not aware of

How do psychologists investigate and treat problem behaviours and mental health disorders?

They attempt to make the unconscious conscious through methods such as hypnosis and dream analysis via psychodynamic.

Define conscious mind

Thoughts and feelings we are aware of

Define unconscious mind

Thought and feelings we are not directly aware of, hard to access but have a role to play in our behaviour.

What is the tripartite personality made up of ?

Id ego and superego

Id and superego are in constant conflict therefore the ego must try to resolve the conflicts by finding a practical compromise. If conflicts remain unsolved then we are likely to suffer from extreme anxiety. Ego then uses defence mechanisms to protect us from such anxiety. These operates at level of unconscious and we may be unaware that we are using them.

Define the id

The impulsive and instinctive part of personality. Present from birth. Demands immediate gratification and operates in basis that all impulses shud be satisfied regardless of the consequences.

Define ego

reality principle which mediate between the irrational demands of id and the real world. Purpose it to problem solve to devise realistic solutions to the ids logical demands.

Define superego

Morality principle.focused on morals of society instilled in a child through parenting and how one was brought up.

Acronym to remember order of psychosexual development

Old age pensioners love Guinness

Define oral stage

From Birth- 18 months Part of body is mouth

Libidinal energy is focused on mouth. Eating drinking are important.

Ina suits may have food , drinking smoking addictions to cope with anxiety.

Define anal stage

18 months - 3yrs part of body is Anus

Libidinal energy is focused on anus. Toilet training is a central event at this stage

In adults may become obsessive or neat leading to ocd or are messiah and destructive.

Define phallic stage

3yrs - 5yrs. Part of body is genital

Libidinal energy is focused on genitals. Oc and penis envy occur at this stage.

In adults men become overly aggressive and women become seductive or flirtatious

Define latency stage

6yrs-puberty. No part of body

Libidinal energy becomes less active. Period of relative calmness. Ego and superego merge

In adults no fixations are linked.

Define genital stage

Puberty-adults. Part of body is genitals

If previous stages were successful, libidinal energy remains on genitals. Mutual satisfying relationships.

In adults become ready for long lasting sexual relationships and to from strong attachments with romantic partners.

Define the theory of psychosexual development

Psychosexual development occurs before you fully develop mature personality.

Each stage is largely sexual in nature

Different parts of the body become the focus of pleasure

At each stage, the child’s libido is in conflict with the rules of society.

Overindulgence or denial of libido at any stage can result in a child failing to establish the control balance between all its needs. May lead to fixtures which is a psychological problem that manifests itself as a personality trait.

Link this to a psychodynamic study -Freud

Freud; the study of a five year old boy. Freud used a case study method. Hans father wrote down conversations he had with Hans about his dreams and fantasies. The father then reported to Freud via correspondence and Freud gave directions as how to deal with the situation based on his interpretation of the father’s reports. He concluded that Hans behaviour and phobias provided support for the existences of the Oedipus complex

Link: Phobias caused by stages of childhood. Early relationship conflict needs resolving Hans phobias reflected an unconscious fear of his father due to Oedipal conflict - also a result of his experiences e.g.seeing a horse tall down / hearing conversations

Link this to another psychodynamic study - Hancock

Hancock: examined the language characteristics of psychopaths on 3 major characteristics using male murders. Some psychopaths, some non. They were interviewed at length with self report scales, text analysis tools - they had to describe their crime at length. They found psychopaths are more sifluent in their language, justify their murderes as logical outcomes, focus on physics logical needs rather than emotional and describe their past tense with less emotion than non psychopath murderes.

Exam question. Explain how any of the core study can be seen to be part of psychodynamic perspective (5)

One core study is Freud

One principle of the perspective is that early childhood experiences influence our behaviour as an adult - in particular our relationships with others

For example in Freud Little Hans grew up with his mother and father, and a younger sibling, his conversations with his father about his dreams and experiences such as seeing a horse fall down in the street will affect his behaviour

One principle of the perspective is that our behaviour is driven largely by the unconscious mind

For example in Freud Little Hans phobias are a result of his castration anxiety- as he is worried his father may find out he has a unconscious sexual desire o his mother due to going through the Oedipus complex.

Evaluation of the perspective -strength

Usedful, practical applications