Psychology Paper 2- Psychodynamic Approach

psychodynamic approach assumes that

most behaviour is determined by the unconscious mind and childhood experiences influence personality as an adult

freud proposes that personality is

tripartite

three parts of personality

id, ego, superego

id

primal instincts, instant gratification, developed at birth, works on pleasure principle

ego

defence mechanisms, balances id and superego, develops at 2, works on the reality principle

superego

internalised parent and society, morality, develops at 5 at the end of the phallic stage, based on morality principle

what do defence mechanisms do

prevent ego from being overwhelmed by threats or trauma

defence mechanisms

repression, denial, displacement

psychodynamic approach- who

freud

freud proposed

psychosexual stages of development

psychosexual stages

oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital

oral stage

0-1 years, focus on mouth

consequence of unresolved conflict during oral stage

oral fixation- smoking, sarcastic

anal stage

1-3 years, focus on ans

consequence of unresolved conflict during anal stage

anal retentive- OCD, perfectionist or anal expulsive- messy

phallic stage

3-5 years, focus on genital area, electra/oedipus complexes take place

consequence of unresolved conflict during phallic stage

phallic personality- reckless, homosexual, phobias

latent stage

6-12 years, development of same-sex friendships, earlier conflicts are repressed

genital stage

13+, healthy, adult relationships are developed

consequence of unresolved conflict during genital stage

difficulties forming heterosexual relationships

strengths of psychodynamic approach

very influential, real world applications

strength of psychodynamic approach- very influential

especially in the early 20th century, draws attention to connection between childhood experiences and later development, has been used to explain phenomena eg. gender identity and moral development

strength of psychodynamic approach- real world applications

applications in treatment of mental disorders- psychoanalysis paved the way for modern-day psychotherapies such as councelling

counterpoint to real world applications

for people with serious mental disorders such as sz, psychoanalysis can be inappropriate or even harmful as they have a poor grip on reality so can’t articulate themselves in the ways required for the therapy

weaknesses of psychodynamic approach

ungeneralisable, deterministic, unscientific, socially sensitive, retrospective, lack of historical invalidity

weakness of psychodynamic approach- ungeneralisable

case studies eg. Little Hans study used- subjective

weakness of psychodynamic approach- unscientific

untestable concepts- unfalsifiable so, to Popper, unscientific

weakness of psychodynamic approach- retrospective

biased/distorted memories- memories aren’t always accurate