Psychodynamic approach

What did Freud suggest that most of our mind is made up of

The unconscious

What is the unconscious

Biological drives and instincts that have influence on behaviour and personality

What are parapraxes

Slips of the tongue that reveal repressed unconscious memories

What does the preconscious contain

Thoughts and memories that are not currently conscious but we can access if desired

What did Freud say personality is made up of

Id, ego, superego

What is the Id, ego, and superego

Id: primitive part that is the pleasure principle, made up of selfish instincts that demand immediate gratification

Ego: reality principle that mediates the other 2. Develops around the age of 2. Reduces the conflict between the demands of the Id and superego by employing defence mechanisms

Superego: morality principle which represents the ideal self. Formed at the end of the phallic stage around the age of 5

What are psychosexual stages

Freud claimed child development occurred in 5 stages where each stage is marked by a conflict that the child must resolve to move forwards

What does unresolved conflict in the psychosexual stages lead to

A fixation where the child becomes stuck and carries certain behaviours from that stage into adult life

How does the ego balance conflicting demands between the id and superego

Defence mechanisms - not long-term solutions and regarded as psychologically unhealthy

What are the 3 defence mechanisms

Repression, denial, displacement

What are the 5 psychosexual stages

Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

What are the consequences of unresolved conflict in each of the psychosexual stages

Oral: oral fixation - smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical

Anal: anal retentive - perfectionist, obsessive. anal expulsive - thoughtless, messy

Phallic: phallic personality - narcissistic, reckless

Genital: difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

What is the Oedipus complex

In the phallic stage Freud claimed little boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and hatred for their rival in love - father. Fearing that their father will castrate them, they repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values

What is the Electra complex

Freud also suggested that girls the same age experience penis envy - they desire their father and hate their mother. They are thought to give up this desire for their father over time and replace this with a desire for a baby (identifying with their mother in the process)

What was Freud’s case study of Little Hans

Little Hans was a 5 year old boy who developed a phobia of horses after seeing one collapse in the street. Freud suggested his phobia was a form of displacement in which his repressed fear of his father was displaced onto horses. Horses were a symbolic representation of his unconscious fear - castration fear

What is a strength of the psychodynamic approach

It introduced the idea of psychotherapy

Freud brought psychoanalysis which is the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically - employing techniques used to access the unconscious. Psychoanalysis is the forerunner to many modern day therapies

Shows the value in creating a new approach to treatment

What is a counterpoint to the previous evaluation point

Even though Freudian therapists have claimed success for clients with mental disorders, psychoanalysis is often regarded as inappropriate or even harmful esp for people with schizo

Symptoms of schizo like paranoia and delusion mean they lose grip on reality and cannot communicate thoughts in way required by psychoanalysis

Suggests Freudian therapy may not apply to all mental disorders

What is a strength of psychodynamic approach

It’s ability to explain human behaviour

It has been used to explain personality development, origins of psychological disorder, moral development and gender identity

It is also significant in drawing attention to connection between experiences in childhood and later development

Had a positive impact on psychology

What is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach

Much of it is untestable

Karl Popper argued the approach does not meet scientific criteria of falsification because it is not open to empirical testing

Many of his concepts are said to take place at an unconscious level which makes them difficult or impossible to test

His ideas were also based on the subjective study of one individual like Little Hans which makes it difficult to make universal claims about human behaviour

Suggests his theory is not pseudoscientific