Little Hans

• this case was from the year 1909
• Little Hans was 5 years old and had a fear of horses
• Freuds main aim was to treat this phobia
• Around three years old, Hans showed an interest in ‘widdlers’ both his own penis and other males including animals
• His mother threatened to cut his widdler Off if he kept playing with it
• Hans’ fear of horses worsened And he was scared to go out in public in case he saw a horse
• Freud linked his fear to the horses large penis
• The phobia improved and only related to horses with a black harness over his nose which hans’ dad suggested symbolised his moustache
• Freud’s interpretation linked Hans’ fear to the oedipus complex with the horses unconsciously representing his fear of his father
• This case study provided rich and detailed information and offers an insight for further research
• It had a holistic point of view
• Case studies are often used in exploratory research and they help us generate new ideas or prompt researchers to develop further
• However this might’ve suffered from researcher bias and Hans’ father was a huge fan of freud’s work
• Lacks generalisability to the wider population
• Confirmation bias- looking for ideas to support his own research
• Lacks scientific thoroughness- no scientific experimentation/ manipulation took place