The psychodynamic approach

• What is the main gist of the psychodynamic approach?


  Psychodynamic theory states that events in our childhood have a great influence on our adult lives, shaping our personality. Events that occur in childhood can remain in the unconscious, and cause problems as adults.
• What are the key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?


  - The unconscious is inaccessible to conscious awareness.

  - Traumatic memories from childhood are repressed.

  - The unconscious mind can reveal itself through psychoanalysis.
• What is the iceberg analogy?


  Freud suggested that the part of the mind that we know about and are aware of (the conscious mind) is merely the 'tip of the iceberg'. Most of our mind is made up of the unconscious.
• What is the role of the unconscious mind?


  -It stores biological drives that are a driving force for behaviour and personality.

  -It contains threatening and disturbing memories (previous trauma) that have been repressed or forgotten.
• What are the 3 components of our personalities?

  The ID (The primitive, biological part of the mind - present in new-borns - which consists of basic biological impulses or drives. It works on the pleasure principle and is part of the unconscious mind).

  The Ego (This develops as the child grows, and aims to gratify the id's impulses in line with what is realistically possible by considering the environment it is in - it works on the reality principle. It is part of the conscious mind, and defends the unconscious mind against displeasure by using defence mechanisms).

  The Superego (This develops last during the phallic stage. It is an internalisation of the values and morals of society and the same sex parent the child identifies with. Violating these standards will cause anxiety - largely unconscious but it may be experienced as guilt. It works on the morality principle and is part of the conscious and unconscious mind).
• What are the roles of defence mechanisms?


  The ego uses defence mechanisms to:

  -Protect itself and help manage the conflict between the ID and the superego

  -Provide compromise solutions (usually unconscious) to deal with unresolvable conflict between the ID and the superego.

  -Provide a strategy to reduce anxiety.
• What are three defence mechanisms and their definitions?


  Repression - forcing a distressed memory out of the conscious mind.

  Denial - Refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality.

  Displacement - Transferring feelings from the true source of the distressing emotion onto a substitute target.
• What are the psychosexual stages in order?


  (Old Age Pensioners Love Guiness)

  Oral

  Anal

  Phallic

  Latency

  Genital

  Freud suggested that all children go through 5 age related stages of development - at each stage, the libido focuses on one area. If the child receives too much or too little satisfaction at any age, they can become fixated, and show certain characteristics as adults.
• The Oral Stage.


  Focus of libido is the mouth. The child is being breast fed and weaned - they are passive, receptive, and dependent.

  Possible cause of fixation - weaned too late/early.

  Possible results of fixation - smoking, biting nails, chewing gum, sarcasm, nastiness.
• The Anal Stage. 1-3 years.


  Focus of libido is the anus. Potty training takes place and the ego develops as parents impose restrictions - it's the first time the child experiences any sort of control (expulsion/retention of faeces).

  Possible cause of fixation - Overly harsh/overly relaxed toilet training.

  Possible results of fixation - If anally retentive, overly controlled, uptight, obsessive.

  If anally expulsive, messy, disorganised, thoughtless.
• Phallic stage. 3-6 years.


  Focus of libido is the genitals - curiosity and examination. The superego develops through resolution of the Oedipus or Electra complex. Identification with a same-sex parent will lead to the formation of gender identity. (Freud said women didn't mature past this phase, making them less moral than men).

  Possible cause of fixation - No father figure/a dominant mother figure.

  Possible results of fixation - sexual anxiety, self obsession, envy, gender identity issues.
• The Oedipus complex.


  Boys have unconscious sexual feelings for their mothers and fear that their fathers are going to castrate them. In order to overcome this fear, the child identifies with his father, taking on his beliefs, values, and morality - developing a super-ego.
• The Electra complex.


  Girls start to suffer from penis envy, develop sexual feelings for their father, and see their mother as a romantic rival. The girl blames her mother for her lack of penis, believing she has castrated her. Girls realise they can possess their father by identifying with their mother - however, as penis envy is not as fearful as castration anxiety, the girl does not identify with her mother as strongly, and so has a weaker superego. According to Freud, females never completely resolve the Electra complex, and so are not as moral as boys. The girl replaces her penis envy with a desire for a baby.
• Latency Stage (7-puberty)


  Earlier conflicts are repressed, and sexual urges are sublimated into sports, other hobbies, and a focus on developing same-sex friendships. There are no particular requirements for successful completion - it is the lull before the storm of puberty.
• Genital Stage (puberty onwards)


  Focus of libido is the genitals but not to the same extent as the phallic stage. The task is to develop healthy adult relationships, which should happen as long as earlier stages have been negotiated successfully.

  A consequence of unresolved conflict would be difficulty forming heterosexual relationships.
• Evaluate defence mechanisms


  - It is argued that defence mechanisms are untestable as they are unconscious processes that cannot be studied directly - they can only be inferred from behaviour or from reported thoughts or experiences ​- therefore, according to Karl Popper, they do not meet the criteria to be scientific.

  - However, they have an Intuitive appeal, as most people can appreciate the idea of denial, repression, and displacement​.

  - Furthermore, there are case studies of people who are unable to recall upsetting events.
• What is a negative criticism of the Psychodynamic approach? (gender bias)


  Freud's ideas demonstrate a significant gender bias - for example, his obsession with the Oedipus complex is androcentric. Therefore, many would claim this makes them irrelevant to an understanding of women, making the Psychodynamic approach an incomplete explanation of human behaviour.
• What is a positive criticism of the Psychodynamic approach? (real world application)


  In support of the approach, it has useful applications in therapy - most therapies are based on the idea that we should talk about deep rooted issues to resolve them. Lindgren (2010) found psychoanalysis to be very effective with young adults, and Biskup (2005) found that after psychoanalytic therapy, 77% of patients showed clinical improvements. This shows that the psychodynamic approach has made a positive impact in the real world.
• What is a negative criticism of the Psychodynamic approach? (Population validity).


  - Psychoanalytic theory has been criticised for being culturally biased, as all of Freuds patients came from the Viennese middle-class, and his universal generalisations were based on this highly unrepresentative sample. This means the psychodynamic approach may be an incomplete explanation of human behaviour, as it lacks population validity.

  - Freud's theory was based on an intensive study of single individuals. Although his observations were incredibly detailed and carefully recorded, critics have suggested that it is not possible to generate universal laws of behaviour (a nomothetic approach) with only case studies of such a small number of individuals (an idiographic approach). Therefore, his results should not be generalised to a larger population as they lack population validity.
• What is a positive criticism of the Psychodynamic approach? (influence on psychology).


  Although Freuds theory is controversial, it has had a huge influence on psychology and Western contemporary thought. It has remained a dominant force in Psychology for the first half of the 20th century and has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality development, abnormal behaviour, development and gender. The approach is also significant in drawing attention to the connection between experiences in childhood, such as parental relationships and later development. This shows that the approach is useful in that it laid down concepts that are still present in the modern world.
• What is a positive criticism of the psychodynamic approach? (Little Hans)


  In support of the psychodynamic approach, Freud conducted a case study. Little Hans was afraid of horses - Freud stated that horses were a symbolic representation of Little Hans' father, and that Little Hans feared his father was going to castrate him. This supports Freuds concept of the Oedipus complex, which occurs during the phallic stage of development.
• What is a negative criticism of the psychodynamic approach? (Psychic determinism).


  However, the psychodynamic approach is very determinist - Freud believed that there was no such thing as an accident in human behaviour. Even something seemingly random such as a slip of the tongue is driven by unconscious forces and has a deep symbolic meaning. This would imply that humans lack free will and therefore have no control over their own behaviour. This directly contradicts the humanistic approach, which states humans have free will, meaning it may be an incomplete explanation of human behaviour as only one level of explanation has been explored.
• What role did the Psychodynamic approach have in the emergence of psychology as a science?


  The psychodynamic approach shifted Wundts ideas and instead focused on the role of the unconscious mind. This is a less scientific approach than others but has contributed to our understanding and treatment of conditions.