studies

• who was friends case study of the oedipus complex?


  little hans a 5 year old boy
• what phobia did hans develop and when?


  a phobia of horses after seeing one collapse in the street
• why did freud say little hans grew a fear of horses?


  his repressed fear of his father was transferred/displaced onto horses
• what did freud claim horses were to hans?


  a symbolic representation of his real unconscious fear of the castration experienced during the oedipus complex
• why is the little hans case study not good evidence?


  •only showing complex in one boy

  •not replicable & can’t be repeated as no conditions were controlled

  •info came from letters from hans father (familiar with oedipus complex so could have altered info about hans) - subjective/biased so not objective

  •not falsifiable as it can’t be proven wrong

  •freud could’ve altered evidence
• what one feature of science does the little hans case study have and why?


  predictability - you could predict other 5 year olds may act in the same way
• is the little hans case study a scientific way of investigating phobias?


  no - only has one feature of science
• how would a behaviourist explain hans phobia of horses?


  learnt by association through classical conditioning