psychodynamic

• what are the key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach (AO1)?


  • the unconscious mind determines our behaviour and personality.
  • inside the unconscious mind is our biological drives and instincts that influence us.
  • the unconscious mind stores all of our traumatic and threatening memories.
  • we gain insight into the unconscious mind by analysing the preconscious mind.
• the stages of the iceberg:

  • Freud compared the human mind to an iceberg.
  • the conscious - small amount of activity we know about, e.g. thoughts and perceptions.
  • the preconscious - under the surface of the conscious mind. includes thoughts and ideas which we may become aware of during dreams or through ''slips of the tongue'' (parapraxes).
  • the unconscious - vast store of biological drives and instincts that have a significant influence on our behaviour and personality, e.g. fears, traumatic experiences, and violent memories.
• What are the three parts of the tripartite personality?

  Id, ego, and superego
• What principle does the id operate on?

  Pleasure principle
• How does Freud describe babies in relation to the id?

  As "bundles of id"
• What is the primary characteristic of the id throughout life?

  It is entirely selfish
• What age range is associated with the id's demand for instant gratification?

  0-2 years
• What principle does the ego operate on?

  Reality principle
• What role does the ego play in the tripartite personality?

  It mediates between the id and superego
• At what age does the ego typically develop?

  Around the age of 2
• What does the superego represent?

  Moral standards of the child's same sex parent
• How does the superego punish the ego?

  Through feelings of wrongdoing
• At what stage is the superego formed?

  At the end of the phallic stage
• At what age is the superego typically formed?

  Around the age of 5
• what do defense mechanisms refer to?

  • the ego uses defense mechanisms to protect itself against threatening emotions and memories, hidden in the unconscious, by providing strategies to reduce anxiety.
  • if the ego does not develop appropriately, the id or superego will dominate.
• what are the 4 defense mechanisms?

  • denial - refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality.
  • repression - forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind.
  • displacement - transferring feelings from the true source of a distressing emotion into a substitute target.
  • projection - viewing our own flaws in someone else to avoid accepting them as our own.
• what is meant by the psychosexual stages?

  • Freud (1905) believed that life was built due to the things we experience in our childhood and that they will determine our personality and behaviour as an adult.
  • each of the 5 psychosexual stages is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve in order to progress successfully to the next stage.
  • any of these conflicts that are unresolved leads to fixation where the child carries certain behaviours and conflicts associated with that stage through to adult life.
• what are the 5 psychosexual stages?

  • oral stage (0-1 years)
  • anal stage (1-3 years)
  • phallic stage (3-5 years)
  • latency stage (6-puberty)
  • genital stage (puberty-death)
• what consists in the oral stage?

  • focus of pleasure is the mouth - mother's breast is the object of desire (pleasure from oral stimulation e.g. sucking and tasting).
  • conflict at the stage - centred around the weaning process and so the child must become less dependant on caregivers.
  • if unresolved conflict - oral fixation can result in problems with drinking, eating, smoking, or nail biting.
• what consists of the anal stage?

  • focus of pleasure is the anus, bowel and bladder - pleasure gained from withholding and expelling faeces.
  • conflict at this stage - toilet training.
  • unresolved conflict in adulthood - if parents take an approach that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an ANAL-EXPULSIVE personality could develop (messy, wasteful or destructive individual).
  • if parents are too strict or begin toilet training too early, an ANAL-RETENTIVE personality develops (perfectionist and obsessive individual).
• what consists of the phallic stage?

  • primary focus of the libido is on the genitals and so children discover the differences between males and females.
  • boys form the oedipus complex.
  • girls form the electra complex.
  • if conflict is unresolved - narcissism, recklessness, and possibly homosexual.
• what is meant by the oedipus complex?

  • unconscious desire for the opposite-sex parent, jealousy towards same-sex parent.
  • boys form this complex and as they continue to repress their feelings for their mother, they start to identify with their father and take on his gender roles and oral values.
  • they start to repress their feelings due to the fear of their father castrating them.
• what is meant by the electra complex?

  • psychological theory involving a daughter's unconscious sexual desire for her father and jealousy towards her mother (penis envy).
  • overtime, girls give up the desire for their father and replace this with a desire for a baby - identifying with their mother in the process.
• what consists of the latency stage?

  • the focus of this stage is hidden. the sexual energy which has driven the previous stage now becomes latent, so the individuals can focus on the world around them and form friendships, social skills, values and relationships.
  • because the sexual energy is repressed, there is no conflict at this stage.
  • the development of the ego and superego contribute to this period of calm.
• what does the genital stage consist of?

  • the onset of puberty causes libido to become active once again. during this final stage, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex.
  • interest in the welfare of others grows during this stage.
  • if the other stages have been completed correctly, the individual should now be well-balanced, warm, and caring adults.
  • conflict - sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty.
  • if conflict is unresolved - difficulty forming heterosexual relationships.
• little hans case study (1909):

  • The Little Hans case study, conducted by Sigmund Freud, involved a 5-year-old boy who developed a phobia of horses.
  • Freud linked Hans's fear to the Oedipus complex, suggesting the horse symbolised his father and that his phobia arose from unconscious anxieties about castration and repressed desires for his mother.
  • The case demonstrated Freud's ideas about the role of unconscious conflicts in shaping behavior.
• what are the strengths of the psychodynamic approach (AO3)?

  • practical applications - led to therapies like psychoanalysis which can benefit those suffering from psychological ill health.
  • takes an interactionist position on the nature vs nurture debate - argues that personality is influenced by both innate factors like the id (nature) and development through the psychosexual stages (nurture). strength because it is seen as more complex explanation for behaviour. later on has been used to explain behaviours from crime and gender.
• what are the limitations of the psychodynamic approach (AO3)?

  • has many aspects that are considered unfalsifiable - e.g. the unconscious mind is difficult to test as anything not remembered by participants could just be argued as the unconscious. means there is a lack of empirical evidence to support the approach, unscientific. Freud only relied on case study evidence instead of actual experimental evidence.
  • deterministic - Freud believed that there is no such thing as an accident, therefore, we have no free will in who we become or how we behave.