AO1

• What is the Psychodynamic approach?

  Unconscious forces operate on the mind and direct behaviour
• What are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

  Events in our childhood have a great influence on our adult lives, shaping our personality.
• What is the role of the unconscious mind?

  • Part of the mind we are unaware of that directs our behaviour
  • Contains disturbing memories which have been repressed
• What is Freud's structure of personality?

  • The personality is composed of three parts (tripartite)
  • The Id, Ego and Superego
• What is the Id?

  • Pleasure principle
  • Primitive part of personality
  • Present from birth
  • Unconscious
  • Selfish/impulsive
• What is the Ego?

  • Reality principle
  • Employs defense mechanisms
  • Mediator/reduces conflict between Id & Superego
  • Develops at 2
• What is the Superego?

  • Morality Principle
  • Sense of right & wrong
  • Guilts the ego
  • Rewards the ego with pride if it does something good
  • Formed at Phallic stage (5)
  • Moral standard of our same sex parent
• Describe Freud's psycho-sexual stages:

  • Children go through 5 developmental stages
  • Each stage marked by a specific conflict to resolve
  • Unresolved conflict leads to fixation
  • If stuck; carries conflict to adulthood
• 1st psychosexual stage:

  • Oral
  • 0 to 1 years old
  • Pleasure from mouth
  • Object of pleasure = mother's breast
  • Consequence: oral fixation (smoking, biting nails, overeating, sarcasm, critical)
• 2nd psychosexual stage:

  • Anal
  • 1 to 3 years old
  • Pleasure from anus
  • Object of pleasure = holding/expelling faeces
  • Consequence: Anal retentive (perfectionistic, obsessive) // Anal Expulsive (thoughtless, messy)
• 3rd psychosexual stage:

  • Phallic
  • 3 to 5 years old
  • Pleasure from genitalia
  • Experiences Oedipus/Electra complex
  • Consequences: Phallic personality (narcissistic, reckless, homosexual)
• 4th psychosexual stage:

  • Latency
  • 6 - 11 years old
  • Earlier conflicts are repressed
• 5th psychosexual stage:

  • Genital
  • Sexual desires conscious alongside the onset of puberty
  • Consequence: difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
• What are the 3 defence mechanisms as part of the psychodynamic approach?

  • Repression: forcing a distressing memory out the conscious mind
  • Denial: Refusing to acknowledge some aspects of reality
  • Displacement: Transferring distressing feelings from source to substitute target