The psychodynamic approach

• What is the psychodynamic approach?


  A perspective that describes the different forces, most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experiences.
• The role of the unconscious:


  A vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that influence our behaviour. The unconscious also contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed.
• What 3 parts is the personality composed of?

  Id, Ego, Superego.
• What is the Id?


  Primitive part of the personality operates on the pleasure principle, demands instant gratification.
• What is the Ego?


  Works on the reality principle and is the mediator between the Id and the Superego.
• What is the Superego?

  Internalised sense of right and wrong, based on morality principle. Punishes the Ego through guilt. Appears age 5.
• What is the Oral stage?

  0-1 years, pleasure focus is the mouth, unresolved conflict results in oral fixation.
• What is the Anal stage?


  1-3 years, pleasure focus is anus, unresolved conflict results in anal retentive or anal expulsive.
• What is the Phallic stage?

  3-6 years, pleasure focus is genital area, unresolved conflict results in phallic personality.
• What is the Latency stage?

  Earlier conflicts are repressed.
• What is the Genital stage?

  Sexual desires become conscious, unresolved conflict results in difficulty forming heterosexual relationships.
• What is the Oedipus complex?

  In the phallic stage, little boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and a murderous hatred for their father. Later boys repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values. Girls of the same age experience penis envy.
• What are defence mechanisms?

  1. Repression - forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind.
  2. Denial - refusing to acknowledge reality.
  3. Displacement - transferring feelings from their true source onto a substitute target.
• The case study of Little Hans:

  Hans was a 5 year old boy who developed a phobia of horses after seeing one collapse in the street. Freud suggested that Hans' phobia was a form of displacement in which his repressed fear of his father was transferred onto horses. Horses were merely a symbolic representation of Hans' real unconscious fear - the fear of castration experienced during the Oedipus complex.
• AO3 - Real-world application:

  Freud's psychoanalysis was the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically. Psychoanalysis claims to help clients deal with everyday problems by providing access to their unconscious. This shows the value of the psychodynamic approach in creating a new approach to treatment.
• AO3 - Explanatory power:

  Freud's theory has been used to explain a wide range of behaviours and drew attention to the influence of childhood on adult personality. This suggests that the psychodynamic approach has had a positive influence on psychology and modern-day thinking.
• AO3 - Untestable concepts:

  Many of Freud's concepts, such as the Oedipus complex, occur at an unconscious level making them difficult to tests. This means that Freud's ideas lack scientific rigour.
• AO3 - Psychic determinism:


  The psychodynamic approach suggests that much of our behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts. Freud believed there was no such thing as an 'accident'. Critics claim this is an extreme view because it dismisses any possible influence of free will on behaviour.