psychodyamic approach

• overall assumptions/key beliefs of psychodynamic?

  • emphasis on the unconscious mind
  • most behaviour stems from early childhood experiences
  • sigmund freud - most influential in this area
• what is the role of the unconscious mind?

  • primary source of human behaviour
  • most of human mind is unconscious
• explain the iceberg analogy?

  • top bit of iceberg - conscious, thing we are aware of eg thoughts/perceptions
  • bit that touches the water - preconscious,have little control over eg dreams
  • underwater bit - unconscious mind, part we cannot access, where our deep desires,trauma is repressed
• structure of personality?

  • triparte 3 part structure
• what is the EGO?

  • 18months - 3 yrs
  • operates on reality principle
  • allows us to make sensible decisions
  • mananges conflict between ID and SUPEREGO
• what is the SUPEREGO?

  • 3 - 6yrs
  • operates on moral principle
  • conscious part
  • allows us to distinguish from right & wrong
  • initially develops from parents & then society
• what are defence mechanisms?

  • what the ego uses unconsciously to try protect us from distress & anxiety
• repression?

  • unconscious mechanism used by ego to keep disturbing/threatening thoughts from becoming conscious
  • thoughts that are often repressed are those that result in feelings of guilt from superego
  • no successful defence - involves forcing disturbing wishes/ideas into unconscious where they will be hidden but create anxiety
• displacement?

  • redirection of an impulse onto powerless substitute target
  • can be an object/person
  • someone who is frustrated releases anger onto someone else
• explain more about displacement?

  someone who is frustrated releases anger onto someone else
• regression?

  • movement back in time when one is faced with stress
  • when we are troubled/frightened our behaviour becomes more childish/primitive
• 5 psychosexual stages?

  1. oral
  2. anal
  3. phallic
  4. latency
  5. genital
• explain the oral stage?

  • 0-1yrs
  • main focus of pleasure is mouth
  • fixation leads to nail biting or chain smoking
• explain the anal stage?

  • 1-3 yrs
  • focus of pleasure is anus - going to toilet
  • anal retentive: controlling & perfectionist
  • anal expulsive: messy
• projection?

  • involves individuals attributing their own thoughts & feelings to another person
• explain the phallic stage?

  • 3-5 yrs
  • focus of pleasure is genital area
  • can lead to possible homosexuality if they have not identified with same sex parent
• explain the latency stage

  • 6-11 yrs
  • repress earlier conflicts & sexual desires are dormant
  • no effect on adult behaviour
• explain the genital stage

  • 12 yrs
  • sexual desires become conscious with onset of puberty
  • leads to difficulty with relationships
• * practical applications ?

  • led to treatment of abnormality - psychoanalysis
  • therapy includes dream analysis
  • uncovers repressed trauma from unconscious mind
  • ecological
  • shows that memories are repressed & unconscious drives behaviour
  • helps in real world -therapy is given to people with mental health issues
• 4 X of the psychodynamic app?

  1. unscientific & unfalsifiable
  2. retrospective data
  3. out of date
  4. psychically deterministic
• X unscientific & unfalsifiable?

  • based on the unconscious
  • cannot be physically seen/measured/disproved as its very abstract
  • eg structure of personality is based on unconscious
  • ? internal
  • cannot be empirically tested due to its focus being on unconcious mind which is not physical
  • does not adhere to features of a science
• X retrospective outlook?

  • childhood influences are over emphasised at the expense of adult ones
  • even if childhood experiences play part in behaviour that does not mean to say that we can ignore adult experiences that may contribute to behaviour
  • ignores experiences we have as adults that could affect behaviour
  • so other approaches that focus on present thoughts (cognitive) may be more important in explaining adult behaviour
• X out of date

  • was created in 1900s
  • so no longer relevant
  • eg oedipus/electra complex are no longer relevant explanations of consequences fixation in psychosexual stage as they rely heavily on nuclear families
  • ingores factors such as same sex/single parent households
  • ? temporal
  • neglects modern day societal factors that may affect adult behaviour meaning no longer vaild in todays society
• X psychically deterministic?

  • claims behaviour is pre determined by childhood experiences & not in our control
  • pro - allows us to predict & determine future behaviour
  • eg if child is fixated on oral stage of psychosexual development may group as chain smoker/nail biter
  • con - neglects individual differences & fact that we respond differently to psychosexual stages
  • ignores individual differences & concept of free will
  • suggests all behaviour is pre determined by our childhood & not down to factors such as biology/learning from role models which are falsifiable behaviours
• what is the ID?

  • birth - 18 months
  • operates pleasure principle
  • part of unconscious
  • drives us to satisfy our selfish urges/desires
• neurotic psyche?

  • dominant superego leads to person who is unable to experience any kind of pleasurable tendencies
  • burden of trying to live upto high moral standards of superego causes huge anxiety & guilt at not being not good enough
• psychotic psyche?

  • dominant id leads to destructive tendencies
  • pleasure gratification at any cost
  • uninhibited behaviour - sexual behaviour
• little hans?

  • hans desired his mother - oedipus complex
  • he feared his father would find out & castrate him
  • his superego would not allow him to fear his father
  • his young ego could not manage conflict so he displaced his fear onto horses
  • by becoming aware of conflict through psychoanalysis hans was cured