Psychodynamic approach

• What are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

  • Unconscious forces in our mind determine our thoughts, feelings and behaviour
  • Our behaviour as adults is strongly influenced by childhood experiences
  • Abnormal behaviour is the result of internal mental conflict
• What are the 3 elements to the personality?

  Id

  Ego

  Superego
• What is the id?

  The source of unconscious desires and impulses

  Wants pleasure and wants it now

  Instinctive
• What is the ego?

  Represents the unconscious mind

  Wants to satisfy the id
• What is the superego?

  Contains morality

  Aims to ensure the ego doesn’t use unacceptable ways to please the id

  Comes from same-sex parent

  Consists of conscience and ego-ideal
• What is conscience?


  Part of the superego

  Tells us what we shouldn’t do
• What is ego-ideal?


  Part of the super ego

  Tells us what we should do
• What are the five psychosexual stages of development?

  Oral

  Anal

  Phallic

  Latency

  Genital
• What age does the oral stage occur?

  0-1 years
• What is the focus of pleasure in the oral stage?

  Mouth
• What is fixation?


  Becoming stuck in a stage, affecting future behaviour in adulthood
• What happens in adulthood if fixation occurs in the oral stage?

  Smoking and drinking
• What causes fixation in the oral stage?


  Being over or under-fed as a baby
• What age does the anal stage occur?

  1-3 years
• What is the organ of pleasure in the anal stage?

  Anus
• What leads to fixation in the anal stage?

  Overly strict or relaxed potty training
• What happens in adulthood if fixated in the anal stage?


  If too strict OCD can develop, if too relaxed someone may become a hoarder
• What age does the phallic stage occur?

  3-6 years
• What is the organ of pleasure in the phallic stage?

  Genitals
• What happens in the phallic stage?

  Child becomes aware of gender differences and the Oedipus or Electra complex develops
• What is the Oedipus complex?

  Boys unconsciously desire their mother

  They realise girls don’t have a penis and so they must’ve been castrated

  They worry that if their desire for their mother is revealed they will be castrated too
• What is castration anxiety?

  Boys worry their desire for their mother will be revealed and they will be castrated too
• How do boys solve castration anxiety?

  Internalising the same-sex parent. They think if they are more like their father then he will not want to castrate them
• What did Freud say about femininity?

  Failed masculinity
• What is the Electra complex?

  Girls turn to their father for love as they believe their mum castrated them, and they try to earn their penis back
• What is penis envy?


  Girls suffer from this as they believe they were castrated
• How do girls solve penis envy?

  By acting masculine and doing masculine things
• What are the three defence mechanisms?

  Repression

  Displacement

  Denail
• What are defence mechanisms?

  Psychological strategies used to protect from anxiety or distress
• What is repression?


  The ego pushes a bad memory into the unconscious

  Evidence from abused children who don’t remember the abuse

  Sometimes emotions leek out and lead to sadness or anxiety without knowing the cause
• What is denial?

  Refusal to accept reality

  Ego unconsciously blocks unpleasant facts
• What is displacement?

  Redirection of a hostile feeling towards a more acceptable target

  Eg slamming the door after an argument
• What are some strengths of the psychodynamic approach?

  • First approach to take into account the role of the unconscious
  • First approach to take into account the role of childhood experiences
  • Face validity
  • Holistic, accepts influence of instinct and thoughts
• What are some weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach?

  • Unfalsifiable, so difficult to test as it is unconscious
  • Subjective
  • Relies on case studies, Freud usually used Viennese women and children, so lacks population validity