Psychodynamic Approach

• key assumptions of psychodynamic approach

  - focused on studying how unconscious processes shape behaviour, thought to form during early childhood experience
• define the unconscious

  - 1 of 3 aspects of the mind; conscious and pre conscious

  - not open to awareness, contains socially unacceptable thoughts, painful emitting, drives/instincts and memories that are suppressed
• outline the ID

  - pleasure principle

  - present from birth, focused on satisfying its own needs/desires
• outline the Ego

  - reality principle

  - develops form 3 yrs, focused on balancing the ID and Superego with rational thought
• outline the Superego

  - morality principle

  - develops from 3-5 yrs, focused on obeying learnt rules of society and uses guilt
• what are defence mechanisms?

  - unconscious processes that reduce anxiety felt by the Ego by distorting reality

  - include: repression, denial, displacement
• outline displacement

  - moving emotions from the source to an alternative
• outline the psychosexual stages

  - oral, 0-18 months: pleasure centre = mouth,fixation if: child weaned from mother's milk early (frustration), weaned too late (overindulgence)

  - anal, 18-36 months: pleasure centre = anus, fixation if: parents very strict about potty training (frustration), child is overly keen to use the potty (overindulgence)

  - phallic, 3-6 yrs: pleasure centre: genitals, conflict through Oedipus/Electra complex, fixation

  - latent,6-12 yrs: libido = dormant, conflicts of previous stages are repressed and there are no fixations or effects on adult personality

  - genital, 12+ yrs: libido focused on genitals = where it stays for life, everyone reaches this stage
• A03, psychodynamic approach

  - concepts, eg: unconscious mind, are inaccesible, cant be tested in scientific experimentation and therefore unfalsifiable

  - ideas strongly influenced the development of Bowlby's attachment theories

  - psychic determinism: mental processes/behaviour that seems freely chosen under conscious control are actually caused by unconscious systems set in childhood