PSYCHODYNAMIC

• Freud's theory is based on the idea that we are all born with an unconscious mind, which contains our instinctual drives.
• main psychologist= Freud
• Assumptions

  • human behaviour is due to unconscious causes
  • from birth humans want to satisfy biological urges
  • Childhood experiences shape behaviour
• three levels of consciousness

  • conscious- what we are aware of
  • preconscious- memories we can recall when we want
  • unconscious- we are not aware of these things, stuff like memories desires and fears
• Freudian slip- a slip of the tongue that reveals unconscious thoughts
• Three parts of the personality

  • ID- biological drives and urges. The 'devil'
  • Superego- moral compass. The 'angel'. Makes us feel guilt
  • Ego- mediator between the two other parts, rational part of the brain known as the reality principal adopted from our parents
• 5 stages of psychosexual development

  • Oral: 0-8 months, sucking behaviour. Conflict leads to oral fixations like smoking
  • Anal: 18months-3.5 yrs, keeping or discarding feces. Anally retentive= anxious Anally expulsive= impulsive
  • Phallic: 3.5-6 yrs, genital fixation, leads to Oedipus or Electra complex if there is conflict
  • Latent: 6yrs-puberty, repressed sexual urges
  • Genital: puberty-adult, awakened sexual urges
• conflcit between the id, ego and superego creates distress so the unconscious uses defence mechanisms
• repression- unconscious thoughts and feelings are kept hidden from conscious awareness
• denial- the refusal to accept reality, especially in the face of overwhelming evidence
• displacement- negative thoughts/impulses are redirected towards something else
• Little hans case study

  • young boy had a fear of horses
  • Freud said he had an Oedipus complex and his fear of horses was displacement due to castration anxiety