AO1 Psychodynamic

• What did Freud theorise?

  Our mental activity is mostly unconscious and it is this unconscious activity that causes our behaviour. He explained that traumatic childhood experiences pushed into the unconscious mind can later lead to mental disorders
• • Unconscious activity is the key determinate of how we behave.
• What is the unconscious?


  A vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that has a significant influence on our behaviour and personality
• The unconscious also contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed or locked away and forgotten
• What does the preconscious include?


  Thoughts and ideas which we may become aware of during dreams of through ‘slips of the tongue’ (parapraxes)
• How does Freud describe personality?

  Tripartite
• What are the components of personality?

  id, ego, superego
• What is the id?

  Primitive part of our personality which operates on the pleasure principle
• Only the id is present at birth
• Throughout life, the id is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs
• What is the ego?

  The mediator between the other two parts of the personality which operates on the reality principle
• When does the ego develop?

  At around the age of 2 years old
• What is the role of the ego?


  To reduce the conflict between the demands of the id and superego. It manages this by employing a number of defence mechanisms
• What is the superego?


  Our internalised sense of right and wrong. Based on the morality principle, it represents the moral standards of the child’s same sex parent and punishes the ego for wrongdoing through guilt
• When is the superego formed?

  At the end of the phallic stage, around the age of 5
• What are the psychosexual stages?

  Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
• When is the oral stage?

  0 to 1 years old
• Where is the focus of the libido in the oral stage?

  Mouth
• What happens if a fixation in the oral stage develops?

  Smoking, overeating
• What is the conflict/major development in the oral stage?

  Weaning
• When is the anal stage?

  1 year to 3 years old
• Where is the focus of libido in the anal stage?

  Anus
• What is the conflict/major development in the anal stage?

  Toilet training
• Example of adult fixation in the anal stage


  Anal retentive: perfectionist, obsessive

  Anal expulsive: Thoughtless, messy
• When is the phallic stage?

  3 yers old to 6 years old
• What is the focus of libido in the phallic stage?

  Genitals
• What is the conflict/major development in the phallic stage?

  Resolving the Oedipus/Electra Complex
• The ideas of the Oedipus and Electra Complexes were developed on the basis of case studies conducted on Little Hans, where Freud suggested that Little Hans’ phobia of horses stemmed from a fear towards his father, due to having sexual desires for his mother.
• The conclusions from the study on Little Hans is an example of what?

  Idiographic approach to research (i.e. the use of case studies), but with a nomothetic application (i.e. all boys experience the Oedipus Complex, whilst all girls experience the Electra Complex).
• Example of adult fixation in the phallic stage


  Deviancy, sexual dysfunction
• When is the latency stage?

  6 years old to 12 years old (puberty)
• What is the focus of libido in the latency stage?


  None
• What is the conflict/major development in the latency stage?


  Developing defence mechanisms
• What are the consequences of unresolved conflict in the latency stage?


  None
• Why is the latency stage not necessarily considered a stage?

  Sexual feelings are dormant as children focus on other pursuits, such as school, friendships, hobbies, and sports.

  Children generally engage in activities with peers of the same sex. This consolidates a child’s gender-role identity.
• When is the genital stage?

  12 years onwards
• What is the focus of the libido in the genital stage?

  Genitals
• What is the conflict/major development in the genital stage?

  Reaching full sexual maturity. In this stage, there is a sexual reawakening. But the young person redirects these urges to more socially acceptable partners
• • Individuals who successfully completed the previous stages, reaching the genital stage with no fixations, are said to be well-balanced, sexually matured and mentally healthy adults.
• What are the 3 levels of consciousness?

  Conscious, preconscious, unconscious