Psychodynamic approach

• Role of the unconscious 


  Freud - part of our mind we know about and are aware of (conscious mind) is merely 'tip of the iceberg'

  Just under conscious mind is preconscious - thoughts and memories not currently in conscious awareness but can access if desired

  Most of our mind made up of unconscious - vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that has a significant influence on our behaviour and personality

  Also contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed These can be accessed during dreams or through 'slips of the tongue' (parapraxes)
• Id


  Primitive part of our personality, operates on pleasure principle, gets what it wants, seething mass of unconscious drives and instincts, only id present at birth, entirely selfish and demands gratification of its needs
• Ego


  Works on reality principle, mediator between id and superego, develops around age of two years, role is to reduce the conflict between demands of id and superego, employs defence mechanisms
• Superego


  Formed at end of phallic stage, around age of 5, internalised sense of right and wrong based on morality principle, represents the moral standard of child's same sex parent, punishes ego for wrongdoing
• Psychosexual stages 


  Freud claimed child development occurred in five stages - each stage (apart from latency) is marked by different conflict child must resolve in order to progress successfully onto the next stage

  Any psychosexual conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation where the child becomes stuck and carries certain behaviours and conflicts associated with that stage through to adult life
• Psychosexual stages - Oral


  0-1 years

  Focus of pleasure is mouth - mothers breast is object of desire

  Unresolved - oral fixation - smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical
• Anal 


  1-3 years

  Focus of pleasure is anus

  Child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces

  Consequences - anal retentive - perfectionist, obsessive

  anal expulsive - thoughtless, messy
• Phallic


  3-6 years

  Focus of pleasure is genital area

  Child experiences Oedipus or Electra complex

  Unresolved - phallic personality - narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual
• Latency 


  Earlier conflicts are repressed
• Genital 


  Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty

  Unresolved - difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
• S: Real world application

  Introduced idea of psychotherapy -brought new form of therapy, psychoanalysis.

  Was first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically - range of techniques designed to access the unconscious - eg dream analysis - brings repressed emotions into conscious mind so they can be dealt with

  Psychoanalysis is forerunner to many modern day talking therapies eg counselling since been established

  --> shows value of psychodynamic approach in creating new approach to treatment
• S: Explanatory power 


  Ability to explain human behaviour - Remained a key force in psychology for first half of the 20th century been used to explain personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development and gender identity

  Also significant in drawing attention to connection between experiences in childhood such as our relationship with our parents and our later development

  --> positive impact on psychology
• W: Untestable concepts 


  Karl Popper argued it doesn't meet scientific criterion of falsification

  Not open to empirical testing and possibility of being disproved

  Many Freuds concepts said to occur at unconscious level making them difficult/impossible to test

  Also based on subjective study (case studies) of single individuals eg little Hans - cannot make universal claims about human behaviour

  --> pseudoscientific (not a real science) rather than established fact.
• Defence mechanisms


  Ego has difficult job balancing conflicting demands of id and superego - defines mechanisms help.

  Unconscious - ensure that ego is able to prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas

  However often involve some form of distortion of reality and as long term solutions regarded psychologically unhealthy and undesirable
• Defence mechanisms


  Repression - forcing a distressing memory out of conscious mind

  Denial - refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

  Displacement - Transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto substitute target