psychodynamic approach

• Who came up with the psychodynamic approach?

  Sigmund Freud
• What did Freud specialise in?

  nervous disorders
• what are Freud's 3 assumptions?

  1) we all have an unconscious mind which influences all of our behaviours.

  2) our behaviours are determined by our past experiences which have been stored in the unconscious mind.

  3) we are engaged in a constant struggle in our unconscious minds which influence our feelings and behaviour.
• what are the 3 parts of freuds mental iceburg?

  conscious, preconscious and unconscious?
• what does it mean by conscious?

  the small amount of mental activity we know about. e.g. thoughts and perceptions.
• what does it mean by preconscious?


  things we could be aware of if we wanted/tried e.g. ,memories and stored knowledge.
• what does it mean by unconscious?

  things we are unaware of and can not become aware of (except through dreams or psychoanalysis) but influence most of our behaviours. e.g. fears, unacceptable sexual desires, violent motives, immoral urges, shameful experiences and traumatic experiences.
• what are the three parts to our personality (tri-partite theory)?

  - ID

  - EGO

  - SUPER EGO
• what is ID?


  • present from birth
  • principle of pleasure
  • made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification.
  • Freud describes babies as bundles of ID.
  • operates in the unconscious
• What is EGO?


  - present from 1-3 yrs

  - principle of reality

  - balances the needs of the ID and SUPER EGO

  - operates mainly in the conscious
• What is SUPER EGO?

  - present from 5 yrs

  - principle of morality - represents the ideal self we ought to be.

  - develops at the resolution of the oedipus conflict. The child ideintifies with their same sex parent and internalises their morals.

  - operates in the conscious and unconscious.
• what are 3 EGO defence mechanisms?

  1) repression

  2) denial

  3) displacement
• what is repression?


  the mind can force unacceptable thoughts, impulses and feelings into the unconscious mind.
• what is denial?


  some aspect of reality is denied, not acknowledged by the unconsious mind.
• what is displacement?


  difficult feelings are displaced onto someone else - an easier target.
• what are Freud's 5 psychosexual stages?

  1) oral

  2) anal

  3) phallic

  4) latency

  5) genital
• what age does the oral stage occur at?

  0-1
• what age does the anal stage occur at?

  1-3
• what age does the phallic stage occur at?

  3-5
• what age does the latency stage occur at?

  5-puberty
• what age does the genital stage occur at?


  puberty onwards
• what is the oral stage and what are the consequences of unresolved conflicts?

  focus of pleasure is the mouth, mother's breast is the object of desire.

  - oral receptive (smoking, eating), oral aggressive (swearing)
• what is the anal stage and what are the consequences of unresolved conflicts?

  focus of pleasure is the anus, the child gains pleasure from the withholding and expelling of faeces.

  - anal retentive (perfectionist), anal expulsive (messy.)
• what is the phallic stage and what are the consequences of unresolved conflicts?

  focus of pleasure is on the genital area. The child experiences the oedipus or electra complex.

  - phallic personality (narcissistic, reckless.)
• what is the latency stage?

  earlier conflicts are repressed
• what is the genital stage and what are the consequences of unresolved conflicts?

  sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty.

  - relationship difficulties.
• what is a projective test?


  a psychological test in which words, images or situations are presented to a person. Fraud believed responses to these images allowed him to access the unconscious mind of his patients and interpret their true meaning.
• Why did Freud call it the Oedipus complex

  Freud named this after Oedipus who in Greek Mythology killed his father and married his mother by accident; when she found out he was her son, his mother took her own life, and Oedipus blinded himself and went into exile.
• Who experiences the Oedipus complex?


  all young boys aged 3-5
• What is the Oedipus complex?

  young boys develop a passionate desire to possess their mother for themselves. See their father as a rival due to jealousy. Wish their father was dead.
• What is the fear involved in the Oedipus complex?

  Afraid their father will discover their desire for their mother and punish them by removing their prize possession (castration anxiety) or kill them.
• Who did Freud study?

  Little Hans
• How did Freud receive the information about little Hans?

  Hans' father studied him and wrote his observations and interview findings down, and sent them to Freud by post.
• What did Freud believe little Hans was experiencing?

  That he was in the Phallic stage and experiencing the Oedipus complex.
• what are the strengths of the psychodynamic approach?

  - explanatory power

  - applications
• how has the psychodynamic approach been shown to have explanatory power?

  it has been hugely influential, the theories have been used to explain gender identity, abnormal behaviour and personality development.
• In what way has the psychodynamic approach been applied?

  included psychoanalysis, dream analysis and hypnotism as therapeutic methods. However can be unhelpful and harmful for those with severe mental illnesses.
• what are the limitations of the psychodynamic approach?

  - untestable concepts

  - methodology

  - lacking validity and reliability
• why is the psychodynamic approach untestable?

  has no objective measures, as it looks at unconscious behaviours, so lack validity and is not a valid approach.
• what is the issue with the methodology of the psychodynamic approach?

  used mostly case studies, some of which were not primary data. Freud also chose the people he studied, so there was investigator bias.