The psychodynamic approach

• who is associated with the psychodynamic approach?

  freud
• freud's psychoanalytic theory is an example of the psychodynamic approach.
• what were the three components that freud suggested the mind was made up of?

  conscious, pre-conscious and unconscious
• what is the conscious?

  what we are aware of
• what is the pre-conscious?

  memories and thoughts we are not currently aware of but can be accessed
• what is the unconscious?

  we are unaware of the contents of the unconscious. it is a vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that influence our behaviour.
• what is freud's structure of personality?

  tripartite structure of personality.
• dynamic interaction between the three parts of the tripartite structure of personality determines behaviour.
• what are the three parts of the personality?

  the Id, ego and superego
• role of the id:

  primitive part of the personality operates solely on the pleasure principle, demands instant gratification
• role of the ego:

  works on the reality principle and is the mediator between the id and superego
• role of the superego:

  internalised sense of right and wrong, based on the morality principle. punishes the ego through guilt.
• there are five psychosexual stages that determine adult personality.
• each psychosexual stage is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve to move on to the next
• any unresolved conflict at any psychosexual stage leads to fixation where the child becomes 'stuck' and carries behaviours associated with that stage through to adult life.
• what are the five psychosexual stages?

  oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital
• when is the oral stage?

  0-1 years.
• when is the anal stage?

  1-3 years
• when is the phallic stage?

  3-5 years
• when is the genital stage?


  puberty
• what is the oral stage?

  pleasure focus= mouth, the mother's breast is the object of desire.
• what is the anal stage?

  pleasure focus= anus, the child gains pleasure from withholding and eliminating faeces.
• why is the phallic stage?

  pleasure focus= genital area
• what is the latency stage?

  earlier conflicts are repressed
• what is the genital stage?

  sexual desires become conscious
• the oedipus complex is an important psychosexual conflict occurring at the phallic stage
• oedipus conflict:

  • in the phallic stage, young boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and a murderous hatred for their father.
  • later, boys repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values
  • girls of the same age experience penis envy
• defence mechanisms are used by the ego to keep the id 'in check' and reduce anxiety.
• three examples of defence mechanisms:

  repression, denial and displacement
• repression:

  forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind
• denial:

  refusing to acknowledge reality
• displacement:

  transferring feelings from their true source onto a substitute target
• strength of the psychodynamic approach- has explanatory power:

  Although Freud's theory is controversial and often bizarre, out has had huge influence on western contemporary thought. it has been used to explain a wide range of behaviours (moral, mental disorders) and drew attention to the influence of childhood on adult personality. alongside behaviourism, it was the dominant approach is psychology for the first half of the twentieth century.
• limitation of the psychodynamic approach- untestable concepts:

  Karl popper (philosopher of science) argued that the psychodynamic approach doesn't meet the scientific criterion of falsification, in the sense that it cannot be proved or disproved. many of freud's concepts, such as the id or oedipus complex, occur at an unconscious level making them difficult, if not impossible, to test. this afford psychodynamic theory the status of pseudoscience rather than real science.
• strength of the psychodynamic approach- practical application:

  freud introduces a new form of therapy: psychoanalysis. the therapy is designed to access the unconscious mind using a range of techniques including dream analysis. psychoanalysis is most suitable for individuals suffering from mild neuroses but had been criticised as inappropriate for people with severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia. that said, psychoanalysis is the forerunner to many modern-day psychotherapies and 'talking cures' that have been established.
• limitation of the psychodynamic approach- psychic determinism:

  the psychodynamic approach explains all behaviour as determined by unconscious conflicts that are rooted in childhood. even something as apparently random as a 'slip of the tongue' is driven by unconscious forces and has deep symbolic meaning. this is an extreme determinist stance and suggests that free will may have no influence on behaviour.