psychodynamic approach

• assumptions

  • unconscious activity is key to determining how we behave
  • we possess innate 'drives' (or 'instincts') that 'energise' our minds to motivate behaviour as we develop through our lives
  • our personality- the psyche- is comprised of the ID, ego and superego
  • childhood experiences have significant importance in determining our personality when we reach adulthood
• Freud's mind 'iceberg'

  • conscious mind
  • preconscious (Freudian slips)
  • unconscious thoughts
• defense mechanisms

  defense mechanisms prevent individuals from being anxious and overwhelmed. This ensures that the ego can balance the ID and superego since anxiety may reduce the influence of the ego.
• defense mechanisms- repression


  an unpleasant memory is pushed into the unconscious mind where it is not accessible to the conscious mind and cannot cause anxiety. It still affects behaviour in the unconscious mind. There is no recall of the event or situation
• defense mechanisms- denial


  a refusal to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation. This reduces anxiety caused by the situation
• defense mechanisms- displacement


  when the focus of a strong emotion is expressed into a neutral person or object. This reduces anxiety by allowing expression of that emotion.
• psychosexual stages of development


  the developmental stages of children as determined by Freud, each stage with a conflict that must be resolved to move to the next stage. If not resolved, the conflicts may lead to fixation.

  oral (0-1 years), anal (1-3 years), phallic (3-5 years), latency (6-11 years), genital (12 years old)
• the tripartite personality


  ID- inner drive, operates on the pleasure principle. Selfish, childlike part of the personality

  ego- 'reality principle', attempts to balance between the ID and superego

  superego- 'morality principle', forms moral code and sense of right and wrong
• case study- Little Hans

  Little Hans had a phobia of horses and had an active interest in his penis, with his mother at one point telling him she would have the doctor cut it off if he didn't stop touching it. He had once seen a horse die in the street and was afraid of the noise of its hooves, as well as suffering from generalised anxiety. He said he was afraid of horses with black around their mouths, which Freud believed was a symbol for his father's moustache. Freud decided that Little Hans was afraid his father would castrate him for desiring his mother.
• Little Hans- Freud's interpretation

  he believed that during the phallic stage, a boy develops an intense sexual love for his mother, and therefore sees his father as a rival. Because of this, they use a defence mechanism known as 'identification with the aggressor' where the boy will adopt the attitudes, mannerisms and actions of the father so the father will not feel hostile towards him.
• Little Hans- evaluation

  • Hans' father was already familiar with the Oedipus complex and may have interpreted the case in light of this
  • case studies lack population validity and are not generalisable
  • cannot be proven or disproven as Hans' age meant he could not remember the case taking place
• psychodynamic approach- AO3

  • has had great influence on modern psychology- encourages psychologists to consider impact of childhood experiences
  • real life application in development of psychoanalysis, a therapy which attempts to access the unconscious mind through techniques like dream analysis (unsuitable in certain illnesses such as schizophrenia)
  • case study method has been criticised
  • theory is not scientific as it cannot be falsified
  • approach is deterministic
  • reductionism e.g root of behaviour is sex/libido