Approaches - Psychodynamic Approach

Question 1

Who was the founder of the psychodynamic approach

Answer 1

Freud

Question 2

What did Freud argue and create

Answer 2

Behaviour is due to psychological factors

From this he created psychoanalysis - a talking therapy

Question 3

what is psycho analysis

Answer 3

A talking therapy which deals with the conflicts in the mind
Once conflicts restored the individual is mentally healthy again

Question 4

What are the three basic assumptions of the psychodynamic approach

Answer 4

1) Unconscious mind is thought to drive behaviour - an issues with individuals behaviour - unconscious mind assessed in order to rectify
2) instincts are thought to motivate behaviour - innate drive that helps to form our behaviour and personality
3) early childhood experiences are extremely important in making us who are- this means that if we have certain experiences at particular times of our childhood - will be reflected in our adult behaviour

Question 5

How is the unconscious mind explained with iceberg model ?

Answer 5

• Conscious mind – the tip of the iceberg that we can see
• Preconscious mind – look into water, you can see some of the
iceberg
• Unconscious mind – the part of the iceberg that we are unable
to see, unless we are submerged in the water

Question 6

What is conscious ?

Answer 6

Part of the mind we are aware of

Question 7

What is the unconscious ?

Answer 7

Most of our mind is made up of the unconscious,
It is the vast store drive of biological drives and instincts that influence our behaviour and personality.

Contains threatening and distributing memories that have been repressed

Thoughts and behaviour come to us through dreams and Freudian slips

Question 8

What is the preconscious ?

Answer 8

Precocious Thought memories not in conscious awareness but can be accessed

Question 9

Why is the structure of personality known as the tripartite system

Answer 9

There are 3 parts to personality

Question 10

What is the id

Answer 10

This is the primitive part of our personality. Present at birth and forms up until about 18 months.
It operates on the pleasure principle
the id gets what it wants. It is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs.

Question 11

What is the ego

Answer 11

It operates on the reality principle and is the mediator between the id and the superego.

Its role is to reduce the conflict between the demands of the id and the superego.

It does this through defence mechanisms. These offer the ego protection to ensure that neither “force” is dominant.

Question 12

When is the ego formed

Answer 12

Develops between 18 months and 3 years.

Question 13

When is the superego formed

Answer 13

Develops between 3 and 6 years and is formed at the end of the phallic stage

Question 14

What is the superego

Answer 14

It operates on the morality principle and represents the ideal self

it represents the moral standards of the child’s same-sex parents.
So allows children to identify with their same sex parent role model and internalise their morals

strives for the ego ideal which is determined by strict parenting.

Question 15

What do defence mechanisms do and why

Answer 15

They distort reality to reduce anxiety. This is because anxiety weakens the ego and means that it cannot mediate between the ID and superego

Question 16

What are the three common defence mechanisms

Answer 16

• Repression: Blocking of an unpleasant memory- pushed to unconscious cant be accessed
• Denial: Refusal to accept reality
• Displacement: Redirecting of emotions onto other objects or
people

Question 17

What do instincts do

Answer 17

Drive our unconscious mind so dictate the stages we experience

Question 18

The underlying drive our instincts produce is what ?

Answer 18

Sexual - pleasure comes from the release of tension due to the build up of sexual energy

Question 19

The way the pleasure manifest itself is dependent on what ?

Answer 19

The stage in which a child is in

Question 20

What is each stage marked by ?

Answer 20

A different conflict the child must resolve in order to progress successfully into next stage

Question 21

What can cause fixation in a stage

Answer 21

Strict parenting or overindulgence

Question 22

Why is a child ‘stuck’ on a stage and what does this lead to ?

Answer 22

The child is stuck because the psychosexual conflict is unresolved the child then carries certain behaviours and conflicts from that stage into adult life

Question 23

What are the five psychosexual stages

Answer 23

Oral (0-1), anal (1-3), phallic (3-5), latency (6-12) and genital

Question 24

What happens in oral stage

Answer 24

Focus of pleasure is the mouth

Mothers breast is object of desire

Question 25

What is the consequence of unresolved conflict in oral stages

Answer 25

Oral fixation- smoking , biting nails , overeating

Question 26

Describe the anal stage

Answer 26

Focus of pleasure is the anus
Involves toilet training
Child gains pleasure with withholding and expelling faeces

Question 27

What is the consequence of unreserved conflict in the anal stage

Answer 27

Anal retentive - perfectionist obsessive. Orderliness

Anal expulsion - thoughtless, messy

Question 28

What happens in the phallic stage

Answer 28

Focus of pleasure is the genital area

And child experiences the Oedipus and Electra complex

Question 29

What is the consequence of unresolved conflict in phallic stage

Answer 29

Phallic personality
Narcissistic and reckless

Deviancy
Sexual dysfunction
Possible homosexual

Question 30

What happens in latency ?

Answer 30

Defense mechanisms are developed
No psychosexual development
Sexual impulses are repressed and are projected towards school work, hobbies , developing new skills

Question 31

What happens at the genital stage

Answer 31

Sexual desires become conscious long side the onset of puberty

The outlet for sexual desires is through heterosexual intercourse

Question 32

What is the consequence of unresolved conflict in the genital stage

Answer 32

Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

Question 33

What is Oedipus complex

Answer 33

In the phallic stage, little boys develop sexual feelings towards their mother and a hatred for their mother’s rival in love – their father because he himself wants to possess his mother

Question 34

In their Oedipus complex what do boys fear

Answer 34

They fear that their father will castrate them if they were to find out about feelings towards mother
Castrations anxiety

Question 35

In the Oedipus complex what do boys do to repress feelings towards mother

Answer 35

Identify with father , taking gender role and masculine father like moral values

Question 36

What is the Electra complex

Answer 36

When Girls of the same age experience penis envy – they desire their father as the penis is the primary love object and they hate their mother.

Question 37

How do girls in Electra complex resolve this

Answer 37

they are thought to give up the desire for their father over time and replace this desire with one for a baby – therefore identifying with their mother in the process.

Question 38

What is a strength of the psychodynamic approach

Influence

Answer 38

The psychodynamic approach has had a huge influence on psychology.

used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development and gender.

This shows how important Freud’s ideas have been in the development of psychology as a discipline and in explaining human behaviour

Question 39

What is another strength of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 39

The psychodynamic approach has practical application.

Freud developed psychoanalysis which was The first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically

Psychoanalysis - employs range of techniques to access unconscious so repressed emotions can be dealt with

Fore runner to many talking therapies today - such as counselling

Psychodynamic influential in creating new approach to treatment
- psychoanalysis regarded as inappropriate even harmful for serious disorders - eg schizophrenia

Question 40

What is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach

Case studies

Answer 40

The research methods used in the psychodynamic approach have been criticised.

Freud’s theory is based on the intensive study of single individuals such as Little Hans who were often in therapy. findings from the case studies cant be generalised

This limits how useful the psychodynamic approach is when trying to explain human behaviour.

Question 41

What is another limitation of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 41

The psychodynamic approach is deterministic.

It suggests that all human behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control. This removes the notion of free will as it suggests that people do not have a choice over their behaviour.

This goes against the beliefs that a lot of us hold may mean that people are not as accountable for their behaviour as society would like them to be.

Question 42

What is another limitation of the psychodynamic approach (falsifying )

Answer 42

Key concepts from this approach cannot be falsified

Eg Oedipus complex are said to occur at unconscious level

Impossible to test

Psychodynamic approach could be seen as pseudoscience

Question 43

Evaluation of defence mechanisms

Answer 43

Lack of test ability since Defense mechanisms cannot be studied directly
Repression - pushed to unconscious level so it doesn’t overwhelm
Cant be tested scientifically