Appraoches To Psychology: Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards

Question

How do psychosexual stages effect our behaviour or personality

Answer 1

This experience is all repressed into the unconscious, but influences adult personality Severe fixation could lead to a psychological disorder

Answer 2

Freud carried out case study of a child called Hans who had a phobia of horses Hans was observed by his father, who made notes of Han’s dream and what he said He passed these onto Freud for analysis

Answer 3

Hans was afraid of horses because he thought they may bite or fall on him During study he developed an interest in his penis His mum had told him not to play with it or she’d cut it off Hans told his dad about a dream where he was married to his mum and his dad was now his grandfather

Answer 4

Freuds interpretation was that Hans had reached phallic stage of development Showed evidence of Oedipus complex ( wanted relationship with mother as wanted father out of the way ) Hans had sexual feelings for his mother, shown partly by his dream of marrying her The horse symbolised Han’s father because, to him, they both had big penises His fear of horses horses is an example of displacement - a defence mechanism that protected him from his real fear of his father Hans suffered from castration anxiety He was afraid that he would be castrated by his father if he found out about his feelings for his mother This was symbolised by Hans’s fear that a horse would bite him

Answer 5

Case study - it provided lots of detailed data about one subject Results cannot be generalised because of this Findings provided evidence to support Freuds theories Results were based entirely on observation and interpretation This means cause and effect relationship cannot be established Could be other explanations e.g. Hans’ anxiety may have come from his mother threatening to cut his penis off Also, before the study, Hans had been frightened by a horse falling down in the street, which could explain his fear of them Freud analysed information from Hans’s father, results could be biased

Answer 6

Freud has had a huge influence on Psychology, as he conducted research on personality disorders - Development - Abnormalities - Moral development - Gender - Attachment- experiences as children and our parents and later development He had a big influence and other psychologists were more likely to listen to him

Answer 7

We can’t make universal claims about human nature based on studies about individuals with psychological abnormalities Highly subjective Lacks scientific rigour

Answer 8

Popper argued that the psychodynamic approach does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification as it is not open to empirical testing and the possibility of disproval. Unconscious is difficult to test Suggested it is a pseudoscience

Answer 9

Psychoanalysis – range of techniques used to access the unconscious, includes dream analysis and hypnosis Useful therapeutic tool for neuroses However unable to treat more severe mental health disorders such as schizophrenia

Answer 10

No such thing as an accident Slip of the tongue is driven by the unconscious forces and has deep symbolic meaning Free will is an illusion- conflict from childhood

Answer 11

Gender bias- alpha bias Freud said femininity was failed masculinity and that we can never believe that the 2 sexes are equal in position or worth. Horney broke away from Freudian theory and criticised the approach. Dismissing women and their sexuality in such a way is problematic because psychoanalysis is still influential today and many female patients are treated by it. With such a clear bias it is inappropriate for the approach to be applied to both sexes

Answer 12

Psychodynamic approach was first theory to focus on psychological causes of disorders Before this, focus had been on physical causes or possession by evil spirits One of the first approaches to suggest that mental health disorders may be linked to unresolved conflicts related to biological needs Offers methods of therapy ( such as psychoanalysis ) which may also uncover unconscious conflicts. Patients can then understand causes of their problems and resolve and release their anxieties Freud’s theory places emphasis on how experiences in early childhood can affect later development which formed the basis for lots of other important theories

Answer 13

Freud’s claims are based on subjective interpretations of his patients’ dreams, etc Therefore they’re often unreliable and open to bias Freud’s theories are related to the unconscious mind, which can’t be accessed As such, his theories are unfalsifiable ( i.e. they can’t be proved wrong ) Psychoanalysis may take a long time and so be very expensive Childhood conflicts that are uncovered may be emotionally distressing and possibly inaccurate, depending on the reliability of the patient’s memory, the techniques used to uncover them and the analyst’s interpretations The focus is on patient’s past, rather than on the problems that they are currently suffering The approach is based on case studies of people in distress, so findings can’t be generalisable to everyone else The scientific research methods mean it’s not possible to establish cause and effect

Appraoches To Psychology: Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards

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