Approaches in psychology Flashcards
(25 cards)
what are Freud’s 5 main assumptions in the psychodynamic approach?
The unconscious mind is the primary source of human behavior
The mind is like an iceberg
we possess innate drives which motivate our behavior
the first 5 years have a huge influence on our adult personality
The unconscious mind can be accessed via psychoanalysis
Define the unconscious
Largest part of the mind
most powerful part of your mind
is inaccessible by normal means e.g dream analysis
all thoughts form here and some are allowed to become conscious
All motivations and desires are here
Define the preconscious
are conscious thoughts but cannot be accessed currently e.g such as memories
The conscious
Holds the thoughts and ideas we are currently thinking of
what is in the tripartite
ID: Pleasure
Superego: Morality
Ego: Reality
define the ID
Present from birth
very demanding for its satisfaction based on the pleasure principle
Found in the unconscious mind and drives instincts
Define the Superego
Develops around age 4
made up of the conscious given by society and parents
punishes the ego through guilt
Define the Ego
Develops from age 2 the rational part of personality
trys to obtain what the ID wants in a socially acceptable way
Ego’s function
To find realistic method of gratifying the ID and morally acceptable to the super ego
Name the 3 defence mechanisms
Repression, denial,displacement
define repression
pushing a harmful memory into the unconcious which affects behaviour without the individual being aware
define denial
refusal of accepting a harmful event by acting as if the trauma never happened
define displacement
satisfying an impulse with a substiute so it is considered more sociall acceptable such as being mad at your teacher so you take it out on your siblings at home instead
what did freud say about the psychosexual stages of development
each stage is associated with a conflict which must be resolved to avoid fixation. As an adult will will regress to our fixated stage when under stress thus childhood development is essential to adult personality
what is the oral stage?
The oral’s conflict is weaning off breast milk and onto food as the erogenous zone is the mouth. the consequences is nail-biting or thumb sucking. However this can be resolved if weaned off breast milk at the right time
what is the anal stage?
Occurs are 1-3 years old where the conflict is potty training restrictions as the erogenous zone is the anus. As a consequence is being perfectionist or expulsive but can be resolved with proper toilet training.
What is the phallic stage
Occurs at 3-5 years old. the conflict is having an Oedipus or an Electra complex and the consequnces is being narcissistic or possibly homosexual but can be resolved with identification with the same-sex parent.
what is the latent stage?
Occurs between 6-puberty and the conflict is having a dormant area of development due to having unaware repressed sexual energy
what is the genital stage
the conflict is the lack of capacity to focus on a developing sexual relationship so the conflict is on difficulty forming a heterosexual relationship but can be resolved by having a loving heterosexual relationship.
what is the oedipus complex?
for boys occurs in the phallic stage of development as they sexually desire their mother but their father stands in the way so they have jealous feelings but the boy realises that the father is stronger so begins to have castration anxiety
what is the electra complex
Girls enter in the phallic stage of development, with the realisation that they dont have a penis, believes she has been castrated, the girl has penis envy and begins to desire her father because he has one
what was a limitation to the electra complex?
Use of gender bias-he was ignorant to women sexually . he agreed that the penis envy made them inferior.
what are the strengths of the psychodynamic approach?
Has good application-has led to the development of therapies such as the psychotherapy.
research methods such as case studies (little Hans)
supports the idea of psychosexual stages and oedipus complex.
maat et al- found that psychoanlysis provided significant improvements in symptoms
limitations of the psychosexual stages?
use of case studies-lacks reliability as Hans will never be the same age or in the stage development again
cannot be generalised to all boys
lacks temporal validity
Lack of falsifiability-we cannot test or observe the unconscious mind. Lack of accessibility makes it unscientific.
is deterministic- all behaviour is determined by our unconcious mind which can be compared with another theory.
