C4 - Psychodynamic approach

Question 1

Mind is made up of

Answer 1

Conscious - aware of
Preconscious - thoughts aware of through dreams
Unconscious - storehouse of biological drives & instincts that influence our behaviour

Question 2

3 parts of personality

Answer 2

Id - primitive part operating on pleasure principle
Ego - reality principle, mediador between Id & Superego
Superego - sense of right & wrong, morality principle, punishes ego through guilt, age 5

Question 3

Psychosexual stages

Answer 3

• Child must overcome conflict at each stage
• Unresolved conflict leads to fixation & carries on behaviour of that stage through to adult life

Oral (0-1) - pleasure focus is mouth, mums breast is desirable object
Anal (1-3) - pleasure focus is anus, pleasure from pooing
Phallic (3-6) - pleasure focus is genital area
Latency - earlier conflicts repressed
Genital (puberty) - sexual desires become conscious

Question 4

Oedipus complex

Answer 4

• In phallic stage, boys develop feelings for mum & hatrid for dad
• They later repress their feelings for mum & identify with dad, taking on his gender role & morals
• Girls experience penis envy

Question 5

Defense mechanisms

Answer 5

Used by ego to reduce anxiety
Repression - forcing distressing memory out of conscious mind
Denial - refusing to acknowledge reality
Displacement - transfer feelings to a substitute target

Question 6

Evaluations of psychodynamic approach (SSL)

Answer 6

S - Introduced psychotherapy
S - Has explanatory power
L - Untestable concepts

Question 7

Evaluations of psychodynamic approach - Introduced psychotherapy (S)

Answer 7

• First attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically
• Psychoanalysis helps clients deal with problems by providing access to unconscious, e.g. dream analysis
• Psychoanalysis forerunner to modern-day ‘talking therapies’, e.g. counselling

Question 8

Evaluations of psychodynamic approach - Has explanatory power (S)

Answer 8

• Theory is controversial & bizarre, but has had influence on contemporary thought
• Explains wide range of behaviours & draws attention to influence of childhood on adult personality
• Overall, approach has had positive influence on psychology & modern-day thinking

Question 9

Evaluations of psychodynamic approach - Untestable concepts (L)

Answer 9

• Popper argued approach doesn’t meet scientific criterion of falsification, it can’t be disproved
• Many concepts, such as Id, occur at unconscious level making it difficult to test
• Ideas lack scientific rigour, theory is pseudoscience