psychodynamic

Question 1

What are the assumptions of the Psychodynamic Approach?

Answer 1

Assumes that all human behaviour can be explained in terms of inner conflict of the mind

Question 2

What is the ice berg analogy?

Answer 2

-Conscious mind is just the tip of the iceberg; the much larger, hidden part of the iceberg is the
unconscious mind
-This contains repressed ideas/memories, primitive desires, impulses and instincts which then influence most of our everyday thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

Question 3

Which approach utilizes the iceberg analogy?

Answer 3

Psychodynamic

Question 4

What are the features of the tripartite personality?

Answer 4

-id, ego, superego

Question 5

What is the id?

Answer 5

-primitive, formed at birth, unconscious, operates on pleasure principle, focuses on the self, deals with feelings and needs and contains the libido

Question 6

Which part of the tripartite personality acts on the pleasure principle?

Answer 6

the id

Question 7

When is the id formed?

Answer 7

from birth

Question 8

What is the ego?

Answer 8

-rational part of the brain, mediates between the id and superego, operates on reality principle, conscious, role is to reduce conflict between id and superego

Question 9

When is ego the formed?

Answer 9

around 2 years of age

Question 10

What is the superego?

Answer 10

internalized sense of right and wrong based on parental and societal values
-our conscience/moral values, unconscious
-internal representation of the child’s same-sex parent
-causes feelings of guilt when rules are broken.

Question 11

Which part of the tripartite personality operates on the morality principle?

Answer 11

superego

Question 12

When is the superego formed?

Answer 12

3-5 years

Question 13

What is a defense mechanism and how do they work?

Answer 13

-If an individual is faced with a situation that they cannot deal with rationally, defense mechanisms are triggered
-Tend to work unconsciously by distorting reality so that anxiety is reduced
-Ensure that the ego is not overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas

Question 14

Are defense mechanisms healthy?

Answer 14

Long term use can be psychologically unhealthy

Question 15

What are the 3 defense mechanisms?

Answer 15

-denial
-repression
-displacement

Question 16

What is displacement as a defense mechanism?

Answer 16

-transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target

Question 17

What is repression as a defense mechanism?

Answer 17

• forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind

Question 18

What is denial as a defense mechanism?

Answer 18

-refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

Question 19

How many psychosexual stages are there?

Answer 19

5

Question 20

What are the psychosexual stages?

Answer 20

oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

Question 21

What is the focus of pleasure in the oral stage?

Answer 21

Mouth

Question 22

What is the focus of pleasure in the anal stage?

Answer 22

The anus

Question 23

What is the focus of pleasure in the phallic stage?

Answer 23

The genital area

Question 24

What is the latency stage?

Answer 24

Earlier conflicts are repressed

Question 25

What is the focus of pleasure in the genital stage?

Answer 25

Consciousness of desires

Question 26

What can be the consequence if there is unresolved conflict in the oral stage?

Answer 26

Biting nails, smoking, sarcasm

Question 27

What can be the consequence if there is unresolved conflict in the anal stage?

Answer 27

Obsessiveness, tidiness, meanness

Question 28

What can be the consequence if there is unresolved conflict in the phallic stage?

Answer 28

Self-obsession, envy, sexual anxiety

Question 29

What can be the consequence if there is unresolved conflict in the genital stage?

Answer 29

Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

Question 30

What is the Oedipus complex?

Answer 30

-Boy starts to sexually desire his mother and sees father as a rival for his mother’s attention so wishes to kill him. -He fears that his father will castrate him so is in a state of conflict which is resolved by internalizing and identifying with his father. -This leads to the development of the superego. -Substitution of desire for his mother into desire for other women.

Question 31

What is the Electra complex?

Answer 31

-Girl starts to sexually desire her father who has a penis. -Mother seen as a sexual rival for her father. -Penis envy develops, girl blames mother for removing her penis. -Identification with mother so that she can have her father to resolve this. -Superego and gender identity develops. -Penis envy replaced with desire for a baby.

Question 32

What are the strengths of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 32

-takes into account both sides of the nature nurture debate -real world applications

Question 33

What are the limitations of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 33

-deterministic - Freud’s ideas are unfalsifiable

Question 34

Explain the strength of the psychodynamic approach that it takes into account both sides of the nature nurture debate ?

Answer 34

-Freud claimed that adult personality is the product of innate drives (nature) and childhood experiences (nurture). - Innate drives refer to the Id, Ego, Superego as well as the five psychosexual stages of personality development, especially how frustration/ overindulgence may lead to a fixation on a stage and hamper development of adult personality characteristics -Therefore the interactionist nature of this approach is a key strength

Question 35

Explain the strength of the psychodynamic approach that it has real world applications?

Answer 35

-For example, it introduced the use of psychotherapy which employed a range of techniques to access the unconscious, such as dream analysis, to help clients move their repressed emotions into their conscious mind to be dealt with. -This method is the forerunner to modern day "talking therapies". -This shows the value of the psychodynamic approach in creating a new approach to treatment.

Question 36

Explain the limitation of the psychodynamic approach that it is deterministic?

Answer 36

-Psychodynamic theory states that behaviour is controlled by the unconscious mind - something we don't have control of. -Freud believed the conflicts of the unconscious mind are rooted in childhood. -The approach is therefore labelled as an example of psychic determinism, and critics claim this is an extreme view because it dismisses any possible influence of free will on behaviour.

Question 37

Explain the limitation of the psychodynamic approach that Freud’s ideas are unfalsifiable

Answer 37

The ideas are not open to empirical testing. -For example, many of Freud's ideas such as the Oedipus complex, id and superego occur at an unconscious level making them impossible to test. -In addition, his ideas were based on the subjective study of single individuals, such as Little Hans, which makes it difficult to make universal claims about human behaviour. -This is a limitation because it suggests that Freud's theory was pseudoscientific rather than an established fact.