Psychodynamic Approach

Question 1

3 assumptions

Answer 1

• The unconscious, of which we are unaware, determine our behaviour
• Personality has three parts: id, ego and superego
• Early childhood experiences determine adult personality

Question 2

What’s the conscious

Answer 2

Your awareness of specific mental functions

E.g. If you feel thirsty you get a drink

Question 3

What’s the preconscious

Answer 3

Things that are brought to your awareness

E.g. Someone asks for your address

Question 4

What’s the unconscious

Answer 4

Lacking of awareness without realising

E.g. Childhood memories (early). What cannot be accessed, but which controls and drives behaviours

Question 5

What’s psychic determinism

Answer 5

Unconscious forces and drives our inborn and controls or determines behaviour

Question 6

Is our conscious mind aware of our unconscious

Answer 6

The conscious mind is unaware of what thoughts and emotions occur in the unconscious

Question 7

Who’s the main figure involved in the psychodynamic approach

Answer 7

Sigmund Freud

Question 8

3 ways accessing the unconscious mind

Answer 8

Rorschach inkblot test
Word association
Dreams

Question 9

How are dreams used to access the unconscious mind

Answer 9

• Repressed ideas in the unconscious are more likely to appear in dreams than when we are awake
• A therapist interprets the dream in order to provide insight on what it represents

Question 10

How is word association used to access the unconscious mind

Answer 10

• Timing how long a person to respond to a word measures the issues in a persons unconscious
• However, could be measuring something else, E.g. someone’s understanding of the word, therefore validity of measure is questioned

Question 11

What’s the psyche

Answer 11

The personality

Question 12

What’s the id

Answer 12

• “selfish beast” part of the personality
• Contained In the unconscious mind
• Operates according to the “pleasure principle”
• Requires instant gratification

Question 13

What’s the Ego

Answer 13

• Uses it’s cognitive abilities to manage and control the id and balance it’s desires against the restrictions of the superego
• Operates according to the “reality principle”
• Delayed gratification
• Ego defends itself from id-Superego struggles via various defence mechanisms

Question 14

What’s the superego

Answer 14

• Insists we do the right thing
• Opposes the desires of the id
• Develops later in childhood
• Enforces moral restrictions and battles against id impulses

Question 15

What happens if the ego fails to balance the needs of the id and superego

Answer 15

May result in conflicts and psychological disorders

Question 16

What’s intra-psychic conflict

Answer 16

Conflict between the components of the psyche can lead to anxiety

Question 17

What does the ego use to maintain a balance in relation to the id and superego

Answer 17

Defence mechanisms

Question 18

Name the 3 defence mechanisms

Answer 18

Repression, denial and displacement

Question 19

Are the defence mechanisms conscious or unconscious

Answer 19

They’re unconscious strategies

Question 20

What’s repression and an example of it

Answer 20

Forcing a distressing or threatening memory out of your conscious mind

E.g. an individual forgetting the trauma of their pet dying

Question 21

What’s denial and an example of it

Answer 21

Failing or refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

E.g. continuing to turn up to work even though you’ve been sacked

Question 22

What’s displacement and an example of it

Answer 22

Transferring feelings from the true object of anxiety onto a substitute target/object

E.g. slamming the door after an argument

Question 23

What happens there’s an excessive use of defence mechanisms

Answer 23

Result in the ego becoming increasingly detached from reality and, in time, can cause psychological disorder

Question 24

What’s psychoanalysis

Answer 24

Effort to understand defences and unconscious motives, driving self-destructive behaviours

Question 25

What are the 5 psychosexual stages in order

Answer 25

1) Oral stage
2) Anal stage
3) Phallic stage
4) Latency stage
5) Genital stage

Question 26

Describe the Oral stage

Answer 26

• 0-1 years approximately
• Mouth is main focus of pleasure during this stage
• Child enjoys tasting and sucking
• Mothers breast object of desire
• Successful completion of this stage is demonstrated by Weaning
  Consequence of unresolved conflict
• Oral fixation= Sarcastic, overeats and drinks, smoke, bite nails

Question 27

Describe the Anal stage

Answer 27

-1-3 years old
- Defecation (pooing) is the main source of pleasure
- Successful completion is marked by potty training
- Ego develops as parents impose restrictions
Consequence of unresolved conflict
- Anally retentive= Very tidy, perfectionist, likes being in control
- Anally expulsive= Thoughtless, messy

Question 28

Describe the Phallic stage

Answer 28

• 3-5 years old
• Genital area is the main source of pleasure
• Oedipus complex= Boy wants his mother as his ‘primary love object’ and wants father out the way
• Electra complex= Girls experience penis envy; they desire their father, as penis is primary love object and want mother out the way

Question 29

Describe the Latency stage

Answer 29

• Age 7 to puberty
• Sexual urges sublimated into sports and other hobbies
• Focus on developing same sex friendships
• No particular requirements for a successful completion

Question 30

Describe the genital stage

Answer 30

• Puberty into adulthood
• Focus on genitals but not to same extent as phallic stage
• Task is to develop healthy adult relationships
• Should happen if earlier stages have been negotiated successfully
  Consequence of unresolved conflict
• Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

Question 31

What does fixation (getting stuck) at any of the stages determine

Answer 31

It determines our adult character, personality and behavioural traits

Question 32

Freud believes all children are born with a libido

What’s a libido

Answer 32

A sexual urge

Question 33

What happens if you don’t complete all psychosexual stages

Answer 33

• May not be psychologically healthy

- May cause a mental abnormality to occur

Question 34

Why might fixation occur

Answer 34

Due to trauma, pleasant or unpleasant experiences, change in environment etc

Question 35

Describe Little Hans study

Answer 35

• Hans developed a fear of horses after seeing one fall over and kick its feet
• According to Freud, Little Hans was experiencing the Oedipus complex, wanting to possess his mother, and saw his father as a rival
• He displaced the fear of his father on to horses
• Horses was a representation of Han’s unconscious fear of castration experienced during the Oedipus Complex

Question 36

Evaluation of psychodynamic approach

Answer 36

• Has an ability to explain human behaviour, such as abnormal behaviour through fixation at stages
• Many of its concepts are in the unconscious which is unfalsifiable therefore can’t be proved wrong. Therefore seen as not a science
• Freuds theories developed from case studies like Little Hans, explaining the fear of his father (Oedipus complex). This methodology is highly bias
• Psychic determinism, as behaviour that appear freely chosen under conscious control are actually caused by the unconscious. Challenges how people view their decision making