Psychodynamic Approach

Question 1

What is the psychodynamic approach to psychology?

Answer 1

Originated in the 19th century, heavily influenced by Austrian born Sigmund Freud - ‘Behaviour is the result of the unconscious mind’.

Question 2

What did Freud say about the unconscious mind?

Answer 2

According to Freud, our visible personality is only a small part of us, and out behaviours are largely controlled by our unconscious.

Our unconscious mind contains many repressed and difficult thoughts. These are not easily accessible to us and contain things that may have happened in childhood and are especially traumatic for us.

Freud believed that conflicts in our unconscious can influence our behaviour, and probing the unconscious mind is important to remove such thoughts or experiences. He therefore introduced Psychoanalysis.

Question 3

What are the three types of our mind?

Answer 3

Conscious mind (thoughts and perceptions)

Preconscious mind (memory and stored knowledge)

Unconscious mind (instincts, fears, selfish motives)

Question 4

What are Freudian slips?

Answer 4

A Freudian slip is a verbal or memory mistake that is believed to be linked to the unconscious mind. These slips supposedly reveal the real secret thoughts and feelings that people hold.

Question 5

What is free association?

Answer 5

The individual is encouraged to relax and say anything that comes into their mind, no matter how absurd. Once verbalised, the therapist can interpret and explain.

Question 6

What’s the tripartite personality and what are the three types of adult personality?

Answer 6

Freud believed that there were three parts to every adult personality, and that each part developed at a different stage in a person’s life.

It’s the interaction/dynamics between these three determine our behaviour.

Three types – id, ego and superego.

Question 7

What’s the id?

Answer 7

Selfish + impulsive part of our mind.
Present from birth.
Demanding.
Aims to gain pleasure at any cost.
Doesn’t consider consequences.
In the unconscious.

Question 8

What’s the ego?

Answer 8

Rational part of mind.
Develops about the age of 2.
Its role is to reduce the conflict between the demands of the id & the superego.
It manages this by employing several defence mechanisms.
Realistic and compromising.

Question 9

What’s the superego?

Answer 9

Moralistic part of mind (sense of right and wrong).
Develops about the age of 4.
Aims to perfect and civilise behaviour.
Represents the moral standards of the child’s same sex parent.
Punishes the ego for wrongdoing (through guilt).

Question 10

What are defence mechanisms?

Answer 10

As the Ego acts to balance the conflicting demands of the id and superego which creates anxiety for the Ego. It protects itself from this anxiety with several defence mechanisms.

Question 11

What are the four defence mechanisms?

Answer 11

Denial – arguing against an anxiety provoking situation by stating it doesn’t exist e.g., denying that your physician’s diagnosis is correct and seeking a second opinion.

Displacement – taking out impulses on a less threatening target e.g., slamming a door instead of hitting as person, yelling at your spouse after an argument with your boss.

Repression – anxiety provoking thoughts are pushed into the unconscious mind e.g., forgetting a traumatic event due to the anxiety of it.

Sublimation – transforms unacceptable impulse into socially acceptable behaviour e.g., a person who experiences extreme anger might take up kick boxing as a way of venting frustration.

Question 12

What are the psychosexual stages of personality development?

Answer 12

Child development occurs in 5 stages – oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital.

At each stage, the child has conflict it has to resolve in order to progress to the next stage.

If unresolved the child becomes ‘fixated’ in this stage and then carries these behavioural characteristics with them throughout life.

Question 13

What’s fixation?

Answer 13

If we overindulge or are frustrated in any of these stages, it is referred to as a fixation.

Overindulge = the person’s needs have been so well satisfied that he/she is reluctant to leave the psychological benefits of a particular stage.

Frustrated = the needs of the developing individual at a particular stage may not have been adequately met.

Question 14

What’s the oral stage?

Answer 14

0-1 years old.
Pleasure gained from eating / suckling.
Healthy resolution (successful weaning) – ability to form relationships with others.
Weaning too strict – oral aggressive character – aggressive, pessimistic, envious, bite on pencils/chew gum, smoking.
Weaning too lenient – oral receptive character – optimistic, gullible, over-dependant on others.

Question 15

What’s the anal stage?

Answer 15

1-3 years old.
Pleasure gained from withholding/expelling faeces.
Healthy resolution (successful potty training) – a good balance between organisation and disorganisation
Potty training too strict – anal retentive character – neat, precise, orderly and ‘stingy’.
Potty training to lenient – anal expulsive character – generous, messy, disorganised, careless.

Question 16

What’s the phallic stage?

Answer 16

3-6 years old.
This period is marked by the child’s libido (or desire) focusing on their genitals as the primary source of pleasure.
In this stage, children become increasingly aware of their bodies, exhibiting a heightened interest in their own genitals and those of the opposite sex.
Additionally, their understanding of anatomical sex differences begins to form, sparking a complex mixture of emotions – erotic attraction, rivalry, jealousy, resentment, and fear – collectively termed the Oedipus complex in boys and the Electra complex in girls.
This period of conflict is resolved through identification, where children start adopting the characteristics of their same-sex parent.

Question 17

What’s the Oedipus complex?

Answer 17

The Oedipus Complex occurs during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. Controversially, Freud claimed that boys initially have a strong sexual desire for their mother. This brings them into conflict with their father (he is a rival for the mother’s attention), and they develop a death wish for him. Gradually, however, fearing father will punish them by castration, boys begin to model themselves on their father to become as much like him as possible.

Question 18

What’s a case study that supports the Oedipus complex?

Answer 18

Little Hans was a child with a phobia of horses in the phallic stage of development. After months of therapy, Freud concluded that Han’s phobia was a manifestation of an unconscious fear that he had of his own Father who according to Freud, resembled a horse, and his fear was displaced onto the horse. Hans feared his father due to ‘castration anxiety’ as he was experiencing the Oedipus complex.

Question 19

What’s the latency stage?

Answer 19

6 years to puberty.
This stage of psychosexual development is dormant.
Earlier conflicts are repressed.
During this stage, girls are usually friends with girls, and boys with boys.

Question 20

What’s the genital stage?

Answer 20

Puberty onwards.
Sexual desires become conscious.
It is a time of adolescent sexual experimentation.
If previous stages were healthily resolved – genital character = ideal, well adjusted, mature, able to love and be loved.
If not = may have difficulty forming heterosexual relationships.

Question 21

What is a strength of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 21

useful in treating depression. Psychoanalysis uses free association and focuses on the specific repressed trauma of the individual to then deal with such trauma and treat in an effective way. This is a strength as such treatments have positive impacts on the economy

Question 22

What are the limitations of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 22

Unscientific in its research methods. Many of Freud’s concepts such as the psychosexual stages occur at an unconscious level making them impossible to objectively test. Unfalsifiable – can’t prove it right or wrong therefore validity is questionable. This is a weakness as the psychodynamic approach is therefore looked upon as a pseudoscience rather than a real science as it is highly subjective, cannot be replicated to check for reliability.

Determinist. The approach believes that behaviour is pre-set by our unconscious mind and that we have no control over it. E.g. Freud argued that repressed traumas during childhood manifests as depression in later life which will control how a person behaves. This is a weakness because such suggestions have huge implications on concepts, such as criminal justice system …Moreover, this may take responsibility away from criminals & gives them an excuse for their behaviour. As it argues that they have no free will / choice over their behaviour.

Reductionist. Approach over simplifies complex behaviour to unconscious processes. E.g. Depression reduced to repressed traumas during childhood. Researchers don’t gain a true understanding of behaviour as they ignore the biological view that low serotonin could cause depression. Inaccurate view, incorrect diagnosis. Impact on economy…more time off work etc.