Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
(26 cards)
What are the 4 basic assumptions of the Psychodynamic approach?
1) The driving force behind our behaviour is the unconscious mind.
2) Instincts or drives motivate our behaviour
3) Early childhood experiences determine our personality and adult behaviour.
4) Psychoanalysis should be used to make the unconscious conscious
What is the unconscious mind?
The part of the mind that is not accessible to the individual. Drives that motivate our behaviour are stored here& are inaccessible.
Protects the conscious self from traumatic memories
What is the Id?
The childlike, selfish and hedonistic part of your personality. We are born with the id
What is the ego?
Able to delay the id’s drive for pleasure - acts as a balance between the two forces. develops during the anal stage (18 months-3 years)
What is the superego?
Acts as the individuals conscience. It feels guilt and holds someone back (morality principle). Develops during the Phallic stage (3-6 years)
What does repression mean?
A type of forgetting where a painful/ disturbing memory is pushed into the unconscious mind where it’s not accessible for the conscious mind.
What effect does repression have on behaviour?
There is no recall of the event or situation but the repressed memory still affects behaviour without the person being consciously aware of it.
What does denial mean?
Refusal to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation.
What effect does denial have on behaviour?
May believe that a negative situation is positive and it therefore should not cause anxiety
What does displacement mean?
When the focus of a strong emotion is expressed onto a neutral person or object - a substitute object for the emotion is used.
What effect does displacement have on behaviour?
Someone may exhibit very strong emotion but focus is onto an uninvolved person or object.
What is a strength of defence mechanisms?
It has explanatory power
Some people can use them to understand their experiences since people can appreciate the idea of denial, repression and displacement.
What is a limitation of defence mechanisms?
It lacks testability/falsifiability
They’re an unconscious process that cannot be studied directly and can only be inferred from behaviour/reported thoughts or experiences which are pen to interpretation/bias.
What are the psychosexual stages?
We go through set stages of psychological and sexual development. They start at birth and end in late childhood.
They are: Oral, anal, phallic, latent & genital
What is the oral stage?
0-12 months
Focus on pleasure is the mouth. The mothers breast is the object of desire.
With too much or too little gratification results in Oral fixation - smoking, biting nails etc
What is the anal stage?
1-3 years
Focus of pleasure is the anus. Child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces.
Can result in Anal expulsive - thoughtless, messy or Anal retentive - obsessive, perfectionist.
What is the phallic stage?
3-5 years
Focus of pleasure is the genital area. Child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex.
Results in Phallic personality - narcissistic, reckless
What is the Oedipus complex?
Freud - a boy experiences intense sexual feelings for their mother. The boy sees his father as a rival
What is the Electra complex?
Freud - a girl realises they do not have a penis, blames her mother for this. She develops ‘penis envy’ The desire to have a penis is expressed through a desire for a baby.
What is a strength of the theory of psychosexual stages of development?
Has made a contribution to society
-It has drawn attention to the possible long-term effects of traumatic events in childhood such as child abuse & parental separation
-Has contributed for the well-being of people.
How is the theory of psychosexual stages gender biased?
-The theory focuses almost entirely on male behaviour with little mention of female psychosexual development
-The theory may not apply to females
Why are the psychosexual stages difficult to test scientifically?
-Concepts such as libido are impossible too measure, so cannot be tested. The research that has been conducted tends not to support Freud’s theory.
-No way of establishing whether the theory is valid or not
Why is the psychosexual stages being based on case studies a limitation?
Freud’s case studies used the recollections of his adult patients which he interpreted, not actual observations. His studies were biased & not empirical research
-Does not provide strong scientific evidence
What are the evaluation points for the Psychodynamic approach?
(+) Supported by evidence
(+) Made a significant contribution to our understanding of psychological disorders & inspired further research in this area
(-) Not easy to empirically test
(-) Determinist
