psycodynamic approach Flashcards
(23 cards)
1
Q
who is a key figure in psychodynamic approach
A
freud
2
Q
what is most of our mind made up of
A
- the unconscious
3
Q
what is the unconscious
A
- a vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that has a significant influence on our behaviour and personality
4
Q
what does the unconscious also contain
A
- threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed
5
Q
how can the disturbing memories be accessed
A
- dreams
- slip of the tongue
6
Q
what is the preconscious
A
- contains thoughts and memories which are not currently in conscoius awareness but can be accessed if desired
7
Q
what are the 3 parts of personality
A
id
ego
superego
8
Q
what is the id
A
- primitive part of personality
- operates on pleasure principle
- present at birth
- selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs
9
Q
what is the ego
A
- works on reality principle
- mediator between id and superego
- develops at 2
- employs defence mechanisms
10
Q
what is the superego
A
- developed at 5
- end of phallic stage
- based on morality principle
- represents moral standards of the child’s same gender parent
- punishes the ego for wrongdoings through guilt
11
Q
what are the psychosexual stages
A
- oral stage
- anal stage
- phallic stage
- latency sate
- genital
12
Q
oral stage
A
- 0 -1 years
- focus of pleasure is the mouth
- unresolved conflict leads to oral fixation
13
Q
anal stage
A
- 1 -3 years
- focus of pleasure is the anus
- unresolved conflict leads to anal retentive or anal expulsive
14
Q
phallic stage
A
- 3 -6 years
- focus of pleasure is the genital area
- unresolved conflict leads to narcissistic and reckless personalities
15
Q
latency stage
A
- earlier conflicts are repressed
16
Q
Genital stage
A
- sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty
- unresolved conflict leads to difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
17
Q
what happens if psychosexual conflicts are unresolved
A
- leads to fixation where the child becomes stuck and carries certain behaviours and conflicts though to adult life
18
Q
what are defence mechanism
A
- used by the ego to prevent us form being overwhelmed by temporary threats or trumas
- repression
- denial
- displacement
19
Q
repression
A
forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind
20
Q
denial
A
refusing to acknowledge some aspects of reality
21
Q
displacement
A
- transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target
22
Q
Strengths
A
- real world application
- introduced the idea of psychotherapy
- first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically
- techniques designed to access the unconscious - dream analysis
- helps clients by bringing their repressed emotions into the conscious mind so they can be dealt with
- psychoanalysis is the forerunner to counselling
- shows the value of the psychodynamic approach in creating a new approach to treatment - explanatory power
- ability to explain human behaviour
- feuds theory although controversial but had a huge influence on psychology and contemporary thought
- psychodynamic approach was a key force in psychology for the first half of the 20th century
- used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality development, origins of disorders and gender identity
- approach is significant in drawing attention to the connection between experiences in childhood, such as our relationship with our parents and our later development
- suggest that overall the psychodynamic approach has had a positive impact on psychology
23
Q
limitations
A
- Untestable concept
- does not meet the scientific of falsification
- not open to empirical testing and the possibility of being disproved
- many of Freud concepts are said to occur at an unconscious level making it difficult to test
- also his ideas were based in the subjective study of single individuals (little Hans) making it difficult to make universal claims about human behaviour
