Psychology

Unit 2 – Psychodynamic Approach

Basic Assumptions :

1. Influence of the unconscious on our behaviour.

2. The importance of childhood experiences.

Content:

Freud’s Theory of PersonalityFreud stated that there are three aspects of the personality; the Id, the ego, the superego.

The Id:

• This is the ‘I want’ part of the personality and is based on the ‘pleasure principle’. It demands immediate pleasure and satisfaction. It doesn’t consider reality.

The Ego:

• This develops at around 18 months. It is the logical element of the personality and considers reality and the consequences of certain actions. It makes conscious decisions.

The superego:

• Develops at around 4-5 years old. It is based on the morality principle and makes decisions that are morally correct. Develops because of moral restraints placed on us by parents.

Freud’s Ego Defence MechanismsDefence mechanisms protect the ego when the ego has a difficult time making the Id and Super Ego happy. Here are some of Freud’s defence mechanisms;

Repression:

• This pushes a memory from the conscious mind into the unconscious mind in order to protect the ego. For example; if someone was once abused they would repress this memory into the unconscious.

Regression:

• Involves taking the position of a child in a problematic situation rather than acting in an adult way.

Displacement:

• Where memories are transferred onto something or someone else for example, you may be angry at somebody so you punch a wall.

Denial:

• This involves simply denying that an event ever occurred. The person affected acts as though nothing has happened.

Role of the Unconscious MindThe conscious mind holds thoughts, ideas, emotions and other aspects of thinking, of which the individual is aware.The preconscious mind holds thoughts, ideas and emotions which are readily available to be accessed, but are not actually conscious at the time.The unconscious mind is the largest part of the mind, which is where all thoughts originate from.

The ‘iceberg model’ is used to portray the unconscious mind;

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development

According to Sigmund, there are 5 stages that everyone has to go through; oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Children can become fixated at these stages.

The Oral Stage:

Happens at around 0-1 years. Pleasure comes from the mouth. Behaviours include; sucking, swallowing and biting. If nursing stops too soon adult personality is envious, pessimistic and sarcastic. If nursing continues adult personality is optimistic, admiring, gullible.

The Anal Stage:

Happens at 1-2 and a half years. Pleasure comes from the anus. Behaviours include being expulsive (letting it out) or retentive (keeping it in). If potty trained too late; adult personality will be expulsive, messy, reckless and disorganised. If potty trained too early; adult personality will be retentive, obstinate, careful, precise.

The Phallic Stage:

Happens at 3-5. Pleasure comes from genitals. If fixated, adult personality will be reckless and promiscuous. Also will have difficulty in relationships.

Latency Stage:

Happens from age of 6 to puberty. Isn’t associated with a body part, but behaviours include repression of desires. There is no fixation.

Genital Stage:

Happens from puberty onwards. It is associated with the genitals. Behaviours include sexual interests. If fixated, the person will have difficulty with relationships because of regression and defence mechanisms.

Gender Development Explanation:

Explanation:

According to Freud, gender is learned at the phallic stage of development. This happens when children identify with same sex parents. The explanation is based on the Oedipus Complex for boys and the Electra Complex for girls.

Boys: Boys develop a passionate desire for their mother. They see the father as a rival who stands between them and their

mother. They develop aggression towards the father. The boy also fears that the father will castrate him. Eventually, the fear of the castration becomes stronger than the desire for the mother so the desire is repressed. Once it has been resolved, the boy identifies with his father.

Girls: Girls find out they don’t have a penis. The girl has a desire for the possession of a penis so that they can have the power

of a male. They blame their mother for castrating them and depriving them of a penis. They identify with their mothers and substitute the desire for a penis with the desire for a baby.

Evaluation• Supported by the study of Little Hanz which found that a child feared his father and was at the phallic stage therefore he was in the middle of Freud’s gender development process.

• One of the main research methods used to support this explanation are Freudian Case Studies, this is a benefit as these can be used to treat mental illnesses and uncover unconscious desires.

• The supporting study of Little Hanz lacked generalisablity as only one male child was used therefore results aren’t representative of the whole population.

• The theory is contradicted by the learning approaches explanation which suggests that gender is learned through observation and reinforcement.

• The theory is very much based on the unconscious mind, this is a disadvantage as the unconscious mind cannot be measured as it hasn’t been proven to physically exist.

Studies

Little Hans StudyAim:

Freud studied Hans to try and understand the five year old’s phobia of horses and treat it.

Procedure:

A study was a case study with a volunteer sample of one male participant. Freud met with Little Hans twice and the father gave weekly reports of the boy’s progress via mail. From this Freudfound several themes.

Results:

“According to Freud, I hate my dad and I wished he would go away, actually I want him dead.”

“I told dad that I am scared of falling under the bath water. Freud said that I am really jealous of my baby sister Hanna!! According to Freud, I really wish she’d drown in the bath. I must agree that bit is true.”

“I’m scared of white horses, they could bite me. I don’t like the black on the noses and I did see one fall once. Apparently, this is linked with my sexual feelings towards my mother. Plus someone clearly cut off my mother’s widler, so when she says it might happen to me she must mean it! I’m afraid of my dad.

Conclusion:

Illustrates Freud’s ideas about the Oedipus complex. Offers evidence for psychosexual stages.

Evaluation:

• Has ecological validity as it was a Freudian case study in which participants are in a natural setting.

• Results can be applied as it attempts to offer something of an explanation for children's phobias.

• Little Hans was a pseudonym therefore the study has good confidentiality as Hans’ real identity was disguised.

• Freud was friends with the family of Little Hans therefore results could be biased.

• The study used only one male child, the study isn’t representative of the whole population and therefore lacks generalisabilty.

• The research method used was a Freudian case study which can cause order affects as the same participant is used over a long period of time.

Axline’s Study of DipsAim:

To unlock the deep routed problem they thought must be underpinning Dips’ behaviour.

Procedure:

The study was a case study which included various research methods. A sample of 1 participant was used. Axline visited the school and observed Dips in a playroom to observe his playing and behaviour using play therapy. Detailed records of all sessions were kept.

Results:

Dips had violent outbursts. He never wanted to go home. He would lock windows and doors. He buried a doll in the sand and called it father. He hid the soldiers which seemed to represent his father. He wanted his father to go away.

Evaluation:

• The results of this study can be applied into society as it shows that play therapy can be used to uncover unconscious wishes.

• Has ecological validity as Dips was surrounded by toys, therefore in a natural setting.

• The ethics are good as ‘Dips’ was a pseudonym therefore the child’s actually identity remained confidential.

• The study used only one male child in the sample which means that results can’t be generalised to the whole population.

• It was a Freudian case study therefore Dips may have suffered from order effects

• Dips’ behaviour may have changed therefore the test isn’t repeatable.

Key Issue:

Do Dreams Have Meaning?Description:

Dreams are a widely debated area as some people state that they don’t dream, others state that they can’t remember their dreams. Dreams can be measured by rapid eye movements. It has been statistically proven that everyone dreams however, no one yet knows whether they have meaning or not. There are two arguments;

Explanation:

Argument 1:

• Freud stated that dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.

• The function of dreams is to fulfil unconscious wishes therefore the things that take place within dreams is something that the dreamer’s id wants to happen.

• During waking hours, unconscious wishes are kept out of the conscious.

• Urges in the unconscious are too powerful and disturbing so they are transformed in dreams to something more acceptable. ‘Dream work’.

• Dreams have two contents; manifest content – what the dreamer remembers and latent content, what the researcher interprets.

Argument 2:

• Biological psychology theories such as Aviation synthesis theory states that dreams are just an attempt for the brain to make sense of events.

• Evolutionary sleep theory states that sleep is simply a survival strategy.

Evidence of Practice

My StudyAim:

To investigate if there is a relationship between enjoyment of risk activities and type of personality.

Procedure:

An opportunity sample of 20 participants were used (10 male, 10 female). They were given standardised instructions explaining the task. Participants read through the personality questionnaire and circle ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as an answer. They were then asked to complete a questionnaire about risk enjoyment and rate, on a scale of 1-5, how much they like doing activities.

Results:

After carrying out a Spearman’s rank test, we found that the observed value, showed a positive, significant correlation between risk taking activities and extravert personalities.

Conclusion:

The results of the practical accepted our hypothesis.

Evaluation:

• A strength to the study was that it used both male and female participants – generalisable

• Participants were debriefed – good ethics

• Opportunity sample – quick, easy

• Field experiment – lack of control

• College students – not generalisable to population.