AQA Psychology A Level - Paper 2 - Approaches. A description of the Psychodynamic approach.

1. Sigmund Freud

2. Sigmund Freud
 Born in 1856
 Spent his life working in Vienna but left in
1938 after the Nazi takeover
 Died in 1939 in London
 Originally trained as a doctor – was
influenced by Joseph Breuer who was using
hypnosis to treat ‘hysterical reactions’ in
female patients
2

3. Freud’s consulting room

4. Psychodynamic Approach
The key
assumption of the
psychodynamic
approach is that all
human behaviour
can be explained in
terms of inner
conflict of the mind.

5. The Mind
The conscious. The
small amount of mental
activity we know about.
The preconscious.
Things we could be
aware of if we wanted
or tried.
The unconscious.
Things we are unaware
of and can not become
aware of.
Thoughts
Perceptions
Memories
Stored knowledge
Fears
Unacceptable desires
Violent motives
Irrational wishes
Immoral urges
Selfish needs
Shameful experiences
Traumatic experiences
Bad
Worse
Really Bad

6. Freud (1856-1939)
Theory of Personality
ID = Latin for ‘it’

7. The Mind
Id:
Instincts
Superego:
Morality
Ego:
Reality

8. The Mind
 This diagram is
often used to
represent Freud’s
view of the mind
and personality.

9.  According to Freud,
the id is the
personality construct
that we are born
with.
 Its energy is called
the “libido”.
 It operates on the
pleasure principle.
 What does this
mean?
 How will the id inform
behaviour?
The Id Need food...
need drink...
need comfort...
need burping...
need sleep...
need it NOW!

10.  The superego is the 'ideal'
force, the civilised, socially
acceptable figure the
person strives to be.
 It includes our
understanding of right and
wrong.
 It opposes the id and is
essentially an
internalisation of rules
passed down from our
parents.
The Superego

11.  The ego is the reality
principle.
 It must balance the
drives of the id and the
control of the
superego.
The ego

12.  The strength of each
individual force is a
factor in personality –
 If a person's superego
is too strong, they are
seen as rigid, anxious
or self righteous.
 If a person's id is too
strong, they are seen
as delinquent,
antisocial or self
centred.
A balancing act

13. Personality Development
 Freud believed that the id, ego and
super ego were separate and conflicting
forces,
 They need to be balanced for good
mental health and normal behaviour

14. EGO
ID SUPEREGO

15. There is one cake left on the
table.
 ID – want the cake, needs to take the cake,
isn't concerned about others.
 SUPEREGO – I mustn’t have the cake, I
should leave it for someone else, I will let
someone else have it, don’t be greedy.
 EGO – I will wait for a few minutes, see if
anyone else has it, I am rather hungry, if it is
still there in 5 minutes then I’ll take it.

16. Development of the ID, EGO and
SUPEREGO
 At birth, personality is ruled by ID (pleasure
principle)
 Early childhood, EGO starts to develop
(reality principle)
 Later childhood, the SUPER EGO emerges
(Morality principle)

17. Healthy Psyche
Id Superego
Ego
OK Guys – I’m in charge.
Anything you want has to go
through me.
OK.
OK.

18. Neurotic Psyche
Id
Superego
Ego
Listen up! I’m in charge, and you are not
here to enjoy yourselves. Get ready for a
double-size portion of anxiety with a side
order of guilt!
No fun.
>whimper<

19. Psychotic Psyche
Id
SuperegoEgo
Sex! Food! Drink! Drugs!
NOW!
Who
turned out
the lights?

20. Link to abnormality
 Ego too weak – allows id and superego to
dominate,
 Id too strong – selfish, out of control, could
become psychopathic- destructive
tendencies & uninhibited sexual behaviour
 Superego too strong – strict, anxious,
obsessive – depression, anxiety, OCD

21. What happens if there is a conflict
between the id, ego & superego?
 ANXIETY
 The ego tries to avoid anxiety & uses ego
defence mechanisms to maintain a
balance in relation to the id & superego
21

22. Proof of the unconscious?
 ‘Freudian slips’
 “A Freudian slip is saying
one thing and meaning
your mother”
 http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=Mvxe04wGmTw&f
eature=related

23. Ego Defence Mechanisms
 The constant conflict of between Id, Ego
and Superego produces anxiety. To
manage this anxiety, the ego has defence
mechanisms;
1. Denial
2. Projection
3. Displacement
4. Repression

24.  Displacement: you redirect your feelings to
another target
It’s not my fault my marriage
is over. It’s the newspapers’.
And those women for selling
their stories… And Cheryl’s
for not being there enough…
And my mum’s for not
breastfeeding me. I hate
them all!

25. Other Defence Mechanisms
 Regression – regressing back to earlier
childhood behaviour
– e.g. a child anxious mother will reject him once
new baby bro/sis arrives can revert to tantrums,
bed wetting, soiling etc
 Reaction Formation – hiding real feelings by
acting in the opposite way
– e.g. talking loudly when nervous

26. ‘m Regression: You revert to an old, usually
immature, behaviour
I’m going home to me Mam,
so she can cook me beans on
toast, and stroke me hair
and tell me that everything
is going to be alright.

27.  Rationalisation: You try to justify
uncomfortable thoughts or feelings with
socially acceptable motives
I don’t hate women… I
love them… that’s why I
can’t keep it in my
pants!

28. Defence Mechanisms
can lead to Mental Disorder
 unacceptable desires and impulses, traumatic
events, etc ‘managed’ by defence mechanisms
can;
– re-emerge as symptoms of anxiety or other emotional
disorders.
– Still affect behaviour, leading to distress as person
doesn’t understand why they’re behaving as they are
– Be triggered by similar life event, leading them to re-
experience original event leading to depression.

29. 33
Psychodynamic Approach
Main Assumption
 The Psychodynamic Model assumes that
experiences in our earlier years can affect our
emotions, attitudes and behaviour in later years
without us being aware that it is happening. Freud
suggested that abnormal behaviour is caused by
unresolved conflicts in the Unconscious. These
conflicts create anxiety, and we use defence
mechanisms such as repression and denial to
protect our Ego against this anxiety.

30. Freud’s psychosexual
development theory
 Another key element in Freud’s psychoanalytic
theory of normal/abnormal behaviour
 A child goes through a series of stages & the id
looks for gratification in different bodily areas
(erogenous zones)
 If a child is deprived or over-gratified at a particular
stage they may become fixated which will affect
their adult behaviour
34

31. Psychosexual Development
1. Oral
2. Anal
3. Phallic
4. Latency
5. Genital
• ‘Old Age Pensioners Love Guinness’

32. The FIVE psychosexual stages
 The Oral (Birth - 1 year)
 The Anal (1 - 3 years)
 The Phallic (3 - 5/6 years)
 The Latency (6 - puberty)
 The Genital (adulthood)

33. Stage 1 - the ORAL stage
 Mouth (sucking) is the source of pleasure
 The ID is in control
 Successful completion of this stage is
demonstrated by weaning – eating
independently

34. In the ORAL stage …….
 Fixation caused by
 Oral receptive (not allowed to suck
freely) – passive, needy, sensitive to
rejection – overeats and drinks, bite
nails, may smoke
 Oral aggressive (allowed to suck too
often/too long) – hostile and verbally
abusive, sarcastic

35. Stage 2 - the ANAL Stage
 Elimination of faeces is the source
of pleasure
 18 months to 3 years
 Defecation is main source of
pleasure
 Successful completion marked by
potty training

36. In the ANAL stage ….
 Fixation (a) Anal expulsive:
symptoms: giving to charity, potters, gardeners,
(sublimating the wish to smear), disorganised.
 Fixation (b) Anal retentive
symptoms: miserly, thrifty, orderly, obstinate, tidy,
stubborn, obsessive.

37. Stage 3 : The PHALLIC stage
 The Superego develops
 The Oedipus conflict (boys)
 The Electra conflict (girls)

38. The latency stage
 Age 6 to puberty approximately
 Sexual urges sublimated into sports and
other hobbies
 Focus on developing same sex friendships
 No particular requirements for successful
completion
 Lull before the storm of puberty!

39. The genital stage
 Puberty into adulthood
 Focus on genitals but not to
same extent as phallic stage
 Task is to develop healthy
adult relationships
 This should happen if earlier
stages have been negotiated
successfully

40. Little Hans
 Freud believed that the case
study of Little Hans supported
his theory of psychosexual
stages and the Oedipus complex
in particular
 http://goanimate.com/movie/0Ott
U_subTrM/1

41. Your task :
 Using your text book write three evaluation
points of the psychodynamic approach to
abnormal behaviour
45

42. Strengths
 One strength of the Psychodynamic Model is that
it reminds us that experiences in childhood can
affect us throughout our lives.
 It accepts that everybody can suffer mental
conflicts and neuroses through no fault of their
own.
 The model also suggests there is no need for
medical intervention such as drugs, ECT or
psychotherapy, and that the patient, with the help
of a psychoanalyst, can find a cure which
empowers the individual & discourages
helplessness)

43.  Practical applications: huge
impact on the world of
counselling, psychotherapy and
psychiatry.
 Face validity.
 It treats the whole person, the
cause, not just the symptoms.
 Recognises the importance of
childhood.
Strengths of the Psychodynamic
Perspective

44. Weaknesses
 The main limitation of the Psychodynamic Model is that it cannot be
scientifically observed or tested. Abstract concepts.
 Any evidence recovered from a patient must be analysed and
interpreted by a therapist. This leaves open the possibility of serious
misinterpretation or bias because two therapists may interpret the
same evidence in entirely different ways.
 Psychoanalysis is time-consuming and expensive. It may not even
work: in a comprehensive view of 7000 cases, Eysenck (1952) claimed
that psychodynamic therapy does more harm than good.
 Sexist – unbalanced, Electra Complex for example not thorough /
vague in detail. Reflective of Cultural bias of the time Freud worked
(women were not considered as equal to men)

45.  The case study method is
unrepresentative and therefore
there are concerns about
generalisability
 Criticised for too much emphasis
on SEX.
Weaknesses of the Psychodynamic
Perspective