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level: Psychodynamic perspective

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level questions: Psychodynamic perspective

QuestionAnswer
Psychodynamic perspective- Developed by Freud to explain disorders
Preconscious- e.g memories - Things in our mind we can access freely but don't currently think of
Unconscious mind- Cant be seen directly - Comes out through processes e.g therapy - Sometimes unconscious thoughts slip through when we talk (Freudian slips)
Freudian slips- When unconscious thoughts slip through when we talk
Unconscious drives- Eros - life instinct - Thanatos - death instinct
Life Instincts (eros)- Drive for survival by satisfying the needs for food, water, air, sex
Death instinct (Thanatos)- The unconscious drive toward decay, destruction and aggression towards others or self
Libido- Psychic energy associated with sexual urges
Cathexis- An investment of psychic energy in an object or person
Catharsis- Releasing strong or repressed emotions, providing relief
Aggressive Drive- Urge to destroy, conquer and kill
Freud’s ‘Iceberg’ - Hydraulic model- Analogy of the conscious, unconscious and preconscious
Freud's 3 elements of personality – tripartite personality- ID - Ego - Super Ego
ID- Present at birth - Unconscious instincts - Tries to get immediate gratification - Tries to avoid pain - Pleasure principle
Ego- Tries to satisfy the desires in an acceptable way negotiates desires of Id with rules of Super Ego - Reality principle
Super Ego- Values and morals of the person - Conscious - Develops at around 5 - Causes guilt if rules broken - Morality principle
Defensive mechanisms- Ego forms that protect against Id
Different defensive mechanisms- Repression - Displacement - Projection - Denial - Rationalization - Reaction Formation - Sublimation - Ego anxiety - Regression
Repression- Ego blocks painful/disturbing memories from conscious
Displacement- Directing feelings from one object to another e.g hit pillow not person
Projection- Taking aspects of your personality and believing others have these aspects
Denial- Refusal to accept a painful event, thought or feeling as if it didnt exist
Rationalization- Reinterpreting our behaviour to make it more acceptable + less threatening to us
Reaction Formation- Expressing an id impulse that is the opposite of the true drive of the person
Sublimation- Channelling negative + unacceptable impulses into positive + socially acceptable behaviours
Ego anxiety- When our ego cannot resolve conflict between super ego and id - Inability to resolve leads to mental health problems
Regression- Returning to childhood, childlike state
Freud's psychosexual stages of development- Oral stage - Anal stage - Phallic stage - The latency stage - The genital stage
Oral stage- Children may suck thumbs or put things in their mouth because they enjoy it
Anal stage- Children enjoy holding in, and then expelling faeces
Penis Envy- Females envy males because male possesses a penis, sense of loss
Phallic stage- Children become aware of their genitals and sexual differences - 3-5 y/o - Oedipus + Electra complex
How do boys and girls resolve the conflicts in the phallic stage?- Boys develops strong identification with the father - Cannot be totally resolved in girls, leads to poorly developed superegos in women
The latency stage- After destruction of Oedipus complex - Child's energies are diverted from sexual use + directed to other things i.e. sports
The genital stage- During puberty, sexual instinct becomes more intense - Child’s sexual urges are diverted away from their parents on to other people, or other people who resemble them
Oedipus complex- Boys want to marry mum, kill dad
Electra complex- Girls want to marry dad, kill mum
Psychodynamic perspective strengths- Explains mental disorders, how their treated - Highlights importance of the unconscious mind as an influence on our feelings + behaviour - Abnormal behaviour could be caused by psychological factors - Freud’s ideas used in modern forms of counselling
Psychodynamic perspective weaknesses- Unscientific, theories cannot be verified nor falsified - Case study - based on 1 person, bias, reduces validity