Psychodynamic Approach | Sigmund Freud | AQA Psychology

Summary

In this video, psychology teacher Tom explores Sigmund Freud's psychodynamic approach, emphasizing the unconscious mind's role in shaping behavior. Key concepts include the id, ego, and superego personality structure, psychosexual stages of development, and defense mechanisms like repression and denial. Freud's theories, though controversial, highlight how childhood experiences significantly influence adult behavior.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Sigmund Freud's psychodynamic approach suggests that human behavior is largely influenced by the unconscious mind, which contains repressed memories and instincts.
• 💭 The mind, according to Freud, is structured into the conscious, pre-conscious, and unconscious, with the unconscious being the most significant in shaping our behavior.
• 🤔 Freud introduced the concept of 'psychic energy' or 'libido', which is the driving force behind our desires and actions, and is often repressed into the unconscious.
• 🛌 Freud's case study of 'Anna O' highlighted the significance of childhood memories and their impact on adult behavior, which can manifest as physical symptoms.
• 🌊 The 'iceberg' analogy is used by Freud to describe the mind, where the conscious is just the tip, the pre-conscious is partially hidden, and the unconscious is the largest, unseen portion.
• 👶 Freud's psychosexual stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital) propose that unresolved conflicts at each stage can lead to fixations that affect adult behavior.
• 🔄 The Oedipus and Electra complexes are central to Freud's theory, suggesting that children develop sexual desires for the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent.
• 🤝 The tripartite structure of personality (id, ego, and superego) is in constant conflict, with the ego mediating between the pleasure-seeking id and the moral superego.
• 🛡 Defense mechanisms like repression, denial, and displacement are unconscious strategies used to protect the conscious mind from anxiety and conflict.
• 🔍 Freud's theories, while controversial, have been instrumental in shaping modern psychology and our understanding of the impact of childhood experiences on adult personality.

Q & A

How did Sigmund Freud use the image of an iceberg to describe the mind?

Freud compared the mind to an iceberg, where the conscious mind is the tip above water, representing what we are aware of. The pre-conscious is just below the surface, containing thoughts that may become conscious, like through dreams or slips of the tongue. The largest part, the unconscious, is beneath the surface and contains our biological instincts, drives, and repressed memories, which significantly influence our behavior.

What are the two roles of the unconscious mentioned in the script?

The two roles of the unconscious are: 1) It acts as a driving and motivating force behind our behavior and personality, containing our biological instincts and drives. 2) It protects the conscious self from anxiety, fear, trauma, and conflict by storing painful or distressing memories or ideas that are too much for the conscious mind to handle.

Name each part of Freud's structure of personality and the principle associated with each.

The three parts of Freud's structure of personality are the Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id operates on the Pleasure Principle, seeking immediate gratification of desires. The Ego operates on the Reality Principle, mediating between the Id and Superego to manage their conflicts. The Superego operates on the Morality Principle, representing our internalized morals, ideals, and standards.

If someone had a dominant Id and a weak Superego, what behaviors might they display?

A person with a dominant Id and a weak Superego might display impulsive behavior, lack self-control, and potentially engage in criminal behavior due to their strong drive for immediate satisfaction without the moral constraints that a strong Superego would provide.

Name all the psychosexual stages of development in order.

The psychosexual stages of development in order are: 1) Oral Stage (0-1 years), 2) Anal Stage (2-3 years), 3) Phallic Stage (3-5 years), 4) Latency Stage (6-12 years), and 5) Genital Stage (from puberty into adulthood).

If a child was fixated at the Oral stage, how might this show itself in their adult behavior?

An adult fixated at the Oral stage might exhibit behaviors such as thumb-sucking, smoking, excessive drinking, or overeating as a way to gain oral stimulation, reflecting unresolved dependency and pleasure-seeking from the mouth area.

What conflict do boys and girls go through during the Phallic stage?

Boys go through the Oedipus complex, where they see their same-sex parent as a rival for the affection of their opposite-sex parent, leading to castration anxiety. Girls go through the Electra complex, where they develop penis envy and see their mother as a rival for their father's affection. These conflicts involve the child's sexual desires for the opposite-sex parent and competition with the same-sex parent.

What two key processes happen during the successful resolution of the Oedipus and Electra complexes?

The two key processes during the successful resolution of the Oedipus and Electra complexes are identification and internalization. The child identifies with their same-sex parent and internalizes their moral standards, values, and characteristics, leading to the development of the Superego and resolution of the conflict.

Define what is meant by defense mechanisms.

Defense mechanisms are unconscious strategies used by the ego to manage and reduce anxiety and conflict arising from the struggle between the id's desires and the superego's moral standards. They involve the distortion of reality as a means of coping and can include repression, denial, displacement, and others.

Identify which defense mechanism is being used in each of the following scenarios: a) A child refuses to believe their parents are getting a divorce. b) A person who has been fired from a job starts criticizing the company's practices.

a) The defense mechanism used by the child is denial, as they refuse to accept the reality of their parents' divorce. b) The person who has been fired is using displacement, redirecting their feelings of anger and disappointment onto criticizing the company.