I am providing an in-depth summary of the 1911 study by Sigmund Freud into 'Little Hans' and the oedipus complex. Notes include stages of the oedipus and electra complex, the stages, reasoning and conclusions of the 'Little hans' study and much more you will need to help you master Freud's study.
Background:
- Freud trained as a doctor and was working as a neurologist
- He believed in ‘hysterical illnesses’ conditions with real symptoms, but seemingly no
physical cause
Aim:
- To report the findings of the treatment of a five year old boy for his phobia of horses
- However, an implicit hypothesis was to illustrate his own theory of psychosexual
development, which had been formulated 4 years earlier
Sample:
- Subject referred to as ‘Little Hans’ – who was described by his parents as ‘a cheerful
straightforward child’
Method:
- Longitudinal study
- Data collected using indirect observation (parents writing to Freud about Little
Hans), therefore this is secondary data
- Hans’ father would sometimes come up with explanations for Hans’ behaviour
- He would sometimes ask questions such as ‘when the horse fell down did you think
of daddy?’, this can be considered as a leading question
Strength Weaknesses
- Extremely useful in describing
atypical, rare behaviour. It helps the
participant to resolve their
difficulties by exploring their past
experiences to build up a picture of
all the reasons why their difficulties
arose
The psychodynamic perspective suggests that phobias are the result of an unpleasant
experience but not necessarily directly linked to the other object of the phobia. This may
relate to the psychosexual stage at which the unpleasant experience occurs, and is likely to
be the product of defence mechanism.
Example: Imagine that as a toddler, whilst your parents were out, a babysitter accidentally
spilled some hot tea on you, scolding your skin. You cannot remember this, but then a friend
of the family asks you to babysit for their child, and you feel extremely anxious about it.
, The ego steps in to deal with the trauma experienced by:
1. Projection of the feelings about the event onto something more acceptable (e.g. a phobia
developing)
2. Repression of the memory of the event which may lead to anxiety disorders (e.g. OCD)
Started with father leaving, overhearing man with white horse, developing fear of white
horse. Father concerned about fear goes to Freud.
Hans timeline
Events that occurred before the start of Freud’s study
- Whilst walking with his mother Hans saw a bus horse fall and kick about on the floor.
He thought it was dead.
- When his father was leaving, Hans overheard a man say to his child not to ‘put your
finger to the white horse or it will bite you’.
- Hans witnessed the birth of Hanna when he was 3 ½ and saw blood in a bowl.
- 7 days after Hanna was born, he watched his mother give her a bath. He noticed that
“her widdler was quite small”.
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