Summary
Summary - Psychodynamic Approach
- Module
- Approaches
- Institution
- AQA
Details AO1 point for psychodynamic approach with evaluation points
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A Level Paper 2 – Approaches in PsychologyTopic 5: The Psychodynamic Approach
Specification Requirements
For this section you need to be able to:
● Describe the key principles of the approach, including the role of the unconscious, the
structure of personality (id, ego and superego), defence mechanisms (repression, denial,
displacement), and psychosexual stages.
● Evaluate the approach.
Key Words
Unconscious – a part of the mind that we are unaware of, but which still influences our behaviour
Id – our selfish instincts, that demand instant gratification
Ego – the part of our personality that balances our instincts and morals
Superego – the moral part of our personality
Defence mechanism – an unconscious strategy that the ego uses to balance conflicts between the id
and the superego
Psychosexual stages – according to Freud, five developmental stages that all children pass through
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, Basic assumptions of the psychodynamic approach
• Behaviour is largely determined by unconscious motives and desires
• Unconscious internal conflicts within the personality are significant in our behaviour
• Childhood experience has a deep and lasting effect on us that is significant throughout our
lives
• The approach originated in the work of Sigmund Freud (1856-1938) and was developed
further by his daughter Anna, and later theorists like Carl Jung.
The role of the unconscious
• The unconscious mind is inaccessible to conscious
thought and contains material which is too
distressing for the conscious
• The preconscious mind contains material that can
be brought to consciousness when required
• The conscious mind contains everything of which
we are currently aware
• The unconscious mind has a huge effect on our
thinking and behaviour, but we can only become
aware of its contents through techniques like dream
analysis, hypnosis and free association
• Defence mechanisms keep distressing memories
and feelings in our unconscious
The structure of personality
Freud described personality as tripartite – made up of three parts
ID develops from birth, comprises innate selfish drives and instincts and operates
on the ‘pleasure principle’
EGO develops around the age of 2, mediates between the demands of the id and the
demands of the outside world (and later, the demands of the superego) and
operates on the ‘reality principle’
SUPEREGO develops around the age of 5 or 6, is made up of conscience (societal
standards) and ego-ideal (model of ideal behaviour, usually based on parental
standards), and operates on the ‘morality principle’
Describe what the Id, Ego and Superego suggest you do in the following situations. The first one
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