1. Psychological Models of Abnormality Psychodynamic » Psychodynamic » Behavioural » Cognitive

2. Freud’s Psychodynamic Model Focus on what MOTIVATES behaviour Freud (1915)Freud (1915) saw the mind as divided into three components  Two unconscious: The “id”The “id” – Primitive & pleasure-seeking “The “superego”“The “superego” – Responsible & conscientious  One small conscious part: The “ego”The “ego” – Rational; deals with reality DYNAMIC refers to the interaction between them

3. Freud: Structure of Personality

4. Ego Defence Mechanisms  These protect the ego from emotional distress  They lead to various neuroses (= abnormal states) Repression of traumatic memories - available in the unconscious mind but not accessible Projection of own undesirable characteristics onto other people Displacement of fear of (or aggression towards) one object/person onto another Reaction Formation – exaggerated aversion towards the object of an unacceptable desire

5. Psychosexual stages of development Refers to the stages children go through when selecting objects for their libidinal energy - i.e. sources of pleasure 1. Oral stage (up to 2 years)  Pleasure is derived from sucking and breastfeeding 2. Anal stage (2-3 years)  Pleasure is derived from pooing and controlling this 3. Phallic stage (4-5 years)  Manipulation of genitals is a source of pleasure 4. Latency stage (6-12 years)  Oedipus Complex is passed through and repressed 5. Genital stage (13+ years)  Sexually mature stage is reached after resolution of the Oedipus Complex

6. Abnormal Development Freud’s explanation:Freud’s explanation: Unresolved conflicts from childhood are a major cause of abnormality in adulthood Difficulties at any stage in a child’s development can lead to fixation at that stage Conflict - e.g., being made to feel guilty for pooing, or for feeling desire, or being weaned too early Excessive gratification - e.g. parents not being strict enough about potty training, weaning, etc.

7. Evidence for Freud’s theory Displaced aggression – Marcus-Newhall et al. (2000) = meta-analysis of 82 studies of aggressive behaviour directed at someone not responsible for the provocation Moderately strong, replicable finding  Only a short-term scenario (unlike Freud) Caspi et al. (1996) – early childhood personality predicts mental health problems in adulthood, e.g.,  Inhibited  Inhibited (shy, fearful, easily upset) at 3 years  More likely to be diagnosed with depression at 21 years  Undercontrolled  Undercontrolled (impulsive, restless, distractable) at 3 yrs  More likely to have APD, or be involved in crime, at 21 yrs

8. Evidence for Freud’s theory contd… Repression – evidence of repressed memories emerges through psychoanalytic therapy sessions (e.g., free association, hypnosis) WWhy is this evidence not truly ‘scientific’? Levinger & Clark (1961) = experimental evidence PParticipants took longer to recall words in a cued memory task when recalling negative emotionally charged words than recalling neutral words Early childhood trauma – effect on later mental health, interpersonal relationships, criminality, etc. AAll research you covered on deprivation/separation!

9. Criticisms of Freud’s theory 1) Possibly excessive interest in past experiences rather than current problems? 2) Do internal sexual conflicts cause abnormality, or does abnormality cause sexual & relationship problems? 3) Evidence is weak - Clinical interviews are subjective and open to researcher bias and participant reactivity 4) Concepts are vague and hard to measure (e.g., fixation) 5) Ignores genetic causes of individual differences 6) Sexist – gender differences blamed on biology/anatomy 7) Ethical problem of blaming faulty parenting (guilt) 8) Possible wrong accusations of child abuse in the case of False memory Syndrome (Loftus, 1997)