How does the psychodynamic approach explain behaviour through the unconscious, the tripartite personality and psychosexual development?
The psychodynamic approach: assumptions (unconscious mind, tripartite personality, psychosexual stages, defence mechanisms), the named therapy (psychoanalysis/dream analysis), application to behaviour, and evaluation. A2 content.
An Eduqas A-Level Psychology answer to the psychodynamic approach in Component 1. Covers the assumptions (the unconscious, the id-ego-superego, psychosexual stages and defence mechanisms), psychoanalysis as the named treatment, applications to behaviour, and a balanced evaluation for the Past to Present paper.
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What this dot point is asking
The psychodynamic approach is the third of the five approaches in Component 1, and it is A2 content (added in the second year). You must know its assumptions, its named therapy (psychoanalysis), how it applies to behaviour, and how to evaluate it.
The answer
Assumptions
The named therapy: psychoanalysis
Application to behaviour
The approach explains behaviour through unconscious conflict and childhood. Phobias can be a displacement of unconscious anxiety onto a safer object (as in Little Hans). Personality types are linked to fixation (an "anal-retentive" obsession with order from anal-stage fixation). Aggression can be explained by the death instinct (Thanatos) and by displacement. The approach contributes psychodynamic explanations to Component 3 behaviours.
Evaluation
- Influential. First to stress childhood and the unconscious; shaped modern psychotherapy.
- Explanatory power. Can explain behaviour with no conscious cause (for example anxiety, slips of the tongue).
- Unscientific. The unconscious cannot be observed or measured, so the theory is unfalsifiable and cannot be tested or refuted.
- Subjective evidence. Relies on case studies (for example Little Hans) that are subjective and not generalisable.
- Deterministic. Sees adult behaviour as fixed by early childhood, leaving little room for free will.
Examples in context
Example 1. Why psychoanalysis follows from the assumptions. Because the approach assumes that repressed unconscious material causes distress, the therapy works by making the unconscious conscious through free association and dream analysis. Psychoanalysis is a direct application of the unconscious assumption, which is why Eduqas pairs each approach with a matching therapy.
Example 2. The contrast with the biological approach. The biological approach explains a phobia as inherited vulnerability and neurochemistry and treats it with drugs; the psychodynamic approach explains the same phobia as displaced unconscious conflict and treats it with psychoanalysis. Comparing them shows the gap between an observable, scientific account and an unobservable, unfalsifiable one.
Try this
Q1. Name the three parts of the personality and their guiding principles. [3 marks]
- Cue. The id (pleasure principle), the ego (reality principle) and the superego (morality principle).
Q2. Explain one technique used in psychoanalysis. [2 marks]
- Cue. Free association (the client says whatever comes to mind so unconscious thoughts surface) or dream analysis (interpreting the symbolic content of dreams to access the unconscious).
Q3. State one reason the psychodynamic approach is criticised as unscientific. [2 marks]
- Cue. The unconscious cannot be directly observed or measured, so the theory is unfalsifiable and its claims cannot be tested or refuted.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC Eduqas exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Eduqas 20198 marksDescribe the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach. [8 marks]Show worked answer →
A description item (AO1). Eduqas rewards each assumption named and explained.
The psychodynamic approach assumes the unconscious drives behaviour. Four assumptions:
(1) The unconscious mind: most of the mind is unconscious, holding repressed memories and desires that drive behaviour without our awareness (the iceberg metaphor: the conscious is only the tip).
(2) The tripartite personality: the personality has three parts - the id (the pleasure principle, present at birth, demanding gratification), the ego (the reality principle, balancing demands) and the superego (the morality principle, the conscience formed around age 5).
(3) Psychosexual stages: development passes through the oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital stages; fixation at a stage (through over- or under-gratification) shapes adult personality.
(4) Defence mechanisms: the ego protects itself from anxiety using unconscious strategies such as repression, denial and displacement.
Markers reward each assumption named, explained and ideally illustrated.
Eduqas 202212 marksEvaluate the psychodynamic approach in psychology. [12 marks]Show worked answer →
A balanced evaluation (AO3) reaching a judgement.
Strengths: it was the first approach to stress the importance of childhood and the unconscious, and it remains influential; psychoanalysis and the talking cure shaped modern psychotherapy; and it can explain behaviour that other approaches struggle with (for example anxiety with no conscious cause).
Weaknesses: it is unscientific and unfalsifiable, because the unconscious cannot be directly observed or measured, so its claims cannot be tested or refuted; the evidence is largely case studies (for example Little Hans) which are subjective and not generalisable; and it is deterministic, seeing adult behaviour as fixed by early childhood, leaving little room for free will.
A strong answer concludes that the approach was hugely influential and offers rich explanations but lacks scientific rigour and testability. Markers reward developed points with a judgement.
Related dot points
- The biological approach: assumptions (genes, brain structure and localisation, neurochemistry, evolution), the named therapy (drug therapy/chemotherapy), application to behaviour, and evaluation. AS content.
An Eduqas A-Level Psychology answer to the biological approach in Component 1. Covers the four assumptions (genes, brain structure and localisation, neurochemistry and evolution), drug therapy as the named treatment, applications to behaviour, and a balanced evaluation for the Past to Present paper.
- The behaviourist approach: assumptions (blank slate, classical conditioning, operant conditioning), the named therapy (aversion therapy/systematic desensitisation), application to behaviour, and evaluation. AS content.
An Eduqas A-Level Psychology answer to the behaviourist approach in Component 1. Covers the assumptions (blank slate, classical conditioning via Pavlov, operant conditioning via Skinner), aversion therapy as the named treatment, applications to behaviour, and a balanced evaluation for the Past to Present paper.
- The cognitive approach: assumptions (information processing/computer analogy, internal mental processes, schemas), the named therapy (cognitive behavioural therapy), application to behaviour, and evaluation. AS content.
An Eduqas A-Level Psychology answer to the cognitive approach in Component 1. Covers the assumptions (the computer analogy, internal mental processes and schemas), cognitive behavioural therapy as the named treatment, applications to behaviour, and a balanced evaluation for the Past to Present paper.
- The positive approach: assumptions (free will and the good life, focus on the positive, the three pillars, signature strengths and the role of flow), the named applications (mindfulness, building signature strengths), and evaluation. A2 content.
An Eduqas A-Level Psychology answer to the positive approach in Component 1. Covers the assumptions (free will, the good life, the three pillars and signature strengths), mindfulness and strengths-based interventions as the named applications, and a balanced evaluation for the Past to Present paper.
- Classic research for the psychodynamic approach: Freud (1909), Analysis of a phobia in a five-year-old boy (Little Hans). Aim, method, results, conclusions and evaluation.
An Eduqas A-Level Psychology answer to the classic psychodynamic research, Freud's (1909) case study of Little Hans. Covers the aim, the case-study method via the boy's father, the horse phobia, the Oedipal interpretation, the conclusions about psychosexual development, and a balanced evaluation.
Sources & how we know this
- Eduqas GCE A Level in Psychology (A290) specification — Eduqas (2015)