Flashcards
Freud's Theory of Aggression
Cards in this deck (49)
- 1When did the psychodynamic approach originate?19th century
- 2Who was the main figure in psychodynamic theory?Sigmund Freud
- 3He was one of the first people to challenge the view that...mental disorders were caused by physical illness - he proposed that psychological factors could cause mental illness and that using medical treatments may not be appropriate
- 4How did Freud compare the mind to an iceberg?'unconcious' that influences our behaviour is the submerged part of the iceberg. Concious mind is the iceberg above the surface
- 5Our () mind is often unaware of what thoughts and emotions occur in the (). However, these () thoughts and feelings can have an effect on our () mind.concious
unconcious
unconcious
concious - 6What is Thanatos?an internal force, our natural instinct (death wish)
- 7What does Thanatos lead to?it's an unconcious drive towards self-destruction and aggression
- 8What happens to Thanatos over time?it builds up creating pressure which we can't control and makes us do something aggressive
- 9What is the concious mind?the small part of mental activity that we know about - thoughts, perceptions
- 10What is the preconcious mind?things we could be aware of if we wanted or tried - memories, stored knowledge
- 11What is the unconcious mind?things we are unaware of and can't become aware of - fears, unacceptable sexual desires, violent motives, irrational wishes, immoral urges, selfish needs, shameful experiences, traumatic experiences
- 12According to psychodynamic theory, the personality is split into how many parts?3
- 13What does personality development depend on?interplay of instinct and environment during the first 5 years of life - parental behaviour affects development and mental problems later in life can usually be traced back to the first five years (ideographic view)
- 14What does an ideographic view assume?each person has a unique psychological structure and that some traits are possessed by only one person; and that there are times when it's impossible to compare one person with others
- 15What are the 3 parts of personality?ID (instincts)
Ego (reality)
Superego (morality) - 16the ID is the () part of the mindprimitive biological
- 17What stage of life is the ID most prevalent in?new born babies and infants (egotistic and egocentric)
- 18What does the ID consist of?basic biological impulses or drives such as hunger, thirst etc.
- 19What do the drives motivate us to do?seek out pleasure and avoid pain
- 20Which part of the mind is thought to be associated with?unconcious
- 21Which part of the personality develops as a child grows?the Ego
- 22What does the Ego aim to do?satisfy the ID's impulses in line with what is realistically possible and what is morally acceptable by considering the environment it is in
- 23At what age does the Ego develop?2 - 2 & a half years
- 24Which part of the personality develops last?the Superego
- 25What does the Superego do?judges whether actions are right or wrong. It's an internalised representation of the moral conscience.
- 26What does violating the Superego's standards cause?anxiety - largely unconscious but may be experienced as guilt
- 27Which 2 parts of the personality are often at odds about what is morally right?ID and Superego
- 28What is the Ego's job?a strong Ego will mediate between the 2 and choose a course of action that satisfies both the ID and the Superego
- 29What is the key to maintaining a healthy personality, according to Freud?maintaining a balance between all 3 parts of the personality
- 30Everyone has the instinct towards self-destruction and we protect ourselves by using...ego defence mechanisms
- 31What are ego defence mechanisms?these redirect our aggression outwardly so we harm others and not ourselves or direct our energy elsewhere (protects the conscious mind against unpleasant experiences)
- 32What are the 2 types of defence mechanism that Freud identified?Displacement
Sublimation - 33What is Displacement?transferring undesirable impulses from one person to an object or another person (not the actual target of your anger)
- 34What is Sublimation?Channeling our aggression into other acceptable behaviour eg. competitive sport
- 35Freud argued that by releasing our pent up emotions in an acceptable way, we could achieve...catharsis
- 36What is Aggressive Catharsis?the phenomenon by which aggressive feelings, motives and impulses are supposedly drained off and vented through violent actions
- 37What is the thought behind this theory?feelings build up and create pressure if not vented. Releasing emotions decreases the pressure or tension in the person so they have fewer negative emotions and are less aggressive
- 38How does the psychodynamic approach relate to the biological approach?there's a theory that the limbic system (emotions) and the pre-frontal cortex (decision-making) is the analytical part of the conscious mind. Also in neuropsychoanalysis, the unconscious mind is thought to be in the brain stem, pons and cerebellum
- 39What are some strengths of Freud's ideas and theories?Provided solutions to mental health that were unavailable at the time eg. hysteria.
Some studies do show that aggression is repressed in the unconscious.
Theory built on in-depth case studies (ideographic).
Helps us to understand causes of aggression. - 40Who was it that interviewed and personality tested criminals who had committed brutally aggressive crimes?Megargee and Mendelsohn (1962)
- 41What did they find?the criminals were 'over-controlled'. They repressed their anger until it built up to such an extent it just exploded over something trivial. (supports Thanatos idea)
- 42Who was it who argued that the emphasis on kicking makes football an excellent activity for sublimation of Thanatos?Richards (1994)
- 43What year was Bushman?1999
- 44What did they show?that subjects who hit a punching bag did report pleasure from the activity, but they proceeded to to aggress towards the confederate even more than those who didn't do the catharsis activity. (refutes idea that catharsis suppresses aggression)
- 45Who was it who found that violence seems to bring on violence rather than decrease it?Campbell (1993)
- 46What has been found about couples that argue the most?they are the most likely to become violent. Husbands who push their wives are those most likely to move onto slapping and punching. (refutes idea that catharsis suppresses aggression)
- 47What had Freud been widely criticised for?being unscientific and subjective
- 48The theory is un-falsifiable, what does this mean?it can't be proven right or wrong - not scientific
- 49What type of evidence has Freud based a lot of his theory on?his own case studies
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- Freud, aggression, conscious, preconscious, unconscious, ID, Ego, Superego, defense mechanisms, catharsis
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- Ella Middlemiss
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