Compare and contrast 2 approaches to psychology

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Lisa Jenkins                                                     Approaches essay                                              Page

Compare and contrast two approaches to psychology

A psychological approach is a basic set of assumptions and beliefs about an organism, and a way of explaining how it operates/functions, with evidence to support this. Different psychologists have different ideas about what makes us, us and there are 5 major approaches in psychology. I have chosen to compare and contrast the Psychodynamic and Behavioural approaches.

The Psychodynamic approach claims there are psychological forces [psycho] that drive us forward [dynamics]. It studies the interrelationship of the different parts of the mind, personality or psyche and how they relate to mental, motivational and emotional drives, particularly at a subconscious level. This approach believes most of our behaviour is determined by unconscious thoughts, desires and memories and tries to interpret our behaviour in relation to those innate emotional processes.

The seed of Psychodynamics was sewn by Ernst von Brucke in 1874; adopted by Freud and later adapted by Jung, Adler and Erikson

One of the main focuses in psychodynamics was the link between the emotions and conflict in the id [which holds the raw animal drives; was inaccessible to conscious thought, selfish and demanded instant gratification] the ego [the logical part that controlled the drives of the id and allowed its desires to be expressed in a socially acceptable way] and the superego [where our ‘highest’ ideals and outside expectations were internalised; the source of our morals] Freud likened the structure of personality to an iceberg. Only the tip [10%] the ego part, is in our conscious grasp. The other 90% lies under the surface in the preconscious and unconscious. He felt that these 3 constantly battled with one another, to maintain a balance and that the outcomes of these conflicts moulded our personality.

He also believed our psyche resided in 3 levels of consciousness. The conscious, which held our thoughts that we were aware of. The pre-conscious that held unconscious thoughts which could become conscious and the unconscious which harboured wishes and desires that we were unaware of.

Freuds’ main theory was that the main motivating force behind human behaviour is an unconscious drive for sexuality and that we held two other forces. Eros [life force] the desire to live and procreate, and Thanatos [death force] the risk taking part of us.

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He believed there were 5 stages of psychosexual development from age 0-puberty, and that an over or under indulgence in any of these stages could cause a fixation in adult life and create a particular type of personality. This is where many of his followers broke away from him, for example Carl Jung whose structure of personality was ego, persona and self, Alfred Adler who emphasised social factors and childhood experiences, and Erik Eriksson who also felt Freud put too much emphasis on sexuality and neglected social forces in development.

Freud also firmly believed that childhood experiences moulded us into ...

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