What do psychodynamic theories focus on

The id , the most primitive of the three structures, is concerned with instant gratification of basic physical needs and urges. It operates entirely unconsciously outside of conscious thought. For example, if your id walked past a stranger eating ice cream, it would most likely take the ice cream for itself.

If your superego walked past the same stranger, it would not take their ice cream because it would know that that would be rude. In contrast to the instinctual id and the moral superego, the ego is the rational, pragmatic part of our personality. It is less primitive than the id and is partly conscious and partly unconscious. While this may mean you have to wait 10 more minutes, which would frustrate your id, your ego decides to make that sacrifice as part of the compromise— satisfying your desire for ice cream while also avoiding an unpleasant social situation and potential feelings of shame.

Freud believed that the id, ego, and superego are in constant conflict and that adult personality and behavior are rooted in the results of these internal struggles throughout childhood. He believed that a person who has a strong ego has a healthy personality and that imbalances in this system can lead to neurosis what we now think of as anxiety and depression and unhealthy behaviors. On this diagram, the smaller portion above the water signifies the conscious mind, while the much larger portion below the water illustrates the unconscious mind.

Freud believed that the nature of the conflicts among the id, ego, and superego change over time as a person grows from child to adult. Specifically, he maintained that these conflicts progress through a series of five basic stages, each with a different focus: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.

He called his idea the psychosexual theory of development, with each psychosexual stage directly related to a different physical center of pleasure. Failure to resolve a stage can lead one to become fixated in that stage, leading to unhealthy personality traits; successful resolution of the stages leads to a healthy adult. In his singular emphasis on the structure of the human mind, Freud paid little to no attention to the impact of environment, sociology, or culture.

He has also been criticized for his myopic view of human sexuality to the exclusion of other important factors. Established theories are then tested through research; however, not all theories are equally suited to scientific investigation. Some theories are difficult to test but are still useful in stimulating debate or providing concepts that have practical application.

Keep in mind that theories are not facts; they are guidelines for investigation and practice, and they gain credibility through research that fails to disprove them.

In l ifespan development, we need to relying on a systematic approach to understanding behavior, based on observable events and the scientific method.

There are so many different observations about childhood, adulthood, and development in general that we use theories to help organize all of the different observable events or variables. A theory is a simplified explanation of the world that attempts to explain how variables interact with each other. It can take complex, interconnected issues and narrow it down to the essentials.

This enables developmental theorists and researchers to analyze the problem in greater depth. Figure 1. Theories are often revisited and tested through experiments and research. Two key concepts in the scientific approach are theory and hypothesis.

A theory is a well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena that can be used to make predictions about future observations. A hypothesis is a testable prediction that is arrived at logically from a theory.

It is often worded as an if-then statement e. The hypothesis is extremely important because it bridges the gap between the realm of ideas and the real world. As specific hypotheses are tested, theories are modified and refined to reflect and incorporate the result of these tests. In essence, lifespan theories explain observable events in a meaningful way.

They are not as specific as hypotheses, which are so specific that we use them to make predictions in research. Theories offer more general explanations about behavior and events. Theories can be developed using induction, in which a number of single cases are observed and after patterns or similarities are noted, the theorist develops ideas based on these examples.

People who study lifespan development approach the it from different perspectives. Each perspective encompasses one or more theories—the broad, organized explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest. Theories of development provide a framework for thinking about human growth, development, and learning. If you have ever wondered about what motivates human thought and behavior, understanding these theories can provide useful insight into individuals and society.

Throughout psychological history and still in present day, three key issues remain among which developmental theorists often disagree. Particularly oft-disputed is the role of early experiences on later development in opposition to current behavior reflecting present experiences—namely the passive verses active issue. Likewise, whether or not development is best viewed as occurring in stages or rather as a gradual and cumulative process of change has traditionally been up for debate — a question of continuity versus discontinuity.

Figure 2. Some major players in the early development of psychology. Front row: Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, Carl Jung. Back row: Abraham A. Date: September The scientific study of children began in the late nineteenth century, and blossomed in the early twentieth century as pioneering psychologists sought to uncover the secrets of human behavior by studying its development. Developmental psychology made an early appearance in a more literary form, however.

Rousseau, a Swiss philosopher who spent much of his life in France, proposed a nativistic model in his famous novel Emile , in which development occurs according to innate processes progressing through three stages: Infans infancy , puer childhood , and adolescence.

Rousseau detailed some of the necessary progression through these stages in order to develop into an ideal citizen. Stanley Hall, who believed that children developed over their lifetime much in the same way that a species evolved throughout time. His interests focused on childhood development, adolescence, and evolutionary theory. His major contributions to the field are that he taught the first courses in child development, several of his students becoming leading researchers in the field, and he established scientific journals for the publication of child development research.

He was also the first president of the American Psychological Association. Another early contributor to the study of development was James Mark Baldwin , a Princeton educated American philosopher and psychologist who did quantitative and experimental research on infant development.

He made important contributions to early psychology, psychiatry, and to the theory of evolution. The 20th century marked the formation of qualitative distinctions between children and adults. When John Watson wrote the book Psychological Care of Infant and Child in , he sought to add clarification surrounding behaviorists views on child care and development. Watson was the founder of the field of behaviorism, which emphasized the role of nurture, or the environment, in human development.

In the book, he warned against the inevitable dangers of a mother providing too much love and affection. Watson explained that love, along with everything else as the behaviorist saw the world, is conditioned. Watson supported his warnings by mentioning invalidism, saying that society does not overly comfort children as they become young adults in the real world, so parents should not set up these unrealistic expectations.

His book obviously became highly criticized, but was still influential in promoting more research into early childhood behavior and development. Another name you are probably familiar with who was influential in the study human development is Sigmund Freud. Arnold Gesell, a student of G. In conducting his studies, Gesell developed sophisticated observational techniques, including one-way viewing screens and recording methods that did not disturb the child.

His work inspired more research than any other theorist, and many of his concepts are still foundational to developmental psychology. There are many theorists that have made, and continue to make, a profound contribution to this area of psychology, amongst whom is Erik Erikson who developed a model of eight stages of psychological development.

He believed that humans developed in stages throughout their lifetimes and this would affect their behaviors. We begin with Sigmund Freud, one of the most well-known pioneers and early founders of psychology who has been a very influential figure in the area of development. His psychodynamic perspective of development and psychopathology dominated the field of psychiatry until the growth of behaviorism in the s and beyond.

We have only recently begun to recognize that early childhood experiences do not always result in certain personality traits or emotional states. Freud stimulated an enormous amount of research and generated many ideas. Sigmund Freud was a Viennese doctor who was trained in neurology and asked to work with patients suffering from hysteria, a conditioned marked my uncontrollable emotional outbursts, fears, and anxiety that had puzzled physicians for centuries. He was also asked to work with women who suffered from physical symptoms and forms of paralysis which had no organic causes.

During that time, many people believed that certain individuals were genetically inferior and thus more susceptible to mental illness. However, after World War I, many soldiers came home with problems similar to hysteria. This called into questions the idea of genetic inferiority as a cause of mental illness.

Freud began working with hysterical patients and discovered that when they began to talk about some of their life experiences, particularly those that took place in early childhood, their symptoms disappeared. Freud influenced a number of major psychological thinkers, including Carl Jung and Alfred Adler , and his influence continues today.

It was Freud who first introduced the term psychodynamics. He observed that his patients exhibited psychological symptoms with no biological basis. Nevertheless, these patients were unable to stop their symptoms despite their conscious efforts.

Therefore, the symptoms were the result of the unconscious will opposing the conscious will, an interplay he dubbed "psychodynamics. As a result, the terms psychoanalytic and psychodynamic are often used interchangeably.

In fact, so many theories are encompassed by psychodynamic theory, that it is often referred to as an approach or a perspective instead of a theory. Psychologist Drew Weston outlined five propositions that generally encompass 21 st century psychodynamic thinking:. While many of these propositions continue to focus on the unconscious, they also are concerned with the formation and understanding of relationships. This arises from one of the major developments in modern psychodynamic theory: object relations.

Whether they are good or bad, people develop a comfort level with the dynamics of their earliest relationships and are often drawn to relationships that can in some way recreate them. In addition, no matter what a new relationship is like, an individual will look at a new relationship through the lens of their old relationships. This is called "transference" and offers a mental shortcut to people attempting to understand a new relationship dynamic. As a result, people make inferences that may or may not be accurate about a new relationship based on their past experiences.

Psychodynamic theory has several strengths that account for its continued relevance in modern psychological thinking. First, it accounts for the impact of childhood on adult personality and mental health. Second, it explores the innate drives that motivate our behavior. On the one hand, it points to the way the unconscious mental processes people are born with influence their thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

On the other, it emphasizes the influence of childhood relationships and experiences on later development. Despite its strengths, psychodynamic theory has a number of weaknesses , too. First, critics often accuse it of being too deterministic, and therefore, denying that people can exercise conscious free will.