What are the core assumptions and key features of the biological and psychoanalytic perspectives in psychology? In what ways are they similar and how do they differ? When comparing the biological and psychoanalytic approach to psychology, you are able to see that they are different from one another. For example, the biological approach assumes that the mind and behaviour originate from the functioning of the body and that behaviour is driven by biological instincts. Whereas the psychoanalytic approach claims behaviour is driven by instincts such as the unconscious processes as well as the conflict between unconscious desires (pleasure and reality principle). Additionally, both approaches have a common feature of being reductionist, …show more content…
Firstly, the id which is related to the primitive instincts of the body and has a pleasure – pain principle that emphasises immediate gratification. Secondly, the superego which is the ethical component of a person’s personality and is partly conscious and partly unconscious. It reflects society’s moral standards and forms during the Oedipus complex. Lastly, the ego which has a reality principle and is a moderator of conflict between the id and superego that sometimes causes anxiety. To prevent these conflicts within an individual, defence mechanisms are often used, for example, repression which helps the conscious mind to deal with the unresolved conflicts (cited in Ian Fairholm, 2012). Furthermore, Freud also believed that there were three levels to the mind which are known as the conscious, preconscious and unconscious. Apart from the features mentioned above, the core assumption of the psychoanalytic perspective is that a person’s personality depends on childhood experiences. In this psychosexual development theory, Freud assumed that all children go through five stages. These are the oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency stage and genital stage. He believed that a fixation would occur if a child experienced extreme problems or pleasure. (Eysenck, 1994) One of the great issues with the psychoanalytic approach is falsifiability. Popper (1969, 1972) claimed, there should be at least some evidence that can contradict the claims
When comparing the biological and psychoanalytic approach to psychology, you are able to see that they are different from one another. For example, the biological approach assumes that the mind and behaviour originate from the functioning of the body and that behaviour is driven by biological instincts. Whereas the psychoanalytic approach claims behaviour is driven by instincts such as the unconscious processes as well as the conflict between unconscious desires (pleasure and reality principle). Additionally, both approaches have a common feature of being reductionist,
He said child development is described as a series of 'psychosexual stages. Freud outlined these stages as oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Each stage involves the satisfaction of a libidinal desire and can later play a role in adult personality. If a child does not successfully complete a stage, Freud suggested that he or she would develop a fixation that would later influence adult personality and behavior.
The trouble with these two theories is that they are both very hard to prove through research, for example Freud’s theory is difficult to test empirically. As Mummendey (1996) has quoted ‘the essential concepts such as that of destructive energy are so global and inexact that one can derive no precise predictions or hypotheses that can then be tested. The psychoanalytic approach is really only able to attempt an explanation of events or behaviour that have already taken place’. McIlveen, Gross. (1998, pp125)
According to Swartz and O'Neill, personality can be defined as a complex and dynamic set of psychological characteristics, unique to one person, such as motives, behaviour and cognition. Wolpe argues that mental activities are partly in ones conscious and partly in ones unconscious, which is out of reach, this theory is the same as Freud's idea of the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind (Wolpe, 1981). Psychodynamics according to Ccis.edu is a perspective, known to be Sigmund Freud's perspective (Ccis.edu, 2014). They go on to say that Freud made assumptions about human motivation, being propelled by conflicts between the unconscious, instincts and psychological forces, such as the id, ego and superego, some of Freud's most famous work. They also explore Freud's psychosexual stages of development, which consist of levels, in which one has to overcome a challenge, and develop in order to move onto the next stage. Furthermore they argue that one has to identify the underlying conflicts and then in order to resolve and overcome the conflict, one has to bring it to the conscious level. Furthermore they go on to say that psychoanalysis is not scientific and is explore through qualitative methods. They also go on to explain that Jung, Piaget and Erikson all formed their theories around the same basic assumptions, being the idea of the unconscious and the conscious, as well as the influence humans have on behaviour. According to
Freud (1923) saw the identity organized into three sections, the id, ego and superego, all developing at diverse stages in our lives. The "id" is primitive and instinctual component of identity. It comprises of all the acquired segments of identity, including the sex nature;
| This field of psychology analyzes the biological aspect of human behavior. As the nervous system controls behavior, the patterns of behavior can be derived from the functioning of the brain. Biological psychology also tries to analyze the biological aspects of psychological disorders.
The biological approach of psychology presumes disorders to be a result of an organic or physical cause. This approach is based on genetics, neurotransmitters and neurophysiology. According to this approach mental disorders stem from the defects of the physical structure and functioning of the brain.
Psychoanalytic theory is based on Sigmund Freud's theories on the development of the psyche. He proposed that humans are controlled
The biological perspective focuses on the biological basis of behaviour such as brain areas and genetics, suggesting that our behaviour, experience and movements are controlled by the functions of our nervous system (Carlson, 2010). This approach therefore aims to explain the relationship between the mind and body, in addition to the influence of heredity on human behaviour (Glassman and Hadad, 2013). On the other hand, the psychoanalytical perspective is less scientific, as Sigmund Freud who created the approach, focused his research on less measurable aspects such as the Id, Ego and Superego in addition to his psychosexual theory of personality due to him creating the theories before conducting his research (Goodwin, 2005). This approach assumes that all physical symptoms can be drawn back to their psychological causes and that this primarily originates in early childhood, with Freud paying particular attention to parent-child relationships and sexual abuse (Francher, 2000).
To begin with, the psychoanalytic approach is based on psychoanalysis itself and the main critics were Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan who agreed to a certain degree, that a text is fundamentally related with the psyche. Freud strongly believed that our unconscious is affected by events which occurred during childhood and so he divided the human psyche into developmental stages regarding one’s relationship with parents, drives and the pleasure principle. These stages are the oral, anal and the phallic, representing the levels of desire and repression.What he claims is that, what has
In addition, this perspective believes in the concept of a tripartite personality’ the ID, EGO and SUPEREGO, as proposed by Freud. The ID is the first part of the personality to develop, and being the
However, I did not place it closest to nurture because the humanistic perspective believes in Maslow’s theory of basic needs while still focusing on environmental factors.
Biological psychology, of biopsychology, is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes in terms of bodily mechanisms. The view that psychological processes have biological (or physiological) correlates, is the basic assumption of the whole field of biological psychology. Biological psychology is a hopeful domain, one that has much to offer in terms of improving the quality of life of the healthy as well as those suffering from disorders. It also contributed important therapeutic data on a variety of conditions, including: Parkinson 's Disease, Alzheimer 's Disease, Clinical depression, Schizophrenia and a lot others. Humans have very complex nervous system, they use neurons and neurotransmitters to make the highest active communication network throughout the body. “most of the body’s neurons are found in the central nervous system(CNS), which consists of the brain and spinal cord” (psychology 5th edition). “Neuroscience emphasizes that the brain and nervous system are central to understanding behavior, thought, and emotion. (Van Horn, 2014; Zhao & others, 2014). Therefore, for biological psychologist all that is psychological is first physiological. All thoughts, feeling & behavior ultimately have a biological cause.” We are benefited from biological approach for diagnosing and treating human brains Ex. Schizophrenia. Scientists are also able to create medications for different types of illnesses. Besides having psychologists
Biological approaches in psychology can be described as the principles of biology applied to the study of psychological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of human behavior. The biological perspective applies itself to the study of psychology in three ways: the comparative method, which is the study of animals in order to find out about humans behavior. It is believed that to some degree behavior in animals and humans are alike. Physiology is how the nervous system and hormones work, how the brain functions, and how changes in structure and/or function can affect behavior. Investigation of inheritance is what an animal inherits from its parents, which is genetics. An example of biological psychology in the novel can be seen when Miss Axline
Psychoanalysis was the name given by Sigmund Freud to a system of interpretation and therapeutic treatment of psychological disorders. (McLeod, 2007) In particular, we present five key concepts on psychoanalytic therapy: structure of personality, psychosexual stages, defense mechanism, anxiety, and the unconscious mind.