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Core Studies: Individual Differences Area

Freud (1909) Little Hans: conclusions and evaluation

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 02

Overview

Recall questions on Freud's conclusions about Little Hans's phobia, the phallic stage, defence mechanisms, and the evaluation of the case study method, the father's role, alternative explanations, reliability and falsifiability, ethics and generalisation.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Name two defence mechanisms illustrated by the case.

Key term

Offer an alternative explanation of Hans's phobia.

Process

Which psychosexual stage was Hans in, and what characterises it?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What did Freud conclude the phobia actually was?

    Model answer

    It was the outward expression of an unconscious conflict, in which anxiety about his father was displaced onto a safer object.

  2. 2

    Which psychosexual stage was Hans in, and what characterises it?

    Model answer

    The phallic stage, in which pleasure centres on the genitals and the child works through the Oedipus complex.

  3. 3

    Name two defence mechanisms illustrated by the case.

    Model answer

    Displacement, in which fear of his father was transferred onto horses, and repression, which kept the forbidden wishes out of conscious awareness.

  4. 4

    Explain the main problem with the father collecting the data.

    Model answer

    He already believed Freud's theory, so he may have asked leading questions and recorded selectively, biasing the evidence towards the interpretation Freud expected.

  5. 5

    Offer an alternative explanation of Hans's phobia.

    Model answer

    The frightening sight of a horse collapsing could have produced a conditioned fear response through simple learning, with no unconscious conflict involved.

  6. 6

    Why is the study criticised for low reliability and for being unfalsifiable?

    Model answer

    Symbolic interpretations cannot be repeated or objectively checked, and the theory can accommodate any evidence, so there is no result that would show it wrong.

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