Essay About Psychodynamic Theory And Classical Conditioning

The Dynamics of Psychoanalysis
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The Dynamics of Psychoanalysis
By: Thomas Hutchinson
Both classical conditioning and psychodynamic theory have played a pivotal role in the
development of social psychology. For nearly all of the past century they have shaped and
influenced the way psychologists, philosophers and ordinary people have felt about the nature of
the human psyche. It is because of this that we continue to use those theories today to predict the
outcome of certain situations.
In our particular case we have a situation where one hundred women have been asked to rate the
degree to which they agree or disagree with a certain a statement when associated with a picture
of an old man or of a young man. Separately, there is the question of their preferences for being
supplied few or many facts. It is in such cases that both theories can be used to predict what their
opinions will be.
Classical Conditioning, or behaviorism, began with John Watson and continued with B.F.
Skinner. It ultimately became a well known but widely discredited theory based on the
hypothesis that human behavior can be explained entirely in terms of reflexes, stimulus-response
associations, and the effects of reinforcers. More specifically, it contends that mental states can
be analyzed through behavior or through a predictable way of acting, and that the greater the
number of presentations of stimuli there are, the greater the produced response is. In our
particular case, those aspects will help to predict the influence on the womens ultimate response
both to the pictures of the old and young man and to the number of facts supplied them.
Psychodynamic theory, due largely to Sigmund Freud has had a lasting effect on the school of
psychology. Unlike Behaviorism, it is still thought to have significant validity. Freud constructed
a personality theory made up of three primary components. They are known as the id, ego, and
superego. The most primitive of the three is the id. Its basis is the pleasure principle with its
prime outlook on life being only a search for passion and personal satisfaction. On the next level
comes the ego. It represents reason and common sense, more commonly known as the reality
principle. On the highest level is the superego. It is motivated only by its drive for morality.
Consequently it becomes the repressive and guiltful component as it attempts to internalize the
morals it strives for. Those three elements, though, do not exist as individual and unrelated
aspects of the human psyche. Rather they coexist simultaneously with the ego attempting to
reconcile the continuos inner conflict between the id and superego. This theory helps to predict
the outcome of the womens ultimate opinions as well.
Both psychodynamic theory and behaviorism can help us determine the result of these womens
decisions. Without more detailed information on their backgrounds and the specifics of the case,
however, it is almost impossible to make a valid prediction. Thus we have to supply certain
assumptions. In the case of these one-hundred female participants who are presented with the
varying pictures, facts, and opinions, we will assume that they are women who are well educated,
middle aged, and upper-class as well as being happily married. These conditions undoubtedly
influence their responses on both the validity of the statements of the young man as opposed to
the old one, and the extent of the facts supplied to them.
While the theory of classical conditioning may vary greatly from the theory of psychodynamics,
in our specific case both theories ultimately yield similar responses. Within Behaviorism, a
certain stimulus will produce a certain response based on the associations made with that
stimulus. When these characteristically defined woman are presented with the picture of the old
man as opposed to the young one, they are more likely to agree with the old man based on the
associations made with him. Because they have likely been educated by similar looking
professors, when they see a picture of this stern yet scholarly man, they immediately associate
him with knowledge and wisdom. When they see the young man, however, they associate him
with nothing but youth