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EVALUATION SHEET:

Study title & authors:

Freud's Case Study of Little Hans (1909) Area/perspective:

Individual differences, psychodynamic perspective

Assumptions of this area/perspective: .Individual Differences Area: • In order to understand the complexity of the human mind and behaviour we must focus on and investigate the differences between people rather than what we have in common. • These individual differences can be studied and measured. When conducting research this can be measured through the use of psychometric tests such as personality inventories and intelligence tests. • It is assumed that each person's behaviour is unique due to genetic and physiological factors, social experiences, and personal qualities. Therefore, the individual differences area generally focuses on psychological abnormality and personality types rather than the situation. Psychodynamic Perspective: • Much of our behaviour is driven by unconscious motives; personality is influenced by the unconscious mind. • Childhood is a critical period in development. Children develop through a number of psychodynamic stages. • Mental disorders arise from unresolved, unconscious conflicts originating in childhood.

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Resolution occurs through accessing and coming to terms with repressed ideas and conflicts.

Key theme

Understanding disorders

Background

Freud approached psychological theory and therapy through psychoanalysis. He proposed childhood can be seen as a series of psychosexual stages. These stages were characterised by a fixation of a certain area of the body. The oral stage occurs in the first year of life, being linked to the erogenous zone of the mouth. Freud claimed the main source of pleasure for the child was derived from the mouth during this stage as the infant is suckling and tasting. During this stage, the infant is totally dependent on their carer and can accept nurture. The second stage is known as the anal stage, which occurs when the child is at the age of 18 months to 36 months. The erogenous zone here is the anus and bladder as the child learns to control their faeces and the main source of pleasure comes from defecation. In this stage, parents begin to control their child's behaviour through potty training and the child acquires a pattern of relating to authority. The stage which relates to this study is the phallic stage. Here, the erogenous zone is the penis as the child has discovered their genitals as a region from which pleasure is obtained and this stage occurs from ages 3 to 5. Freud claims that all boys go through the Oedipus Complex in this stage. This involves the child developing a strong attachment to their mother and seeing her as a primary love object. Freud termed this as "object cathexis." They then begin to see their father as a rival and obstacle for their mother's affection and begin to develop hostile feelings towards their father and want to get rid of him in order to replace his role as his mother's lover. The child also develops a fear of castration due to masturbation in this stage and the Oedipus Complex is though to be solved when the boy chooses the source of pleasure being his penis over his sexual desire for his mother. The child consequently develops a superego and is sexually attracted to other women rather than his mother and also no longer views his father as a rival but identified with him instead. Freud claimed all children went through this stage, including females (The Electro Complex) from self analysing his own childhood. He therefore tried to further prove this complex to be true through his case study of Little Hans.

note any relevant theory/previous studies that informed this research

Aim

Method If an experiment – • Design • IV • DV If not an expt give full details

Also include: • Procedure • Materials • Sample Who was the sample? Sampling technique?

To document a boy who was suffering from a phobia of white horses and a range of other symptoms, and to use his case study to provide evidence for the Oedipus Complex. Method: A boy was followed through the course of a phobia of horses, to the end of the phobia. His dreams, anxieties and fantasies were recorded by his father and passed on to Freud, who interpreted them in line with his idea of the Oedipus Complex. Design: The design was a clinical case study, meaning it followed a patient undergoing therapy. Little Hans' father had regular discussions with Little Hans and passed these onto Freud, who provided analysis of these discussions according to his theories. Sample: The sample consisted of a single participant - Little Hans. He was a Jewish boy from Vienna, Austria. Events reported on him were from the ages of 3 to 5. Little Hans was five years old at the start of the study and his actual treatment period lasted from January to May 1908. Hans was suffering from a phobia of horses. Procedure: Little Hans' father, who was a supporter of Freud's work, referred the case of Little Hans' horse phobia to Freud and went on to provide most of the case information. He would record his discussions with Little Hans in a letter and send them to Freud, and Freud would then write back with his analysis of these

discussions according to his theories and directions on how to treat Little Hans. Freud had very little direct input in the therapy given to Little Hans; he did not see Little Hans more than twice. Case Study: Age 3: Hate towards his sister: Little Hans was 3 and a half years old when his little sister was born. His father observed jealousy and hostility towards his sister and was even shown to have a death wish against her. He had become afraid of the bath so his father determined that Hans was afraid of being dropped in the bath through asking him. He then asked, "when you were watching mummy giving Hanna (sister) her bath, perhaps you wished she would let go of her so that Hanna would fall in?" Little Hans replied yes, showing his death wish towards his sister. His penis & castration anxiety: Little Hans developed a great interest in his penis, which he would call his "widdler." He expressed surprise that his sister didn't have one. It was reported that he played with it regularly, so his mother threatened to get the doctor to cut it off if he didn't stop. Hans then developed a fear of castration from this. Around this time, Hans also saw a horse collapse and die in the street. Age 4: Horse phobia: Little Hans developed a fear of white horses, specifically of being bitten by them in the street. He had an anxiety attack in the street. When writing to Freud, Hans said the fear seemed to be connected with his having being frightened by a large penis on the horse, relating to his dissatisfaction with the size of his own. Little Hans' phobia became so extreme that he would not leave the house. Freud intepreted this fear as Little Hans wanting to stay home with his mother. Sexual desire towards his mother: Little Hans was in the habit of cuddling with his mother in the morning and sleeping in his parent's bed when his father was away. His father began to object to this and a conflict developed between Hans and his son. Hans told Freud that when Little Hnas was being given his bath by his mother, he told his mother it was "great fun" for her to have touched his penis whilst powdering it. Little Hans was then told by his parents that his anxiety was due to his masturbation. Freud connected being told not to put your hand near a horse's mouth in case it bites and his mother's words warning him of castration and suggested Little Hans' phobia came from a repressed wish to see his mothers widdler. Therefore, Hans told his son that women do not have penises and this helped Hans partly resolve his fear of castration. The giraffe fantasy: Hans had a fantasy in which there was a big giraffe and a crumpled giraffe in the room at night. The big one called out because Hans took the crumpled one away from it and then stopped calling out and Hans sat on top of the crumpled giraffe. Meeting Freud: Hans was asked about the horses he has a phobia of. Freud noted that Hans did not like white horses with black harnesses in particular and Freud therefore believed that the horse was a symbol for Little Hans' father and the harness resembled a moustache.

Results -quantitative

End of Phobia: This was marked by two fantasies - the grandfather fantasy and the plumber fantasy. The grandfather fantasy entailed Little Hans having a fantasy where he was married to his mother and playing with his own children. In this fantasy, his father was promoted to the role of grandfather. The plumber fantasy consisted of a plumber removing Little Hans' bottom and widdler and then replacing them with larger versions. Freud intepreted the case study as an example of the Oedipus Complex. • •

or/ & • qualitative

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Conclusions

Horses represented Hans' father and these were good symbols as they have large penises. Hans' anxiety was actually castration anxiety triggered by his mother's threat to cut off his "widdler" and fear of his father triggered by him not allowing Hans to sleep in his parents bed anymore. The giraffes in Hans' fantasy represent his parents. The large giraffe calling out represented Hans objecting to Little Hans getting in his parents bed in the morning and the crumpled giraffe represented his mother, with the crumpling representing her genitals. The neck of the large giraffe was seen as a symbol for the penis. The grandfather fantasy represents a friendly resolution of the Oedipus Complex where Hans replaces his father as his mother's love object but his father still has a role of grandfather.

The plumber fantast represents Hans identifying with his father. This means Hans could see himself growing a large penis like his fathers and therefore becoming like his father. Hans' anxieties were related to his sexual feelings towards his mother and her rejection led to Hans' castration anxiety and jealousy towards his father. Hans' fear of horses was not real but was just a projection of his anxieties onto a more acceptable outlet. Hans' horse phobia represented his fear of his father relating to the Oedipus Complex. Little Hans' dreams and fantasies expressed the Oedipus Complex and Hans eventually resolved it through his grandfather fantasy.

A distinguishing feature of this study (something which makes it unique-eg, it uses a pilot study or new technology etc)

Methodological Evaluation issues Internal validity Can include: a) Are demand characteristics likely to have affected the results? (i.e guessing the hyp AND altering behaviour) b) Is social desirability likely to have affected the results? (i.e altering behaviour to present yourself in a positive light, esp in self-report or observation) c) Which extraneous variables were controlled and how?

Internal Validity: Weaknesses: The way that the data was collected in this study meant there was researcher bias. Hans' father was a fan of Freud's work and therefore this may have distorted his perception of te events he pased on to Freud to interpret. He may have unconsciously manipulated the information that he chose to incude or exclude in his reports, this may have been in line with what he thought Freud would want to hear. Another problem with this data collection method was the use of leading questions by Hans' father e.g. "when you were watching mummy give Hanna her bath, perhaps you wished she would let go of her so that Hanna should fall in?" Another weakness with the internal validity is the validity of Freud's interpretations. The interpretations made by Freud were subjective rather than objective and this reduces internal validity as we cannot be sure his interpretations are correct. The dreams and fantasies of Little Hans may not even carry the meanings that Freud gave to them; they may have not carried any sort of meaning at all. There were simpler explanations for Little Hans' fear of horses, for example the behaviourist perspective would argue that Little Hans was classically conditioned to fear horses as he had previously seen a horse collapse and fall in the street. In addition to this, he may have been classically conditioned to associate fear with the horses as he had overheard a father say to his child "don't put your finger near the white horse or it will bite you."

d) Any uncontrolled EVs? Overall, internal validity is very low.

Ecological validity

Can results be generalised to everyday life? Consider mundane realism & experimental realism Reliability Internal – are findings from measures within the study consistent? If an observation used, what was the inter-rater reliability? External – if replicated are results likely to be similar (consider: standardisation, controls, use of objective measures, quantitative data) Type of data used: Quantitative/qualitative

Ecological Validity: Strengths: As Little Hans did not know he was being studied and observed in natural conversations with his father in his normal environment, it could be argued that this study has ecological validity. There would be high mundane realism in this study as Hans was doing everyday tasks whilst he was being observed, neither the tasks or the setting were artificial so ecological validity is good. Weaknesses: As the study was conducted so long ago, the results may not generalise to everyday life as everyday tasks and settings would change with time.

Internal Reliability: Weaknesses: We cannot assess the inter-rater reliability of the study as Freud carried out his analysis of Little Hans alone and we cannot put ourselves in the shoes of Freud over a century later in order to assess the study. External Reliability: Weaknesses: Clinical case studies are one offs and therefore cannot be replicated. We cannot then assess the test-retest reliabiity as we cannot replicate the study and therefore there is no reliability in the study. Overall, there is no reliability in this study.

Qualitative Data: Strengths: There is a large amount of rich information in Freud's account of Little Hans e.g. his dreams and fantasies. This recording of very detailed information means other researchers have been able to offer alternative interpretations of the case. Weaknesses: There is no quanititative data in this case study and therefore we have very little concrete information regarding Little Hans. There is no objective

Population validity – sample and sampling technique Any sampling bias – explain (eg prone to DCs; ethnocentric etc) Population validity – can results be generalised beyond this sample to the target population? Explain/justify

information so Freud's conclusions may be inaccurate. Sample: Strengths: As the sample consists of a single person, the data collected on Little Hans is very detailed and this can lead to other interpretations being made from his behaviour and phobia of horses. Weaknesses: The sample consists entirely of one person due to the method being a case study. The participants used in case studies are always unusual enough to be interesting enough to base a study about. Therefore, Little Hans could be said to be unusual enough to be ungeneralisable to the general population. Moreover, the sample of one person is too small to generalise to the entire population; even if Little Hans did have an Oedipus Complex, it would be difficult to argue everyone has one based off a single boy. Sampling Bias: The sample is biased as it is ethnocentric. Little Hans' case study is a classic example of ethnocentrism as Hans is from a very particular cultural context - a middle class, Austrian family. Little Hans lived in Vienna and was from a white, affluent, middle class family. From this, Freud generalised the concept of the Oedipus Complex to the development of all boys in a wide range of cultures. Freud ignored the fact that there is a huge range of parenting styles and child-parent interactions which vary across cultures. Verbal skills also vary across the world and these are essential for psychoanalysis. Freud ignored all this and called the Oedipus Complex universal based purely on a European interpretation of events. This is highly ethnocentric. Moreover, most of the study is ungeneralisable e.g. the interactions between Hans and his parents and this reduces the generalisability of the results from this case study. However, it can also be argued that the sample is not ethnocentric. Phobias are common in all children across different cultures so it could be said the findings from this study don't only apply to children from this one culture. Population Validity: The population validity in this study is low as it was just one person in the sample. Little Hans was also an anxious child, these results may not generalise to children who were less anxious as they may respond differently to the treatment Freud was providing for Hans' phobia. You could also say that these results do not generalise to children who had a different personality to Little Hans or children nowadays as they may have been raised differently to what you would have been raised like in the early 20th century so it is harder to generalise results beyond Little Hans to the target population. However, Freud argued Hans and his anxieties/phobias were normal and therefore all children would have to work through the Oedipus Complex as he did.

Any other methodological issues? How this study links to: • The area: (PEET - relate to the key concepts and assumptions) A core assumption of the individual differences area is that it is improtant to investigate the differences rather than the commonalities between individuals. Freud's study falls within this approach because it investigates the way in which people differ through experiencing phobias. The individual differences area of psychology looks at the ways in which we are different from each other. People are unique in their experiences, genetics, personality etc so this affects our behaviour. Little Hans' phobia of horses resulted from the specific way he experienced the Oedipus Complex affecting his dreams. Not all boys will displace their fear of their father onto a horse as Little Hans did. • The perspective (if relevant): (PEET- include the key concepts and assumptions) An assumption of the psychodynamic perspective is that much of our behaviour is driven by unconscious motives and personality is influenced by the unconscious mind. Freud's study links to this perspective as it argues that our behaviour is strongly influenced by drives in the unconscious mind. Freud argued that Little Hans' behaviours, including his phobia, dreams and fantasies, arose from the Oedipus Complex happening at the unconscious level, linked to the psychosexual stages of development he was going through. • Key theme The study conducted by Freud links to the key theme of understanding disorders as Freud would appear to tell us that we can understand disorders through an understanding of unconscious conflicts. Little Hans' phobia of white horses arose from the unconscious drives due to the Oedipus Complex. Freud argued Hans' phobia came from his fear of his father due to the Oedipus Complex being projected onto a more acceptable outlet - white horses. This is why, when Hans overcomes the complex, he also overcomes his fear of horses.

DEBATES Ethical considerations

There was no deceit in the case study. Informed consent was okay in the study as Hans' father gave parental consent on his behalf. Parental consent is also normal for participants who are at the age of Little Hans. Protection of harm was also good as Hans was not made to do anything that may have caused harm or distress and Freud was also trying to help Hans. However, there was an intensive level of questioning in the case study towards Hans, this may have been invasive and stressful for him. However, the guideline of confidentiality was broken in this study. Allthough the pseudonym Little Hans was used in the study, his real identity was well known in Vienna. Little...