OCR Core studies
Developmental psychology: Freud (1909)
Analysis of a phobia of a five-year old boy
INFORMATION: Freud details the case study of Little Hans who was suffering from anxiety that was seen to cause a number of
phobias. The main features of this case are: (a) he was very interested in his penis and his mother threatened to cut it off when caught
masturbating; (b) he resented his younger sister and developed a fear of the bath; (c) he had a fear of white horses biting him which
occurred after hearing his father give a warning about horses and seeing a horse and carriage overturn. This fear later generalised to
loaded carts and buses; (d) he expressed anxiety that his mother would desert him; (e) he reported frequent fantasies. For example,
he was the father of his own children with his mother as their mother and his father as their grandfather. Hypothesis: No hypothesis
is stated. Freud aimed to uncover the underlying unconscious mental causes of Little Hans’ behaviour.
METHOD: Participant: Little Hans, a 5 year old boy. Procedure: Freud’s analysis was indirect as almost all interviews and
observations were conducted by Little Hans’ father who then corresponded and discussed the case with Freud. Treatment for Little
Hans involved inferring the unconscious causes of Han’s behaviour through interpretation and decoding of psychoanalytic symbols.
Hans was then confronted with the unconscious causes of his behaviour and his hidden motivations were consciously discussed to
help him resolve these issues.
RESULTS: Little Hans was not aware of the motivations of his behaviour (unconscious determinism) and was in the phallic stage of
psychosexual development. The analysis revealed that his anxieties about his mother and loaded carts and buses were due to the
Oedipus complex (his love for his mother, wishing his father dead). His fear of being bitten by horses was due to the unconscious
fear of castration by his father. His fantasies were the resolution of the Oedipus complex. Following psychoanalysis, Little Hans
overcame his disorders.
CONCLUSION: Using psychoanalytic techniques to reveal Little Han’s hidden motivations for his behaviour, he was able to
overcome his phobias and anxieties by acknowledging his feelings of resentment to his father and sister, identifying with his father,
and ceasing to desire his mother. This case study is used as support for Freud’s ideas concerning unconscious determinism,
psychosexual development, the Oedipus complex, the cause of phobias and psychoanalytic theory.
Experimental design,
method & sampling
Case studies
Qualitative/
quantitative measures
Controls
Confounding variables
Ethics
Ecological validity
Usefulness of research
Single case study that aimed to identify the underlying unconscious mental causes of Little
Hans’ disorder and to then confront Little Hans with these unconscious thoughts so that he
could work through these problems and overcome his anxieties and phobias. Psychoanalytic
methods were employed (e.g., dream analysis, interpretation and decoding of psychoanalytic
symbols). There are no independent and dependent variables.
The main advantage of this method is that it provides rich details of an individual case,
giving an insight into how people think and feel. It is also very useful for treatment.
However, it is not scientific and relies on retrospective accounts of early years. It also
lacks generalisability.
This analysis produced much detailed qualitative data. There is little quantitative data:
there is no measurement data and no statistical analysis is performed.
This study is not well controlled and lacks objectivity as analysis was conducted secondhand through the father. Also, all the data Freud received was interpreted in the light of
psychoanalytic theory. In response to such criticisms, Freud argued that psychoanalysis
is not trying to prove anything and is ‘not a scientific investigation but a therapeutic
measure’.
The observations made by the father are likely to be subjective and biased. Little Hans
would have been aware that his father was observing him which means his behaviour
may have been affected by this (demand characteristics).
There are ethical considerations in confronting a young child with their unconscious
motivations for their behaviour. Discussing such matters may have increased Little Hans
anxiety, especially since analysis and therapy were conducted by his father.
Reasonable ecological validity as Little Hans’ behaviour was assessed in his natural
environment rather than artificial laboratory conditions.
Freud uses this case study to support his psychoanalytic theory and concepts (e.g.,
psychosexual development, the Oedipus complex, causes of phobias), yet this is the only
study he made of a child. There are also many criticisms of the psychoanalytic method
(e.g., see controls, confounding variables and ethics sections above). Other explanations
of Little Hans’ behaviour are more credible. For example, Bowlby’s attachment theory,
classical conditioning.