708215
Psychodynamic
strengths/limitations
- Strengths
- Freud recognised childhood as a critical period of
development and identified sexual and unconscious influences
- There is evidence that childhood experiences do impact
adult personality, e.g. many sex offenders were abused
- There is evidence that childhood experiences do impact
adult personality, e.g. many sex offenders were abused
- Enormously influential in psychology and beyond
- Daily life: Freudian slips, concepts
must contain some truth
- Psychoanalytical methods still used
- Freud began talking therapies
- Daily life: Freudian slips, concepts
must contain some truth
- Idiographic approach that gives a rich
picture of personality dynamics
- Recognises the complexity of thought and behaviour, and the
potential importance of dreams and accidental behaviour
- Recognises the complexity of thought and behaviour, and the
potential importance of dreams and accidental behaviour
- Unconscious does impact behaviour and 'iceberg' may be right
- Freud's theories offer causal explanations for
underlying psychological conditions
- Shows the value of individual and detailed case
studies for highlighting psychological ideas
- Freud recognised childhood as a critical period of
development and identified sexual and unconscious influences
- Limitations
- Lacks rigorous research support, especially about normal development
- Evidence mainly from case studies of middle-class, white, adult, female
Europeans even though theory of child development
- Case studies can't be generalised
- Freud's use of case studies poorly controlled: retrospective notes and data
collection, subjective interpretations, potential investigator bias
- Freud's use of case studies poorly controlled: retrospective notes and data
collection, subjective interpretations, potential investigator bias
- Case studies can't be generalised
- Difficult to falsify, e.g. someone may be
diagnosed as regressing to the oral stage but
this can be retentive or expulsive, covering all
symptoms
- Most of the process cannot be directly
observed or tested so hard to construct
testable hypotheses
- Hard to evaluate effectiveness because of problems defining an
illness, knowing when there has a been a cure and spontaneous
remission rates
- Evidence mainly from case studies of middle-class, white, adult, female
Europeans even though theory of child development
- Reduces human activity to a basic set of structures which
are reifications and can't be directly studied
- Deterministic: infant behaviour determined by innate
forces and adult behaviour by childhood experiences
- Original theory over-emphasises innate biological forces and especially sex
- Stage theory too neat
- Fundamental disagreements re the nature and/or existence of
the unconscious
- Karl Popper: theory of unconscious mind not falsifiable and therefore unscientific,
objected to non-falsifiable investigations of the mind
- Karl Popper: theory of unconscious mind not falsifiable and therefore unscientific,
objected to non-falsifiable investigations of the mind
- Feminists: too male-oriented, sees female
as inferior because of weak ego
compared to male
- No research evidence for Oedipus complex or penis envy
- Pessimistic and backwards looking as person
always having to overcome child conflicts and
repressed memories
- Lacks rigorous research support, especially about normal development
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