Limitations

• Why is it an untestable hypothesis?


  Most of the ideas in psychoanalysis are impossible to test one way or another this is because they are descriptive observations that are more poetic than scientific - most concepts can't be measured in any objective way
• Why is it unfalsifiable?


  The claims he makes can't be shown as false/refuted - being able to test theories and hypotheses and show them to be false is central to all science
• Why is it an issue that he only focuses on the first 5 years of their lives?

  He disregards the importance of the later years of development
• What is controversial and unlikely in this approach?

  That the sexual instincts acted as the motivation behind nearly all behaviours
• Why is there no way to assess the accuracy of a psychoanalysis's interpretations?

  The explanations for behaviour depended on the subjective interpretation of the analyst
• Which explanations have been shown to be wrong?

  • The body doesn't 'store' anger or emotions
  • There isn't a fixed amount of aggression or sexual energy moving around the body Ideas are often incorrect and time-limited
• What does Freud overemphasise?

  The role of unconscious processes in determining behaviour rather than real experiences

  Ignored all conscious thoughts and the real events that happen to people and it shapes their behaviour
• How is the theory very vague?


  Freud has never produced any quantitative data
• How are Freud's ideas culturally biased?

  He only used a small sample of neurotic Viennese women and generalised it to the whole population
• What error do psychoanalysts often make?

  They assume that when someone looks back over their lives and A came before B, A caused B - they often assume a causal connection when there isn't one
• What is this theory unable to do?

  Predict anything, at most it can explain some behaviour in a vague, untestable fashion