STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

• Weakness of the Psychodynamic Approach- Concepts lack testability:

  • Personality- ID / IGO / SUPEREGO occurs within the mind 
  • Cannot be tested scientifically
  • Relies on subjective interpretation- universal generalisations cannot be made
• Strength of Psychodynamic Approach- Supporting Evidence for Phallic stage of development:

  • Little Hans experiment- Freud called to explain a boys fear of horses
  • Little Hans- going through OEDIPIUS complex
  • Fear of horses- resembled his father
  • Increases the validity of the Psychodynamic Approach (Freud’s concepts demonstrated in real-life context)
• Weakness of Psychodynamic approach- Opposing Theory to explain behaviour:

  • Psychodynamic Approach- argues that unconscious processes influence our behaviour
  • Biological Approach- assumes that there are biological factors which determine our behaviour- combination of genes we inherit
  • Decreases the validity- doesn’t specifically consider genetics
  • Furthermore, social learning theory states that we learn from the imitation and identification of others within a social context