critiquing psychoanalytic and humanistic approaches Flashcards
three general critiques of humanistic psychology
- Positive approach but may be too optimistic about human behaviour
- Not supported by evidence - based on assumptions
-Certain constructs hard to design e.g. self-actualisation
general critiques of psychodynamic approaches
- Focus on psychiatric patients - not generalisable to population
- Often not testable or falsifiable
what did Freud get wrong
- Psychosexual stages
- Penis envy
Oedipus and Electra complexes
what did Freud get right (to an extent)
- Unconscious cognitive processes
- Talking therapies
- Repressed memories
Defence mechanisms
what is a defence mechanism
Techniques of ego to deal with unwanted thoughts and desires and reduce or avoid anxiety
what is repression
- Push threatening material out of consciousness
- Forceful forgetting
what is sublimation
- Channelling impulses into socially acceptable actions
- Usually rewarding
what is displacement
- Channelling impulses to nonthreatening objects
Displaced impulses do not lead to rewards
what is denial
Refusing to accept something exists
what is reaction formation
Acting in a manner opposite to threatening unconscious desires
what is projection
Attributing negative thoughts/ emotions onto someone else
what defence mechanism is there no evidence for
sublimation
what defence mechanism has some evidence
Denial
People make more external attributions for failure than success
which defence mechanism is there good evidence for
reaction formation
what did Adam Wright and Lohr find for reaction formation
assessed homophobia and showed men videotapes featuring homosexual intercourse
- Homophobic men said they were not aroused, but physiological measures showed they were more aroused than others
