Evaluation of Psychodynamic Approach Flashcards
Is the Psychodynamic Approach Deterministic or Free will?
Deterministic
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach Deterministic?
Behaviour is driven by the tripartite. You have no free will in the development of your personality
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach being Deterministic a positive?
Helps psychologists to develop laws of behaviour e.g. the critical period. This can help develop interventions to prevent future harmful behaviours
What is a possible negative of the Psychodynamic Approach being Deterministic?
It detracts from personal responsibility of actions. It makes people difficult to be held accountable as they have no free will
Is the Psychodynamic Approach Reductionist or Holistic?
Reductionist
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach Reductionist?
Each part of the tripartite controls a part of the personality. The approach focuses on innate drives and childhood experiences and ignores genetics, biochemistry and neuroanatomy.
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach being Reductionist a positive?
Can be useful because you can isolate a factor an research it in detail by focusing on it
What is a possible negative of the Psychodynamic Approach being Reductionist?
The explanation it offers could be too simplistic as there is only one point of view
Does the Psychodynamic Approach have many applications?
Yes, it has been applied successfully for many years
What proves that the Psychodynamic Approach has lots of applications?
Therapies such as dream analysis and hypnosis have been used to treat several disorders. Briggs et al conducted a meta analysis that found that there was a significant decrease in suicidal and self-harm behaviour when the patient underwent psychodynamic therapy
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach having lots of Applications a positive?
The approach has led to real life applications so it benefits the patient and proves that the principles of the approach are correct
How can the Applications be viewed as a negative?
The effectiveness can be hard to verify as as no therapy can cure all disorders
Is the Psychodynamic Approach Idiographic or Nomothetic?
It has elements of both
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach Nomothetic? Use examples of Freud and Bowlby’s research
Freud developed the tripartite and psychosexual stages theories which are governed by universal processes and are applied to everybody.
Bowlby used a nomothetic approach to develop his theory of maternal deprivation
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach Idiographic?
Freud’s case studies (Dora, Wolfman) are subjective and unique to everyone. This provides insight into unique behaviour to try and understand it
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach being both Nomothetic and Idiographic a positive?
It means that it recognises the role that individual differences have in human behaviour. And it also is scientific as it can be replicated and generalised into lots of different situations. So treatment can be widely applied
Is the Psychodynamic Approach Nature or Nurture?
It is Interactionist meaning it is both
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach Nature?
Freud explains that personality is a product of innate desires. He also states that the id is present from birth so is a biological aspect of our personality
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach Nurture?
Freud recognises that nurture influences our personality and behaviour through childhood experiences and the psychosexual stages. Frustration through the stages will have an influence on personality traits
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach being both Nature and Nurture a positive?
It ensures that all possible significant factors in a behaviour are acknowledged and investigated
Is the Psychodynamic Approach Scientific or Unscientific?
Unscientific
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach Unscientific?
Because the Psychodynamic approach focuses on the unconscious it makes it difficult to falsify. Popper (1934) argues that a theory can only be accepted if it can be falsified. The unconscious mind cannot be scientifically and objectively tested
Why can’t the Psychodynamic Approach be falsified?
It cannot be proven that the id, ego and superego don’t exist within the unconscious mind. This is the same with the psychosexual stages.
Why is the Psychodynamic Approach being Unscientific a negative?
It’s less likely to be believable as less people take it seriously
