AP BIOLOGY

THE HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM

DEFENSE MECHANIS

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Much of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory on personality is criticized for lacking empirical support. What is one exception?
A
The psychosexual stages of development
B
The concept of defense mechanisms
C
The three levels of consciousness
D
The three personality structures
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Two common criticisms, espoused by laypeople and professionals alike, are that the theory is too simple to ever explain something as complex as a human mind, and that Freud overemphasized sex and was unbalanced here (was sexist).

Detailed explanation-2: -Freud’s work has been criticized as (1) not scientifically testable and offering after-the-fact explanations, (2) focusing too much on sexual conflicts in childhood, and (3) based on the idea of repression, which has not been supported by modern research.

Detailed explanation-3: -The greatest criticism of the psychodynamic approach is that it is unscientific in its analysis of human behavior. Many of the concepts central to Freud’s theories are subjective, and as such, difficult to test scientifically.

Detailed explanation-4: -Critics of the psychoanalytic approach, especially Freud’s theories, argue that the approach is difficult to test, overemphasizes biology and unconscious forces, has inadequate empirical support, is sexist, and lacks cross-cultural support.

There is 1 question to complete.