Part II    Psychodynamic Theories66
fei75766_ch02_019-071.indd 66  02/19/20 08:59 AMAlthough itistruethatFreud himself wasnotascientist butrather aclinician 
andscientific support forhisideas waslacking formost ofthe20thcentury, recently 
support forsome main ideas hasbegun toemerge. Tobesure,Freud’s most contro -
versial ideas about sexual stages ofdevelopment havegarnered verylittlescientific 
support andwerenotevenaccepted bysome ofhisclosest associates, suchasAdler 
andJung. Over thelast20years, however, neuropsychoanalytic research hasbeencon-
ducted thatsupports other keyideas setforth byFreud, namely thepower ofuncon -
scious processes, theimpact ofchildhood experiences onadult personality, theroleof
repression andmeaning indreams, andexistence ofdefense mechanisms (Johnson &
Mostri, 2016; Northoff &Boeker, 2006; Solms, 2000, 2004; Smith &Solms, 2018). 
Wetherefore rateFreudian theory about average initsability togenerate research .
Second, auseful theory should befalsifiable. Because much oftheresearch evi-
dence consistent withFreud’s ideas canalsobeexplained byother models, Freudian 
theory isnearly impossible tofalsify. Agood example ofthedifficulty offalsifying 
psychoanalysis isthestory ofthewoman whodreamed thathermother-in-law was
coming foravisit.Thecontent ofhisdream could notbeawishfulfillment because 
thewoman hated hermother-in-law andwould notwishforavisitfrom her.Freud 
escaped thisconundrum byexplaining thatthewoman hadthedream merely tospite
Freud andtoprove tohimthatnotalldreams arewishfulfillments. Thiskindof
reasoning clearly gives Freudian theory averylowrating onitsability togenerate 
falsifiable hypotheses.
Thethird criterion ofanyuseful theory isitsability toorganize knowledge into
ameaningful framework. Unfortunately, theframework ofFreud’s personality the-
ory,withitsemphasis ontheunconscious, issoloose andflexible thatseemingly 
inconsistent datacancoexist within itsboundaries. Compared withother theories 
ofpersonality, psychoanalysis ventures more answers toquestions concerning why
people behave astheydo.Butonlysome ofthese answers come from scientific 
investigations—most aresimply logical extensions ofFreud’s basic assumptions. 
Thus, weratepsychoanalysis ashaving onlymoderate ability toorganize knowledge.
Fourth, auseful theory should serve asa guide for the solution of practical prob -
lems. Because Freudian theory isunusually comprehensive, many psychoanalytically 
trained practitioners relyonittofindsolutions topractical day-to-day problems. 
However, psychoanalysis nolonger dominates thefieldofpsychotherapy, andmost 
present-day therapists useother theoretical orientations intheirpractice. Thus, we
givepsychoanalysis alowrating asaguide tothepractitioner.
Thefifthcriterion ofauseful theory deals withinternal consistency, includ -
ingoperationally defined terms. Psychoanalysis isaninternally consistent theory, if
oneremembers thatFreud wrote overaperiod ofmore than40years andgradually 
altered themeaning ofsome concepts during thattime. However, atanysingle point 
intime, thetheory generally possessed internal consistency, although some specific 
terms wereusedwithlessthanscientific rigor.
Does psychoanalysis possess asetofoperationally defined terms? Here the
theory definitely fallsshort. Such terms asid,ego,superego, conscious, precon -
scious, unconscious, oralstage, sadistic-anal stage, phallic stage, Oedipus complex, 
latent levelofdreams, andmany others arenotoperationally defined; thatis,they
arenotspelled outinterms ofspecific operations orbehaviors. Researchers must 
originate their ownparticular definition ofmost psychoanalytic terms.Final PDF to printer