PSYC 2450 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Electra Complex, Discovery Learning, Computer Simulation
23 Oct 2013
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Document Summary
Scientific theory is a set of concepts and propositions that describe, organize and explain a set of observations. Good theories are parsimonious, and yet able to explain a broad range of phenomena, falsifiable and heuristic (building on existing knowledge by continuing to generate testable hypotheses) Freud challenged prevailing notions about human nature by proposing that we are driven by motives and conflicts of which we are largely unaware and that our personalities are shaped by our early life experiences. He was a neurologist who formulated his theory of human development from his analyses of his emotionally disturbed patients" life histories. Relied heavily on hypnosis, free association, and dream analysis as they gave some indication of unconscious motives that patients had repressed. Concluded that human development is a conflictual process: as biological creatures, we have basic sexual and aggressive instincts that must be served but society dictates that many of these drives are undesirable and must be restrained.
