Brief outline including strengths and weaknesses of the learning, phenomenological and psychoanalytic approaches to psychology

Psychoanalytic Approach:

· Definition: the theoretical view of personality, based on the writings of Sigmund Freud, which emphasizes the unconscious processes of the mind.

· Strengths: explanatory emphasis; description; explanation; prediction; control; comprehensive theory

· Weaknesses: construct validity and reliability; lack of predictions; not falsifiable;

Lack of interpretive rules or regulations

Phenomenological Approach:

· Definition: the theoretical view of personality that emphasizes experience, free will, and the meaning of life.

· Strengths: explanatory emphasis; control; subjective; seeks unique aspects of individuals; emphasizes the importance of self-actualization

· Weaknesses: construct validity and reliability; qualitative data is difficult to apply; investigates issues such as emotion and consciousness which are difficult to study objectively

Learning and Cognitive Approach:

· Definition: the theoretical view that focuses on how behavior changes as a function of rewards and punishments.

· Strengths: explanatory emphasis; prediction; reliable; effective; explains a great deal of phenomena using only a few simple principles

· Weaknesses: personal control; ignores important mental processes involved in learning; highly deterministic; questionable ecological validity