A tipster wrote:

"Each theory lead to an abundance of quality theory building and subsequent research 
that has pushed our discipline along these past 100+ years."  

This is a highly debatable statement. If it is true, it can also be stated with some 
confidence that each theory (Freud at least) has lead to some highly unscientific and 
poor quality theory and predictions. Such a glowing appraisal is not warranted. 
Classic psychoanalysis helps very few people to improve their adjustment, and has 
become impractical and obsolete.

"If we teachers of psychology only stuck to teaching what is purely "scientific" in 
our discipline we would have very little to say indeed and I dare say, we'd be out of 
business."

This is patently untrue. The most useful findings in psychology have been achieved 
through the use of technology and the scientific method. (The finding that autism and 
schizophrenia are biologically based brain disorders, not inflicted by parents as old 
school thinkers like Freud and Bettleheim would have had us believe. Many lives were 
ruined by the "refrigerator mother" nonsense.)

 If we cannot adhere to scientific rigor in our discipline, we may very well find 
ourselves out of business. 

Nancy Melucci
Long Beach City College
Long Beach, CA



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