Four different theories must be tackled, presented for assessment in one document
There are three sections to each theory; Four theories must be chosen from this list: (templated attached separately)

1. Freudian psychoanalytic theory of personality
2. Post-Freudian: Erikson
3. Post-Freudian: Jung
4. Post-Freudian: Adler
5. Post-Freudian: Horney
6. Biological theory of personality: Eysenck and Gray, modern genetic studies
7. Humanistic and phenomenological (needs) theory (not just Maslow)
8. Dispositional theory of personality: Allport
9. Social-cognitive theory: Bandura (1980’s onward) and Gestalt influences

No more than 1 Post-Freudian please! So you could do Freud, Erikson, Biological and Behaviourism, but not Freud, Erikson, Jung and Behaviourism…

3 sections:
1. Summary with key theorists
2. Evaluation of strengths and weakness of theory (with citations)
3. Personal reflection concerning how theory explains personality and individual differences

All 4 theories must be related to the development of personality. Use third person passive voice throughout. The focus should be on how each theoretical model explains:
• How human personality develops
• The reason for individual differences in behaviour (as an expression of personality)
• In other words, how each theory proposes that personality (as seen by behaviour) develops.
• So for example we’ve examined how biological and genetic
differences are thought to influence one’s personality.
• If you write about this you’ll need to explain what those theories are, not just say it’s ‘related to genetics’ – what systems in the brain and body are thought to be linked to behaviour and why?

Section 1:

• brief summary of the core message of the theory and which are the big names – and their contributions to understanding the development of personality.
• So for example, for biological theory – who are the main contributors? What is the core message in biological theories (this is basically the ‘nature’ principle) and what mechanisms have been proposed regarding the inheritance of personality?
• NO CITATIONS NEEDED- this is demonstrating you understand
• key issues.
• Remember the focus is on the DEVELOPMENT of personality
• However, it’s important to engage with causality here
• So for example, who first proposed that AROUSAL levels in the brain were linked to the basic personality concept of extraversion?
• In the first section you will need to detail key figures in the theory and key principles

Section 2 evaluation:

• How has this theory been evaluated in terms of the contribution to understanding individual differences in personality?
• What are the benefits of this theory? – strengths and weaknesses with contemporary support must be provided.
• How has this theory been criticised?
• Think about how the theory has been incorporated into modern psychology – what is it’s legacy?
• The enduring prominence of psychoanalytic theory, of behaviourist techniques in learning, genetic and neurological confirmation of biological systems, modern day psychometrics using a lexical method, etc.
• CITATIONS ARE NECESSARY AND MUST SUPPORT YOUR COMMENTS. These must be of research papers which have either confirmed or challenged the theory or aspects of it

WARNING Mistakes previous students have made IN EVALUATION SECTION…

• Citing the author of the theory in the evaluation
o For example using Freud to evaluate Freud or Bandura to evaluate Social Learning theory
o Evaluations MUST be from later authors – as contemporary as possible
• Not citing academic authors in this section
o points made have therefore not been counted as they are speculation, not evaluation!

Section 3 reflection

• This is the section where YOUR OPINION is required. This is different from Section 2 – NO CITATIONS as it is your evaluation.
• Here the target is to demonstrate your OWN critical thinking, evaluation and assessment of theory.
• DO qualify your statements. Explain to what extent you feel the theory is useful in psychology today – as a means to understand human development and individual differences. Have you evidence from anecdotal experience? Were the methods used to test the theory ethical? Could such principles or practises be encouraged today?
• AIM FOR AT LEAST 4 POINTS, and make sure you expand each to show your knowledge and critical thinking! Don’t just say things like ‘I think it’s an important theory’…

You will need 4 copies of the template (attached on word document), 1 for each of 4 theories, all in a single document file