A psychoanalyst predicts from psychoanalytic theory that an insecure student is likely to join a fraternity as a way to strengthen his ego, demonstrating Freud's defense mechanism of identification by wanting to be part of a group. If the student never joins the fraternity because he wants time to study, the psychoanalyst could explain this decision as the defense mechanism of rationalizing instead of identification. Which kind of thinking error has occurred in this situation?
A) Illusory correlation, in which the psychoanalyst found a pattern in random data that is not there
B) Mistaking correlation for causation, concluding that the cause of the problem has been found when the variables are only correlated
C) Failing to make an argument, which occurred because psychoanalysis is pseudoscientific
D) Explaining away an unpredicted or unwanted outcome to show that psychoanalysis is not falsifiable

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The psychoanalyst is using a non-falsifiable explanation to account for the unpredicted outcome, which is a characteristic of theories that cannot be proven wrong because they can accommodate any observation.

A Psychoanalyst Predicts from Psychoanalytic Theory That an Insecure Student