livanis

I think that the similarity between the two is that there is no evidence to support them as valid predictors of human bheavior and functioning.

Yes, I do agree with you. When you are talking about constructs such as "ego", you are dealing less with scientific phenomena and more with "explanatory fictions". Understanding behavior in terms of it's function or a description of its "Why" is much more ultilitarian. As a consequence, when we discuss the functions of behaviors, we are venturing into evolutionary territory - the function of any behavior is ultimately to make the persone who is emitting the behavior survive (or to teach him or her the skills to survive). I am avidly interested in evolutionary psychology, but do find its methodology lacking; this lack is, of course, due not to poor scientists, but to the subject matter itself which demands a good deal of correlational research Andrew Livanis