The foundations of psychology rely mainly on their major schools of thought: the psychodynamic perspective, first introduced by Sigmund Freud, the behaviorist perspective, the cognitive perspective, and the evolutionary perspective. These four main theories were developed to explain how we as humans behave, think and react. Although the human mind still remains a mystery to most, these four perspectives in psychology offer different ways in which to study and analyze thought process and human behavior. Each perspective has many opposing ideas but has made lengthy contributions to psychology. The psychodynamic approach to psychology was first thought of by Sigmund Freud and relies on three key premises: Peoples actions are determined by their underlying thoughts, feelings, and wishes, many of these thoughts, feelings and wishes occur in the unconscious state of mind, and these processes may conflict with one another leading to compromises among motives (Kowalski & Westen, 2011 Methods of the psychodynamic perspective psychologist are interpreting meanings behind a person’s behavior by studying a patient’s dreams, fantasies and subtle behavior.
The Essay on Humanistic / Phenomenological Perspective in Psychology
Explain the key concepts of the humanistic/phenomenological perspective. To what extent are these concepts derived from other perspectives and other social sciences?The humanistic perspective was founded by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. The humanistic psychologists believe in the growth potential of healthy individuals and believe that people must strive for self-determination and self- ...
This is mostly done in a case-study setting with leads the psychologist to rely on clinical data to support their theories. “Research confirms that most psychological processes occur outside awareness and that many of the associations between feelings and behaviors or situations that guide our behavior are expressed implicitly or unconsciously” (Kowalski and Westen, 2011).
John Watson and B.F. Skinner developed behaviorism or the behaviorist perspective. Behaviorism is the focused study of environment and conditioning on behavior. The perspective asserts that behavior is a direct result of environmental events or stimuli. Conditioning is a key concept used in behaviorism. Classical and operant conditioning are two of the main types of conditioning behaviorists use in their studies. These studies are mainly performed in an experimental environment. “The experimental method entails framing a hypothesis, or prediction, about the way certain environmental events will effect behavior and then creating a laboratory situation to test that hypothesis” (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).
The cognitive perspective views the human brain as a computer and focuses mainly on how the brain processes information. Cognitive psychologists study processes such as attention, memory, thinking, perception and language. Most studies are focused on and around the memory and decision making. Environment is known as the stimulus which provides inputs, which are transformed and stored and then result in a response (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).
Sensation and perception are also widely studied in the cognitive perspective. Sensations, what we smell, see, touch and taste are studied to apply to how the brain reacts to theses sensations. Perception is how we perceive the information presented to us in any given situation. An example of a cognitive approach case study would be one that tests memory by presenting flash cards to a patient and then after a period of time showing them the same cards to see what they remember. The evolutionary perspective is based on our biological foundations.
The Essay on Studying The Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project is a 15-year international research program to find the estimated 80,000 human genes and determine the sequence of the three billion DNA building blocks that underlie all of human biology and its diversity. The purpose of The Human Genome Project will characterize the genomes of human and selected model organisms through complete mapping and sequencing of their DNA. It ...
The nature versus nurture controversy is a topic that has been widely debated for centuries. Natures meaning our biological need to do such things as eat, have sex, and care for our children. Charles Darwin was the first to coin natural-selection; natural forces select adaptive traits in organisms that help them to survive in their environment (Kowalski & Westen 2011).
These traits are suggested to pass down from generation to generation. Thus the evolutionary perspective scientists focus much of their research on the adaptive changes in animals and relate them to humans. Many of us are familiar with Darwin’s finches and the astounding research that he conducted on the various species of finches in the Galapagos Islands.
This study led to the idea that many human behavioral traits are also passed down biologically from one offspring to the next. When combining all four perspectives somewhat equally the psychologist can offer a boarder spectrum of analysis into the human mind. Freud argued that the unconscious and subconscious mind was the key to unlocking the wonders of human behavior, whereas Skinner argued that environmental consequences determined behavior. Charles Darwin developed natural-selection and the biological adaptation of human behavior, whereas other psychologists argued the cognitive approach to psychology, studying the brain and the way it perceives information. Each perspective brings different light to psychology and a solid basis into the subject. Although each of the perspectives can be argued against, they have each made large contributions into human behavior.
References
Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2011).
The Study of Mental Processes and Behavior (6th ed.).
Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook.
