Psychology is the study of human
nature. Psychologist study the human
mind and behavior to figure out why people think, feel and do the things that
they do. Psychologist observe individuals,
ask questions, develop theories and conduct experiments to get a better
understanding of human nature and help improve the lives of individuals. There are four major schools of thought in
psychology that focus on how the mind works but in different ways.
The first psychological school of
thought structuralism was founded by Wilhelm Wundt in Germany and mainly
identified with Edward B. Titchener. The Encyclopedia
Britannica explains that “Structuralism sought to analyze the adult mind (defined
as the sum total experience from birth to the present) in terms of the simplest
definable components and then to find the way in which these components fit
together in complex forms (Structuralism 2013).” Structuralism focus is primarily on the
structure of the mind which involves studying the consciousness of people. In
my opinion I believe that structuralism mainly involves studying what goes on
inside someone’s mind to determine why they may behave in a certain way.
In response to the Structuralism a
well-known psychologist William James developed a school of thought
Functionalism which called for psychologist to focus on the functions of human
behavior. According to the Encyclopedia
of Anthropology “Functionalism primary focus was on social evolution and
the quest for origins of social institutions and cultural traits, as well as
those focused on the spread or diffusion of these institutions and cultural
traits (West, 2006) .” In functionalism
psychologist are encouraged not only to study an individual’s mind but also focus
on their surroundings and how they may contribute to their behavior by looking
for connections between things that happened in their life and the type of
behavior being acted out.
Structuralism and Functionalism
raised many questions among psychologist because of the lack of reliability and
agreement that concluded from the studies. According to an article in Psychological Review Watson asserted “that
neither Structuralism nor Functionalism was effective as a science and that the
time had come for psychology to take its place as a legitimate natural science (Watson, 1913) .” Watson believed
that it could do so by discarding its long-standing concern with conscious
mental functioning as a subject matter and introspection as a method. In Watson’s views, mental life as
traditionally conceived simply did not exist.
Rather, psychology should embrace behavior as its subject matter and
rely on experimental observation of that subject matter as its method. He called his viewpoint Behaviorism, another
school of thought. (Moore, 2011)
The school of thought Behaviorism
focus is primarily on the behavior of an individual and it is believed that the
psychological concepts of an individual such as their personality, learning and
emotion can only be explained in terms of observed behaviors that respond to
some type of stimulus. Behaviorist
believes that in order to fully understand people you need to observe what
happens to them and see how they respond.
Sigmund Freud developed the Psychoanalysis
school of thought a method of talk therapy for mental, emotional and behavioral
dysfunctions which believes that human behavior is caused by the unconscious
mind. According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
“Psychoanalysis is classified as an insight-oriented rather than a supportive
form of therapy, because it is based on the notion that people are better able
to make changes in their lives when they have improved their understanding of
themselves through identifying their assumptions about life and the early life
experiences that gave rise to them (Frey, 2011).”
Psychoanalysis interprets behaviors
to be motivated by overwhelming mental conflicts suppressed in the subconscious
of the mind. The purpose of
psychoanalysis is to help people move forward in their lives by resolving inner
conflicts leading to a range of mental and emotional problems (Frey, 2011). The
Psychoanalysis method is when the psychologist helps and individual understand
themselves through analyzing deeply hidden feelings, past and present
relationships, and experiences they have had that may be a contributing factor
to their behavior.
The major schools of thought are
linked to the primary biological foundations in psychology because they all in
some degree focus on mental processes which involve behavior that is controlled
by the brain. The biological foundations
look to the body to explain the mind.
The influences of hormones, genes, the brain, and the central nervous
system on the way we think, feel and act are the primary foundations in
psychology.
The biological make-up of an
individual plays an important role in their behavior. The brain controls behaviors and mental
processes. According to Santrock, “The evolutionary psychology approach, which emphasizes
the importance of adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection in explaining
psychology, considers how the human nervous system has evolved to its complex
present state. Most scientists believe that behavior is determined by the
interaction of the environment and the organism's biological inheritance
(McGraw-Hill, 2005).”
The biological foundations of behavior article also states that “The nervous system is
made up of interconnected nerve cells that transmit information throughout the
body. There are four defining characteristic of the nervous system: (1) it
communicates via electrochemical transmission, (2) it is characterized by its
complexity, as the brain alone is composed of billions of nerve cells, (3) it
can integrate information from many sources and create a coherent psychological
experience, and (4) it has a great capacity to adapt to changes in the
environment and the body. The capacity of the brain to adapt is termed plasticity. (McGraw-Hill, 2005) ”
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