Where biology and culture intersect
lies psychology. Kowalski and Westen, (2011) “psychology is the scientific
investigation of mental processes (thinking, remembering, feeling, etc.) and behavior”
(p. 3). At psychology’s beginning there were only a few foundations of
psychology, but through further understanding and knowledge more foundations
developed. Through psychology, human behavior can be understood through the major
schools of thought in psychology. The primary biological foundations of
psychology link behaviors.
Schools of Thought in Psychology
Different schools of
thought in psychology represent the major theories that lie within psychology. Structuralism
and functionalism were the first major schools of thought in psychology
followed by behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, Gestalt
psychology, and cognitive psychology. Edward Titchener, who was a student of Wilhelm
Wundt, developed structuralism. Wilhelm Wundt is often described as the “father
of psychology,” founded the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany
in 1879 (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Wundt was using a method called introspection,
which he trained observers verbally to report everything that went through
their minds when they were presented with a stimulus or task (Kowalski &
Westen, 2011). Titchener was an advocate of introspection as used in experiments
to devising a periodic table of the elements of human consciousness, similar to
the periodic table in chemistry (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).
The interest Titchener had
in the study of the structure of consciousness lead to his development of the
school of thought of structuralism (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Structuralism
attempted to uncover the basic elements of consciousness through introspection
and analyze the human mind’s inner processes (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). The
assumption in structuralism is that psychology is used to identify the basic
elements of consciousness. Functionalism, influenced by Charles Darwin’s
evolutionary theory, emphasized the role or function of psychological processes
in helping individuals adapt to their environment (Kowalski & Westen,
2011). Instead of focusing on the mental processes, functionalism focuses on the
role processes play. The assumption in functionalism is that psychology is a
means to investigate the purpose or function of consciousness instead of its
structure.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is the school
of thought in psychology based on the work of John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B.
F. Skinner, is the belief that behaviors are explained through environmental
causes instead of than internal forces. Observable behavior is the focus of behaviorism.
It is the assumption of behaviorists that mental events do not play a causal
role in human affairs (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Psychoanalysis is the
school of thought in psychology founded by Sigmund Freud late in the nineteenth
century, is a theory of mental life and behavior and an approach to treating
psychological disorders (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Psychoanalysis emphasizes the influence of the
unconscious mind on behavior. Freud’s belief was that the id, the ego, and the
superego were the three elements that composed the human mind.
The id is composed of
primal urges, the ego is a component of personality is charged with dealing
with reality, and the superego is a part of personality that holds the values
and ideals one internalizes from one’s parents and culture (Cherry, 2012). Freud’s
belief was that the interactions of the id, ego, and superego led to complex
human behaviors (Cherry, 2012). The assumption of psychoanalysis through Freud
is that one is influenced by unconscious forces, which include aggressive and innate sexual drives. In a response
to behaviorism and psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology was developed. Humanistic
psychology is the school of thought in psychology that was developed as a
response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. The focus of humanistic psychology
is individual free will, personal growth, and the concept of self-actualization,
therefore instead of focusing on abnormal human behavior it emphasize helping
one achieve and fulfill one’s potential (Cherry, 2012). The underlying assumption
of humanistic psychology is that if one has the freedom to grow one can reach the
highest level of achievement in any aspects of functioning.
Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt psychology is the
school of thought psychology that began late in the 19th century in Austria and
Germany and holds that perception is an active experience of imposing order on
an overwhelming panorama of details by seeing them as parts of larger wholes
(or gestalts) (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). This holds true as for the complex
perceptual and cognitive tasks that constitute scientific investigation (Kowalski
& Westen, 2011). The underlying assumption of Gestalt psychology is that
the one’s mind only functions by recognizing or imposing structures when none
are seen. Cognitive psychology is the school of thought in psychology began
in the 1950s, in response to behaviorism, which studies the mental processes
and how one thinks, learns, perceives, and remembers. Cognitive psychology focuses
on how one acquires, processes, and store information (Clark, 2012). The
underlying assumption of cognitive psychology are that human cognition can at least in
principle be fully revealed by the scientific method, that is, individual
components of mental processes can be identified and understood, and that internal
mental processes can be described in terms of rules or algorithms in
information processing models (Lu, & Dosher, 2007).
Biological Foundations of Psychology Linked to Behavior
The primary biological
foundations of psychology linked to behavior are the psychodynamic,
behaviorist, cognitive, and evolutionary perspectives. The psychodynamic
perspective developed by Sigmund Freud, proposes that one’s actions reflect the
way thoughts, feelings, and wishes are associated in one’s mind; that many of these
processes are unconscious, and that mental processes can conflict with one
another, leading to compromises among competing motives (Kowalski & Westen,
2011). The behaviorist perspective, pioneered by John Watston and B. F. Skinner,
is a perspective that focus is on the relation between observable behaviors and
environmental events or stimuli (behaviorism) (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).
The belief of this perspective is that many reactions are learned, and that
behavior is controlled through learning.
Cognitive Perspective
The cognitive perspective focuses
on how or the way one perceives, processes, and retrieve information (Kowalski
& Westen, 2011). This perspective is useful in understanding the process
behind decision making. The evolutionary perspective was built from Darwin’s
principle of natural selection (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). The argument is
that human behavioral proclivities must be understood in the context of their
evolutionary and adaptive significance (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). There is
also the argument that many behavioral tendencies in humans, from the need to
eat to concern for their children, evolved because they helped their ancestors
survive and rear healthy offspring (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). It is the
belief of evolutionary psychologists that the most enduring human attributes
during a certain point and time served as a function for humans as biological
organisms (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).
Conclusion
Influencing ones knowledge
and understanding of psychology are the major schools of thought, such as structuralism,
functionalism, behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, Gestalt
psychology, and cognitive psychology. One can identify solely with one school
of thought or draw on the theories and ideas from several schools of thought. The
four perspectives of psychology, which are the psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive,
and evolutionary perspective link human behavior. These perspectives are used
to study human behavior and allow one to form a thesis about why behaviors occur.
Cherry, K. (2012). About.com, Psychology. Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/schoolsthought.htm
Lu, Z. and Dosher, B.A. (2007). Scholarpedia. Retrieved
from http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Cognitive_psychology
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