Behaviourist, Humanistic & Evolutionary Theories

Behaviourist, Humanistic & Evolutionary Theories

  • Submitted By: JPfeffer
  • Date Submitted: 05/16/2013 11:49 PM
  • Category: Psychology
  • Words: 2973
  • Page: 12
  • Views: 1

When it comes to the area of psychology, very few men have had a profound effect on the study and on a great many people through altering the way people view their own lives (Cherry, 2013a, ¶1; Demorest, 2005, p. 1; Hunt, 1993). They sort to explain those human phenomena that are so universal and ever present to be taken for granted; mental processes such as thinking, remembering, feeling and behaviour (American Psychological Association [APA], 2013, ¶1; Burton, Westen, & Kowalski, 2012, p. 1, 8-9; Cherry, 2013b, ¶2; Demorest, 2005, p. 1; Walker, Borland, Summers, & Burnham, 1994, p. 23). Through the development of their explanations into theories, paradigms then perspectives, they opened doors that would forever change the field of psychology (Burton et al., 2012, p. 6; Demorest, 2005, p. 1-3). The behaviourist theory developed into a fully-fledged perspective by B. F. Skinner, Humanist theory fronted by Abraham Masow and Carl Rogers, and Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory will be summarised as well as an outline of the major assumptions and methodologies of each approach (Burton et al., 2012, p. 13, 15–16, 19). The evolutionary theory will also be critiqued in terms of its compatibility with a Christian worldview.
A theory established by the publication of John Watson’s paper Psychology as the Behaviourist Views and then made popular in the early 20th century by psychologist B. F. Skinner, is based on “the belief that behaviours can be measured, trained, and changed” through learning (Cherry, 2012c, ¶2). Such was Watson’s belief in learning, he maintained the 17th century philosopher John Locke’s idea that when we are born our mind is 'tabula rasa', or blank slate, and that knowledge is determined by experience derived from sense perception (Baird & Kaufmann, 2008, p. 527; Burton et al., 2012, p. 14; McLeod, 2007, ¶5). He further articulated this belief when he famously wrote:
Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified...

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