The Five Main Perspectives of Psychology

The Five Main Perspectives of Psychology

  • Submitted By: 609536
  • Date Submitted: 12/03/2008 11:03 AM
  • Category: Psychology
  • Words: 472
  • Page: 2
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.The psychodynamic perspective had a wide range of influences leading to its founding in the early 1900?s. Aristotle first proposed the idea of learning by association and explored how people formed connections between ideas and events. Functionalism was pioneered by William James and emphasized the analysis of the processes by which the mind works. Structuralism was developed by Wilhelm Wundt and used the introspectionist method to analyze the contents of the mind. Through his work on animals concerning evolution, Darwin introduced the theory of biological continuity across species during the late 1800?s. Darwin?s ideas would eventually convince many prominent psychodynamic psychologists that human motivation for behavior is biologically based. This notion would effect the work of Freud, Adler, and Erikson. The development of the psychodynamic perspective took place during the Victorian age. This was a time when women were heavily repressed and sexist attitudes were widespread. These factors, along with the beginnings of the feminist movement, influenced the theories proposed by Freud and Horney. Several important events and individuals helped to shape the psychodynamic perspective

"The learning perspective is concerned with how the environment and experience affect a person's (or a nonhuman animals) actions." The learning perspective lies at the nurture end of the nature-nurture debate. "The learning perspective views a person as entering the world as tabula rasa (blank slate); although it acknowledges that there are instincts and pre-set responses to stimuli, as well as a preference for pleasure and a desire to avoid pain." Behaviorists believed that actions were responses to stimuli that were learned. "Within this perspective behaviorists focus on the environmental rewards and punishers that maintain or discourage specific behaviors." Consequently, the basic concept was that positive responses would be triggered by good stimuli while...

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