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The field of psychology has its origins in philosophy and religion. The literal translation of the word psychology
means “the study of the soul” (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). The field of study is ancient, rooted in early
Greek philosophy. Since its beginnings, psychology has evolved into a field of
study of its own. Today, psychology is comprised of several major schools of
thought, each with the goal of studying and explaining human thought and
behavior. These schools of thought include; psychodynamics, behaviorism,
cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, and biopsychology.
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Psychodynamics-
the school of psychodynamic psychology attempts to study the internal forces
that underlie human behavior. The internal forces studied include the dynamic
relations between conscious motivation and unconscious motivation. Through
psychodynamic psychology, various parts of the mind, personality and psyche and
their interrelationship are studied in relation to mental, emotional and
motivational forces at the unconscious level that affect behavior and states of
mind.
Behaviorism-
is the study of observable behaviors rather than internal subconscious
conflicts. Behaviorists hold that human behavior is affected by stimuli from
the environment, especially through learning, and that all behaviors are
acquired through processes of conditioning. Many components of cultural and
sociological theory have been integrated into behaviorism due to the assumption
that all behavior is learned and the correlating assumption that an individual
is a product of their environment. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are two ways in which behaviors are learned using notions of
stimulus, response and reinforcement.
Cognitive psychology- Views the human mind as an information processing system that
thinks about, or computes, input from the outside world to create outputs in
the form of mental or physical states. As such, from the point of view of
cognitive psychology, how a person behaves is a result of what a person sees,
experiences and remembers.
Evolutionary
Psychology- Views human behavior as a result of instinct and social evolution
(Kowalski & Westen, 2009). Evolutionary psychologists, as a result, view human
nature and behavior as a product of a universal set of evolved psychological
adaptations to problems in the ancestral environment. In addition, the brains
adaptive mechanisms were shaped by natural and sexual selection similar to
Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
Biopsychology-
The branch of psychology that specifically studies how the brain,
neurotransmitters, and central nervous system affect behaviors, thoughts and
feelings. This field attempts to explain human behavior from a chemical and
biological standpoint.
These schools of psychology often
have considerable overlap even though they may seem contradictory. As
psychology continues to evolve, the correlations of these fields become more
defined. In the future, psychology will
continue to expand encompassing larger areas of thought.
References
Kowalski,
R., & Westen, D. (2009). Psychology (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
This post is intended to help with PSY 300 and many other psychology courses. If you need help with PSY 300 or any other psychology course come visit Homework Mountain!
