Why do psychologists generally focus on only one psychological perspective?
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Why do you feel, think, and behave in the ways you do? Here are five frameworks psychologists use to answer those questions. Show
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Jaimee Bell Copy a link to the article entitled http://Psychology’s%20five%20major%20perspectives%20explained Share Psychology’s five major perspectives explained on Facebook Share Psychology’s five major perspectives explained on Twitter Share Psychology’s five major perspectives explained on LinkedIn Human beings are fascinating. Have you ever wondered why some people can remember certain dates really well and others can’t? Or why you are a home-body while your best friend is usually the life of the party? What makes us think, feel, and behave the way we do? Psychology — the study of the mind and behavior — can be traced back to as early as 400-500 BC, while modern psychology is said to have started in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology lab. Wundt’s laboratory would become a focus for those with a serious interest in psychology — first opening its doors to German philosophers and psychology students, and later for American and British students as well. Wundt’s aim was to record thoughts and sensations and to analyze them into their constituent elements in much the same way a chemist would analyze chemical compounds, in order to get to the underlying structure. The study of psychology has progressed greatly, thanks to Wundt and other pioneers. Over the years, psychologists began to study all aspects of human behavior from personality traits to brain functions. Eventually, the studies began to look at the same human behaviors from various angles including biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and humanistic perspectives. These became known as the “five major perspectives” in psychology. The biological approachThe biological approach to psychology focuses on examining our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors from a strictly biological point of view. In this approach, all thoughts, feelings, and behaviors would have a biological cause. This approach is relevant to the study of psychology in three ways:
Each of these is inherently important to how we study human psychology from a biological point of view, and it’s suggested that behavior can be . The psychodynamic approachThe psychodynamic approach to psychology is most well-known for its ties to Sigmund Freud and his followers. This approach includes all theories in psychology that see humans functioning based on the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious and between the different structures of the personality. Freud developed a collection of theories (most of which were based on what his patients told him during therapy) that formed the basis of the psychodynamic approach. The can be best described in basic assumptions that:
The behavioral approachThe focuses on how one’s environment and external stimuli impact a person’s mental states and development. More importantly, it focuses on how these factors specifically “train” us for the behaviors we exhibit later on. People who support this approach to psychology over others may believe that the concept of “free will” is an illusion because all behaviors are learned and based on our past experiences. In other words, that we’ve been conditioned to act the way we act so nothing is ever truly our own choice. The cognitive approachThe cognitive approach to psychology shifts away from conditioned behavior and psychoanalytical notions to the study of how our mind works, how we process information, and how we use that processed information to drive our behaviors. Subscribe for counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. This approach focuses on:
In other words, the cognitive approach focuses on how our brains react to the environment around us and how our cognitive brain has very specific ways of processing certain stimuli which can explain why we think, feel and behave in certain ways. The humanistic approachThe humanistic approach to psychology was considered something of a rebellion against what psychologists saw as the limitations of the behaviorist and psychodynamic theories of psychology. It’s the idea that we should approach psychological studies uniquely for each individual because we are all so vastly different. This approach focuses on:
This approach puts emphasis on the uniqueness of every person and every situation, suggesting that the other studies can never be fully accurate as there is such a wide range of thoughts, feelings, and human behaviors that can adapt and change as we do. Why does psychology need different perspectives?The different perspectives in modern psychology give researchers and students tools to approach problems and answer questions. They also guide psychologists in finding new ways to explain and predict human behavior. This exploration and deeper understanding can even lead to the development of new treatment approaches.
What does the psychological perspective focus on?A psychological perspective is a school of thought or a philosophy which would guide someone's interpretation of an individual's behavior.
What psychological perspective is concerned with how information is processed in the brain?Cognitive psychology--the study of how people think and process information--helps researchers understand the human brain. It also allows psychologists to help people deal with psychological difficulties.
What is the most important psychological perspective?Cognitive Perspective
The cognitive perspective is one that is perhaps most prevalent today out of all those listed here. It emerged during the 1960s and focuses on mental processes, such as memory, thinking, problem-solving, language, and decision-making.
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