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foundations of psychology
CHAPTER 1: The Science of Psychology
CHAPTER 1: The Science of Psychology
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Foundations of Psychology
According to science philosopher Thomas Kuhn, the ongoing development of scientific paradigms is responsible for scientific progress. A scientific paradigm has three basic characteristics: a series of assertions that provide a model of the object of study, a group of common metaphors that assist with comprehension of the object of study, and a methodology that is accepted by the scientific community to provide legitimate and valuable data when carried out correctly. Within the social sciences, Kuhn stated, there is an absence of accepted paradigms. Instead, perhaps because these fields of study are younger than the hard sciences such as biology or physics, there are several fragmented perspectives that nonetheless share these characteristics of a paradigm. There are four of these perspectives that inform contemporary psychological thought: the psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive, and evolutionary perspectives (Kowalski & Westen, 2009).
The psychodynamic perspective of psychology stems from the work of the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, during the late nineteenth century. This perspective contends that behavior demonstrates that behavior is caused by the mental connections between thoughts, emotions, and desires; that these mental processes happen mainly beyond conscious knowledge; and that when mental processes are in conflict with each other the mind must find a way to settle the conflict. Despite the historical use among psychodynamic theorists of case studies drawn from patients' dreams and fantasies, bearing and demeanor as a primary means of observation, contemporary psychodynamic psychologists are using scientifically valid experimental methodology more frequently than in the past. Th...
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...uction cycle. Therefore, evolutionary psychology posits that many common behaviors are present because human antecedents developed them to make survival and reproduction more likely. Sociobiology is a very young discipline that studies genetic transmission of behavioral disposition. This has brought behaviors under the auspices of evolutionary psychology that were previously not seen as being within its scope. Evolutionary psychology uses deduction as its primary method of observation (Kowalski & Westen, 2009).
Understanding the four perspectives that guide contemporary psychology - the psychodynamic perspective, the behaviorist perspective, the cognitive perspective, and the evolutionary perspective - provides a basis for understanding the study of psychology itself.
References
Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2009). Psychology. (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
Rene Descartes, Herman von Helmholtz, and Wilhelm Wundt all played important roles in creating psychology how it is today, by going beyond what the thought processes were at their time and expanding on knowledge. They didn’t look at the world as other’s did, and they didn’t take “no” for an answer. These great thinkers were centuries to decades apart, but their theories combined and collided into the new psychology.
Kuhn (1996), defined a paradigm a set of theoretical concepts and research, unified by a framework that describes what is/ isn’t accepted in a specific area of scientific research. Paradigms have two distinguished aspects, namely a set of core experiments that are exemplary and therefore likely to be reproduced and underpinning preconceptions that condition the evidence collected in the experiments. However early theorists considered paradigms conceptually inappropriate for the social sciences such as psychology compared to their natural science counterparts, citing that there are no paradigms in social science as the concepts are polysemic (Kuhn, 1996; Dogan, 2001). Paradigms have also been described as a perspective of the world or worldview (Fassinger, 2005), a term used to describe a specific set of experiences, beliefs and values that the individual uses in order to interpret reality.
The study of psychology began as a theoretical subject a branch of ancient philosophy, and later as a part of biological sciences and physiology. However, over the years, it has grown into a rigorous science and a separate discipline, with its own sets of guidance and experimental techniques. This paper aims to study the various stages that the science of psychology passed through to reach its contemporary status, and their effects on its development. It begins with an overview of the historical and philosophical basis of psychology, discusses the development of the various schools of thought, and highlights their effects on contemporary personal and professional decision-making.
Waiten,W., (2007) Seventh Edition Psychology Themes and Variations. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Thomson Wadsworth.
The term psychology has many meanings to different people, even to those who work within the psychological field. The word psychology derives from two Greek roots; 'psyche' refers to 'soul' or 'mind' and logo refers to 'the study of'. A more update definition of the word psychology can be found from Atkinson, et al (1991) “The scientific study of behaviours and mental processes.” However on Google Definitions the definition of psychology is “the mental characteristics and attitudes of a person” [accessed 16 September 2011], which gives somewhat of a contradiction. In this assignment I will be outlining and evaluating four key psychological perspectives. The psychological perspectives I have chosen are the behavioural approach, biological approach, cognitive approach and the psychodynamic approach.
...criterion that true science is progressive. It has proven able to successfully account for apparent anomalies and generate novel predictions and explanations and therefore has the hallmarks of a currently progressive research program capable of providing us with new knowledge of how the mind works (Ketellar and Ellis 2000). A glance at the Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (2005), edited by David Buss, shows just how vigorous and productive the field is. Important challenges remain in the discipline, however. The most important are determining the role of domain-specific versus domain-general processes and integrating evolutionary psychology with other behavioral sciences like genetics, neuroscience, and psychometrics (Buss 2004; Rice 2011). Even though critics will remain, Evolutionary Psychology will remain as a scientific discipline for the foreseeable future.
The psychodynamics theory which was introduced by Freud to understand the human mind and psyche, reached a new level in the continuous analysis from therapists. Psychodynamics originally has been explained as a study of various psychological forces that affect human behavior which is related to early experiences. It specifically discusses the connection between the conscious and subconscious motivations. The theory was further analyzed and developed by Melanie Klein, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. Based on the theory, the psychodynamic therapy evolved to help patients through psychoanalysis. With time other therapies like individual, group and family therapy evolved to offer treatment by understanding the present day complexities in more detail. The main aim of the therapy is self –awareness through identifying the various influences of many past events in life. The therapies are continuously evolving since it was introduced by Freud to help in solving a variety of psychological disorders within people.
Psychodynamic theory focuses on exposing unconscious relations through a process of seemingly irrelevant associations. While the relationship between these associations is not apparent to the patient, the analyst uses them to expose the subject's unconscious patterns of thought that they do not seemingly use or that prevent expression of their true desires.
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind, brain, and behavior. In psychology, and all of the other sciences, relying on opinions is abandoned in order to find out which explanations best fit the evidence or data given. Science continually forces us to question our findings and conclusions. Over time, psychology has advanced greatly and a main reason for such progressiveness is because of the change in the research model used.
...en out of favor with many modern psychologist maybe because of the way people’s mentality change over the course of the years. I also believe that the unfortunate truth is that old philosophies are meant to be substituted by new and better ideas. Last but not least that what makes this subject of psychology so intriguing for me; the fact that there so many theories conflicting with each other yet, some way and some how, no idea is ether wrong nor incorrect; each idea has a compelling argument witch makes it unique.
In life, humanity is on a journey much like walking through a forest full of trees that requires consistent observation while navigating the path traveled. Remaining on course is a very important part of arriving at the destination of achievement and success. There is no way to have complete certainty of always arriving on time, as all the variables come into the picture of that journey which psychology also does in relation to the mind. The psychodynamic theory in comparison to the cognitive behavior theory is somewhat well viewed in focus of examining the mental process of what one does based upon what one has thought of doing. To consider the contrast of both, potentially has a foundation in approaching each from different angles of perspective in order to understand and alter the potential results therein. In a comparison and contrast of these practiced theories, it would help to understand some important key perspectives within them.
The development of psychology like all other sciences started with great minds debating unknown topics and searching for unknown answers. Early philosophers and psychologists such as Sir Francis Bacon and Charles Darwin took a scientific approach to psychology by introducing the ideas of measurement and biology into the way an indi...
The psychological genre as it relates to sociological and medicinal matters has gained an increasing amount of scientific approval. Impartiality and the scientific method are both integral components to a psychologist’s mode of practice. However, even the most esteemed of psychologists can only speculate at what makes human beings act the way they do. Absolutes play no function in psychology. Everything is relative and open to conjecture. Theologians give us their visions or thoughts about life. In the field of psychology, there have been many different regions of interest and speculation.
Describe and evaluate the theories of Sigmund Freud's psycho dynamic approach as an explanation of human behaviour. In the evaluation summarise and evaluate the cognitive perspective as an alternative explanation of human behaviour.
Hergenhahn, B. R., & Henley, T. B. (2014). An introduction to the history of psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.