Foundations of Psychology Essay

Foundations of Psychology

Psychology is the scientific investigation of mental process and behavior. Psychological processes occur through the cells in the nervous system. This functionality is used in everyday personal and professional life. Psychology is believed to originate from both philosophy and biology. Philosophy means the Investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods and Biology is defined as the study of life. There are different theories and studies to support both.

There are six human behavior patterns that are studied in Psychology called the major schools of thoughts. The first one is structuralism breaking down mental processes into the most basic components, Psychologist Wilhelm Wundt, is thought to be the founder of this particular study (Cherry, 2013). This principal is rarely used in psychology anymore and has been labeled as the least reliable because it was discovered that researchers were not able to describe some experiences or objects. Psychology often deals with data that are difficult to describe in concrete terms hence the reason this method is no longer used. Functionalism explains the mental process in a systematic manner, it also puts focus on the purpose of consciousness and behavior. This studies activities such as perception, memory, imagination, feeling, judgment. The method of study that was used is called introspection which uses an instrument to record and measure (Cherry, 2013). This process basically studies a person or a thing while it is functioning. This tool is still apart of psychology today. Psychoanalysis is the third school of Psychology founded by Sigmund Freud which is often known as the “Freudian theory”. Psychoanalysis is a treatment process that is considered to be lengthy, anywhere from 2 to 4 times a week. It is a study that helps patients determine what factors or experiences contributes to their behavior and emotions (McLeod, 2007). Psychoanalysis has been used to treat conditions such as panic attacks, OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression just to name a few. Behaviorism also known as the “behavioral approach” is the fourth, this method helps those support the fact that Psychology is a science. This is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. This research is done by experimenting with humans and or animals. The assumptions of this theory are that the environment shapes behavior and that taking internal mental states such as thoughts, feelings and emotions into consideration is use lessen explaining behavior (Driskoll, 2000). Humanism is the fifth method, this one is based on each individual and not grouping individuals together such as psychoanalysis. Humanistic psychology is when the individual is analyzing their own behavior, so some see it as being subjective. This form of psychology allows other factors to be taken into consideration

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