The ideas of psychology have been talked about since the times of ancient philosophers. Socrates and Plato started to wonder about the connections between mind and body and they concluded that the mind was separate from the body and knowledge was innate. Later, Aristotle disproved Socrates' and Plato's idea for which he said that knowledge is gained through experience. Throughout history, these ideas were expanded by modern science which led to the ideas and practices of modern psychological perspectives.
From the ideas of previous philosophers among many other psychologists, cognitive psychology was developed. Cognitive psychology is the approach that defines behavior and mental processes through introspection. For example a cognitive psychologist would ask questions like "How would you feel about that?", "What are your thoughts on that?, etc. Introspection is a very unobservable way of defining psychology. This approach is not fact based, but it is a very distinct way of asking people's personal experiences and thoughts about subjects.
The psychoanalytic/psychodynamic approach was developed by Sigmund Freud and it is the approach that focuses on the influence of the unconscious mind. This approach would focus on how childhood trauma and other unconscious thoughts influence behavior and mental processes. Freud had a very radical point of view in psychology which led to his ideas that humans had little free will and that they were controlled by their unconscious mind.
Many psychologists began to grow weary of the very subjective approaches to mental processes and behavior, so in the 1920s, behaviorism developed. John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner developed behaviorism which is the psychological perspective that defines behavior and mental processes through what can be observed. For example, if a parent wants a good behavior to continue, they can reward the child when they do the correct behavior to condition them.
Charles Darwin studied the theory of natural selection which is the idea that the specific traits that allow organisms to survive are then passed down to the next generation- survival of the fittest. This concept led to the approach of evolutionary psychology. Psychologist William James was influenced by Darwin so he focused on the development of people and how evolution affected their behavior and mental processes. For example if an evolutionary psychologist were to examine someone's fear of snakes, they would say that their behavior is the way it is because of the fear of snakes being passed down to prioritize survival.
As scientists started to get involved in psychology, more scientific approaches began to develop like behavior genetics and biological psychology. Behavior genetics is when behavior and mental processes are defined by the genetics of someone. The biological perspective focuses on what is physically happening in the body. Later, the biopsychosocial approach was developed, and this approach is a combination of several things like biology, psychology, and people's environment; all of these factors are taken into account to define behavior and mental processes.
Through all these psychological perspectives, we can learn more about how and why we act the way we do. There are so many more perspectives that can define behaviors and mental processes. Our genetics and environment takes such a huge toll on how each of us act. These psychological perspectives show how we are all so different, but they also show how much we are all so alike.
Sources:
Myers' Psychology for the AP® Course 3rd Edition
Comments