Foundations of Psychology

Foundations of Psychology Paper

Casie Thibeault

PSY 300

May 5, 2013

University of Phoenix

Foundations of Psychology Paper

Psychology is the study of one’s behavior and mental processes. In other words the study of one’s feelings, thoughts, and why people act the way they do. When studying psychology there are five major schools of thought, Behaviorism, Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic, Humanistic, and Cognitive. Each of these different schools of thought has their very own views on behavior and one’s mind.

Behaviorism is the study of psychology that believes in observation of one’s behavior with the thought that all of one’s behaviors such as emotions, thoughts, and even doing simple everyday things are all forms of behavior. Behaviorlists believe that environmental stimuli are what contributes to one’s behavior and that this can all be studied through observation of animals and people. (Kowalski & Westen, 2011) John B. Watson is the founder of this field of study in psychology. Behaviorists also believe that it is impossible to study the mind without observation and usually conduct their studies by doing experiments to try and control behavior. An example of this would be Ivan Pavlov’s dogs. He did a study with dogs and learned that when they would hear a particular sound they would begin to salivate just like they would if they actually had food in front of them. By using this sound he could control the dogs.

The psychodynamic perspective is the perspective that focuses on the dynamic interplay of mental forces. This perspective was made by Sigmund Freud who believed that just as we have conscious thoughts, we also have unconscious motives that lead us to do the things we do. Freud believed that by studying our thought and feelings that one can discover their true self. Psychodynamic psychologists study ones thoughts, feelings and behavior, and gather this information to see one’s personality. (Kowalski & Westen, 2011)

The cognitive perspective is a...