My Essay

The Foundation of Psychology

October 29, 2013

Fernando Nunez

Judy Stoner

General Psychology

The Foundation of Psychology

There are many ideas regarding why humans think the way they do, have the feelings they do, or behave in the way they do. According to the author of our readings at The University of phoenix, Kowalski and Westen (2011), psychology is more like a research and investigation on how people think, feel, remember things and react to certain situations. In this paper the four major schools of thought in psychology will be identified along with going over their major underlining Assumptions. This paper will also work to identify the primary biological foundations of psychology linked to behavior.

When psychology was first established as a science separate from biology and philosophy, the debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. The different schools of psychology represent the major theories within psychology. These four “schools” are the following; Structuralism, Functionalism, Behaviorism, and Psychoanalysis.

Structuralism was the first school of psychology, and focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major structuralism thinkers include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener. The focus of structuralism was on reducing mental processes down into their most basic elements. Personnel who used structuralism used techniques such as introspection to analyze the inner processes of the human mind.

Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralism school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James. Major functionalist thinkers included John Dewey and Harvey Carr. Instead of focusing on the mental processes themselves, functionalist thinkers were instead interested in the role that these processes play.

Behaviorism became a dominant school of thought during the 1950s. It was based upon the work of...