Foundations of Psychology

Foundations of Psychology

The study of psychology has evolved over many centuries, with hundreds of psychologists, theorists, and philosophers weighing in their thoughts about how and why a person functions mentally and physically. Psychology is the study of the nature, functions and phenomena of behavior and mental experience (Colman, 2009). The leading theories or perspectives of psychology are psychodynamic, behaviorism, cognitive, and evolutionary. Each perspective is different, changing or evolving through the eyes of the psychologists or scientists that study their particular view of how and why a person behaves.

Sigmund Freud is the most well-known and controversial psychologist throughout the world of psychology. He developed the process known as psychoanalysis, in which therapists study a person’s inner desires (id) and fears and the control factor better known as the ego and the superego; thus began the psychodynamic perspective (Kowalski, 2011). His work inspired Carl Jung and Erik Erikson to continue and reshape the psychodynamic perspective into what it is today. The theory believes that the actions of a person are determined by conscious and unconscious thoughts. The unconscious and conscious thoughts rival against each other leaving the person with questionable motives and responses to their actions (Kowalski, 2011). The downfall to the psychodynamic theory is that the supporting evidence was not tested through scientific research (McLeod, 2007). This compromised the research already completed and is the main reason the theory is so controversial. However, the methods are still used in therapy today.

Behaviorism is the study of the relation between observable behaviors and environmental events or stimuli (Kowalski, 2011). The first physiologist that study behavior was Ivan Pavlov, in which he studied the eating and digestive habits and behaviors of his dogs. The dogs became accustomed to a ringing bell at feeding times, which triggered the...