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The 7 Major Schools of Thought in Psychology
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When Psychology Became A Separate Scientific Discipline
When psychology developed as a science that was separate from biology and philosophy, they did not know how to describe the human mind and behaviour.
Different schools of psychology emerged that represent major theories within psychology. At first, psychologists identified with only one school of thought, but today, most psychologists draw on ideas and theories from various schools.
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Psychology: Early Schools of Thought
- Structuralism was the first school of thought and focused on breaking down mental processes into their most basic elements using techniques such as introspection. Major thinkers are Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener.
- Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of structuralism and focused on the role that the mental processes play instead of the mental processes themselves. Thinkers associated with this outlook include John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey Carr.
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Gestalt Psychology
- This school of psychology is based on the idea that we experience things as unified wholes.
- The approach started in the late 19th century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism.
- Instead of breaking down thoughts and behaviour to their smallest parts, the gestalt psychologists believed you should view the whole of experience.
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The Behaviourist School of Thought
- Behaviourism suggests that all behaviours can be explained by environmental causes. It includes classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
- This school of thought became dominant in the 1950s and had a significant influence on the course of psychology.
- It is still widely used today, such as behavioural training, token economies, aversion therapy, and behaviour modification programs.
- Prominent thinkers are John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B.F. Skinner.
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The Psychoanalytic School of Thought
Psychoanalysis emphasises the influence of the unconscious mind on behaviour.
Sigmund Freud found this school of thought. He believed that the mind was composed of three elements that interacted to create complex human behaviours:
- Id consists of primal urges.
- Ego is the part of personality that deals with reality.
- Superego is the component that holds all of the ideals and values we internalise from our parents and culture.
Major thinkers include Anna Freud, Carl Jung, and Erik Erickson.
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The Humanistic School of Thought
- Humanistic psychology is a response to psychoanalysis and behaviourism and focuses on individual free will, personal growth, and self-actualisation.
- This school of thought is focused on helping people achieve and fulfil their potential. It had a huge influence on positive psychology that centres on helping people live happier and more fulfilling lives.
- Major humanist thinkers include Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.
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Cognitive School of Psychology
- Cognitive psychology studies mental processes, including how people think, perceive, remember, and learn. It is related to other disciplines such as neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.
- This branch of psychology emerged during the 1950s as a response to behaviourism that failed to account for how internal processes impacted behaviour. Research topics include information processing, language, memory, and perception.
- Jean Piaget proposed the stages of cognitive development theory.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
The need to understand psychology
The beginnings of psychology differ significantly from contemporary conceptions of the field. Modern psychology covers a range of topics, looking at human behavior en mental processes from the neur...
The Beginnings of Psychology
Psychology was not separate from philosophy until the late 1800s.
- During the 17th century, philosopher Rene Descartes introduced the idea of dualism - that the mind and body were two entities that interact to complete the human experience.
- While early philosophers relied on methods such as observation and logic, today's psychologists use scientific methodologies to draw conclusions about human thought and behavior.
- Physiological research on the brain and behavior also contributes to psychology.
Psychology as a Separate Discipline
- During the mid-1800s, a German physiologist Wilhelm Wundt outlined many of the major connections between the science of physiology and the study of human thought and behavior.
- He viewed psychology as the study of human consciousness and tried to apply experimental methods to study internal mental processes.
- His processes are known as introspection and seen as unreliable and unscientific today, but it helped to set the stage for future experimental methods.
- The opening of his psychology lab In 1879 is considered to be the official start of psychology as a separate scientific discipline.
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Personality Psychology: Important Terminology
- Classical conditioning: A behavioural technique where a natural stimulus is paired with a previously neutral stimulus. The previously neutral stimulus eventually cause the r...
Defining Personality
While we often talk about personality, psychologists disagree on what exactly constitutes personality.
Personality is then broadly defined as the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that originate within the person and make a person unique. It is what makes you, you.
Key Characteristics of Personality
- Personality is organized and consistent.
- Personality is generally stable, but the environment can influence it. A shy personality in social situations might take charge and be more outspoken in an emergency.
- Personality causes behaviours to happen. You react to your environment based on your personality.
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Repression as a defense mechanism
Repression can best be defined as the psychological defense mechanism that involves pushing undesired thoughts into the unconscious in order to not think about them anymore.
...Types of repression
Repression is of two types: primary and proper.
While the primary one takes into account the fact of hiding undesired thoughts or facts, the proper one takes place whenever an individual becomes aware of the thoughts that had initially been hidden and tries to hide them again.
Repression and its way of functioning
The objective of hiding our undesired thoughts in our unconsciousness is to feel less anxious.
However, Freud stated that this process can backfire at any point, as these hidden thoughts or feelings can still create anxiety, eventually leading to psychological distress.