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...

• 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...

• 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 smal...

• 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.

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 p...

• 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 ...

• 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 behav...