FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Foundations of Psychology Candi Munguia PSY/300 July 14, 2013

FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Foundations of Psychology Its no wonder that psychology was derived from the womb of philosophy (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). The momentum of philosophy has set up the foundation of what we now know as psychology, which emerged in the late nineteenth century. If we want to understand the mind and behavior, we should investigate it scientifically, just as physicists study the nature of light or gravity through systematic observation and experimentation. (Kowalski & Westen, 2011) Psychology doesnt have an actual unified paradigm that its built from, it can be described more or less as a spectrum of theory and assumptions by scientists who all share the same passion in discovering new and better ways of how the mind works. This has helped to develop numerous perspectives, also known as schools of thought. The original documented founder of psychology was a man by the name of William Wundt, who came up with the first psychological laboratory in Germany. (Kowalski & Westen, 2011) Mr. Wundt firmly believed that there were other routes to gain psychological knowledge than practicing primarily with experimentation. He gathered methods that were geared toward understanding deeper meanings within ones mind such as religion, language and culture. This was the start of a way to understand the complex nature of the mind and how these traits were formed. Within time, Mr. Wundt developed introspection which, according to Kowaski & Westen, is the method used by Wundt and other structuralists in which trained subjects verbally reported everything that went through their minds when presented with a stimulus or task; more generally, refers to the process of looking inward at ones own mental contents or process. (Kowaski & Westen, 2011) This method started the beginning of what we know as the first two major schools of thought.

FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

The two major schools of thought in psychology are known as Structuralism and Functionalism. Structuralism was developed by a student of Mr. Wundts named Edward Titchener. Edward believed that experimentation was the only appropriate method for a science of psychology and that concepts such as attention implied too much free will to be scientifically useful. (Kowaski & Westen, 2011) Because of Titcheners interest in studying the complex structure that makes up the consciousness, structuralism was initiated as an early school of thought. Functionalism- the second major school of thought, was developed by an early Harvard psychologist named William James. This process studies the function or role of the psychological processes that help humans adapt to their surroundings. (Kowaski & Westen, 2011) James assumption was that knowledge about human psychology could come from many sources, including not only introspection and experimentation but also the study of children, other animals, and people whose minds do not function adequately. According to the text, Mr. James found structuralism boring and misguided. He felt that the act of consciousness was a functioning part of being human and that his job was to understand this function in full explanation rather than simply describing his opinion about what the mind is capable of. (Kowaski & Westen, 2011) The psychodynamic perspective is a major theory that Sigmund Freud founded in the late nineteenth century. According to Kowaski & Westen, this perspective focuses on the dynamic interplay of mental forces, even when they may conflict with one another. The psychodynamic perspective weighs heavily on the method of determining ones subconscious hopes, fears, and sequence of thought patterns. This method uses all forms of information on that human rather than focusing on something more specific.

FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

The behaviorist perspective, also referred to as behaviorism, focuses more on the environmental factors and events that influence ones learned behavior. This perspective was founded and practiced by John Watson and B.F. Skinner. The underlying assumptions reflected that humans and animals are like machines. Just as pushing a button starts the coffee pot, presenting food triggered an automatic, or reflexive, response in Pavlovs dogs. (Kowaski & Westen, 2011) Behaviorism describes the subconscious reaction that people may learn in given environments or provided events. According to the textbook example, when Pavlov made a specific sound during feeding time for his dogs, his dogs associated that sound with food which led them to react in that manner during that particular sound whether food was presented to them or not. This discovery was a huge breakthrough and not criticized the way the psychodynamic perspective was. One of the more popular perspectives is the cognitive perspective. The cognitive perspective focuses on the process and ability of how people retrieve and perceive information. Cognitive psychologists are interested in how memory works, how people solve problems and make decisions, and similar questions. (Kowaski & Westen, 2011) The major underlying assumptions with the cognitive perspective is that the mind works much like a computer; having the ability to store and retrieve data. The evolutionary perspective is grounded on the fact that many behavioral tendencies in humans, from the need to eat to concern for our children, evolved because they helped our ancestors survive and rear healthy offspring. (Kowaski & Westen, 2011) Our ancestors habits became successfully developed, helping the human population to survive and adapt through various conditions both emotionally and physically. With this said, the major underlying assumptions with the evolutionary perspective is the theory that evolution selects organisms with

FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

the successful capacity to survive and continue reproducing maximizing the effectiveness of the next generation. Primary Biological Foundations of Psychology The primary biological foundations of psychology that are linked to behavior would be environment and heredity. These foundations derived from the theories that a persons behavior is either genetic or is a learned trait stemming from the environment that they were raised in. Some scientists firmly believe that a persons behavior is genetic and other scientists believe that a persons behavior is a learned trait from their given environment. Both foundations have strong arguments. As stated in the beginning, psychology doesnt have an actual unified paradigm that its built from, it can be described more or less as a spectrum of theories and assumptions by scientists who all share the same passion in discovering new and better ways of how the mind works. The many avenues that one can take seem almost endless and proves that psychology will continue to prove its limitless attributes to the human kind and keep us all discovering what our brains are truly capable of.

FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

References Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.