The major Theoretical and Professional Perspectives in Psychology and their Basic Assumptions
As psychology has emerged as a new science there has been a variety of perspectives from psychologists on how how to explain this new science.
One of the most popular is evolutionary psychology. This branch of psychology attempts to explain how us humans have evolved into the species we are today. Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species backs up many psychologists theories of survival of the fittest, or better known as survival of the fittest. This theory means that the human race has developed traits over time to help us survive as a species, and the individuals with these certain traits lived while the individuals who did not died. Some examples of this are humans sleeping at night when predator's senses like sight are at minimum effectiveness.
America’s first psychologists, John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner completely redefined psychology as a study as the study of behavior instead of previous ideas about humans evolved. They argued that you could not record humans thoughts, but you could observe their actions. John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner are known as behaviorists. Other behaviorists have carried out countless experiments such as the Little Albert experiment. In the Little Albert Experiment John B. Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner presented "Little Albert" with a rat and recorded his reaction. They then presented Albert with a rat and banged a medal rod, they then recorded his reaction once again.
Another type of psychology is, Freudian psychology. This branch of psychology is based on the the work of one of the most famous and influential psychologists of all time Sigmund Freud. Freud's big ideas were the importance of unconscious thoughts and the effect emotional experiences as a child have on us. He theorized that by looking at our subconscious, it would give insight to events of our past that may have been affecting our behavior. Freud also strongly believed in his five stages of psychosexual development. His five stages said if we do not repress our sexual conflicts we may just act out on them.
Lastly the newest branch of psychology, cognitive neuroscience, examines the way which we humans process and remember information. This newest branch of psychology helps us to understand the biology and psychology of our brains. Relatively recent technologies such as tools such as fMRIs and PET scans are increasing researcher's ability to understand the human brain even more than recently thought possible.
Below I have posted a link to each of the branches of psychology that I discussed above. Sorry on breaking the three link rule. There is just to much great knowledge out there that needs to be shared with the world. The first link is about evolutionary psychology. It mainly discusses the perspective in which evolutionary psychology looks at perception, traits, memory etc. The second link discusses behaviorism. The website goes over where behaviorism comes from, who its founders are, and what its main ideas are. The third link talks ab out the life and ideas of the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud, the founder of Freudian psychology, and lastly the fourth link discusses the new branch of psychology, cognitive neuroscience. The website discusses what cognitive neuroscience is, where it comes from, and directions it may go in the future.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaviorism
http://psychology.about.com/od/sigmundfreud/p/sigmund_freud.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_neuroscience
One of the most popular is evolutionary psychology. This branch of psychology attempts to explain how us humans have evolved into the species we are today. Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species backs up many psychologists theories of survival of the fittest, or better known as survival of the fittest. This theory means that the human race has developed traits over time to help us survive as a species, and the individuals with these certain traits lived while the individuals who did not died. Some examples of this are humans sleeping at night when predator's senses like sight are at minimum effectiveness.
America’s first psychologists, John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner completely redefined psychology as a study as the study of behavior instead of previous ideas about humans evolved. They argued that you could not record humans thoughts, but you could observe their actions. John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner are known as behaviorists. Other behaviorists have carried out countless experiments such as the Little Albert experiment. In the Little Albert Experiment John B. Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner presented "Little Albert" with a rat and recorded his reaction. They then presented Albert with a rat and banged a medal rod, they then recorded his reaction once again.
Another type of psychology is, Freudian psychology. This branch of psychology is based on the the work of one of the most famous and influential psychologists of all time Sigmund Freud. Freud's big ideas were the importance of unconscious thoughts and the effect emotional experiences as a child have on us. He theorized that by looking at our subconscious, it would give insight to events of our past that may have been affecting our behavior. Freud also strongly believed in his five stages of psychosexual development. His five stages said if we do not repress our sexual conflicts we may just act out on them.
Lastly the newest branch of psychology, cognitive neuroscience, examines the way which we humans process and remember information. This newest branch of psychology helps us to understand the biology and psychology of our brains. Relatively recent technologies such as tools such as fMRIs and PET scans are increasing researcher's ability to understand the human brain even more than recently thought possible.
Below I have posted a link to each of the branches of psychology that I discussed above. Sorry on breaking the three link rule. There is just to much great knowledge out there that needs to be shared with the world. The first link is about evolutionary psychology. It mainly discusses the perspective in which evolutionary psychology looks at perception, traits, memory etc. The second link discusses behaviorism. The website goes over where behaviorism comes from, who its founders are, and what its main ideas are. The third link talks ab out the life and ideas of the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud, the founder of Freudian psychology, and lastly the fourth link discusses the new branch of psychology, cognitive neuroscience. The website discusses what cognitive neuroscience is, where it comes from, and directions it may go in the future.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaviorism
http://psychology.about.com/od/sigmundfreud/p/sigmund_freud.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_neuroscience