Schools of Thought in Psychology1

Early Scientific Approaches to Psychology

The German Physiologist Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) is often regarded as
the founding father of modern psychology. Modern psychology was born in
December, 1879 at the University of Leipzig when Wundt and two young students
perform an experiment to measure the time lag between the instant at which the
person heard a sound and the instant at which the person actually press a
telegraph key to signal that he had heard. The experiment was one of many
attempts to measure human behavior through physiological instruments.
What was so special about this experiment? Wundts experiment was about
the working of the brain: he was measuring the amount of time it took the human
brain and the nervous system to translate information into action. At the heart of
this experiment was the idea that mental processes could be studied quantitativelythat is, mental processes could be measured. This focus ushered in the new science
of psychology.
Structuralism
An early school of psychology that emphasized the study of the conscious
mind and its basic structures: sensations, images and affective states. The most
common method to study human mind was introspection (literally looking inside).
Introspection refers to observing and recording the nature of ones perceptions,
thoughts and feelings. These studies focused mainly on sensation and perception
because these were the easiest processes to breakdown into component parts. On
the other hand, the reliance on introspection, particularly for very rapid events,
proved to be unworkable.
Functionalism
An early school of psychology that emphasized the interaction between the
mind and the outside environment, how the mind and behavior function in adapting
to the environment. In contrast to structuralists who were looking inside the mind,
searching for its structures, the functionalist were looking more at what was going
on in the persons interaction with the outside world.
William James and other functionalists did not believed in the existence of
elementary rigid structures of the mind. James saw the human mind as flexible and
fluid, characterized by constant change and adaptation in response to a flow of
information or a stream of consciousness.
Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt, a German word meaning form or configuration. Gestalt
psychologist primary interest was on perception, and they believed that perceptual
experiences depend on the patterns formed by stimuli and on the organization of
experience. What we actually see is related to the background against which an
object appears as well as to other aspects of the overall pattern of stimulation. The
whole is different from the sum of its parts, because the whole depends on the
relationships among the parts.
1

Condensed by Roland L. Aparece, MA, from Santrock, John W. Psychology 7th ed. (Singapore: The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc., 2003.) pp. 8-18; Smith, Edward E. et. al. Atkinson & Hilgards Introduction to Psychology, 14th ed.
(Singapore: Wadsworth, a division of Thompson Learning, Inc., 2003.) pp. 5-14, see also Morris, Charles & Maisto, Albert.
Psychology: an Introduction 12th ed., (New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2005.) pp. 13-21; Kassin, Saul. Psychology
4th ed. (New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2004.) pp. 5-11.

Contemporary Approaches to Psychology

The two approaches we have just discussed-structuralism and functionalismare no longer considered among psychologists main approaches. However,
psychology has reframed some aspects of these approaches. Psychologists today
realized that human thought and behavior are influenced by many factors including
common biological heritage, biological variations from person to person, and
experience. In addition to immediate environmental influences such as our physical
and social surrounding, psychologist also recognized the broader influence of
culture. Efforts to understand the complexity of human behavior and mental
processes have given rise to a number to broader approaches in psychology.
The Behavioral Approach
The behavioral approach emphasizes the scientific study of behavior and
asserts that behavior is shaped by the environment. In other words, the behavioral
approach focuses on interactions with the environment that can be seen and
measured. The principles of behavioral approach have also been widely applied to
help people change their behavior for the better. Under the intellectual leadership of
John B Watson (1878-1958) and B. F. Skinner (1904-1990), behaviorism dominated
psychological research during the first half of the 20 th century.
Skinner emphasized that what we do is the ultimate test of who we are. He
believed that rewards and punishments determine our behavior. We do things not
because of an inborn motivation to be competent people but because of the
environmental conditions that we continue to experience (Skinner 1938).
The Social Cognitive Theory as proposed by Albert Bandura stresses that
behavior is determined not only by environmental conditions but also by how
thoughts modify the impact of environment on behavior (Bandura 1986, 2001).
Bandura Believes that imitation is one of the main ways in which we learn about our
world. To reproduce a models behavior, we must enter and store the information in
memory, which is a mental (cognitive) process. Thus, social cognitive theories have
broadened the scope of behaviorism to include not only observe behavior but also
the ways in which the mind processes information about the environment
The Psychodynamic Approach
The psychodynamic approach emphasizes the unconscious aspects of the
mind, conflict between biological instincts and societys demands, and early family
experiences. This approach argues that unlearned biological instincts, especially
sexual and aggressive impulses, influence the way people think, feel and behave.
These instincts, buried within the unconscious mind, are often at odds with the
societys demands. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), its founder, saw much of
psychological development as instinctual and believed that early relationships with
parents are the chief forces that shape an individuals personality. The theory was
the basis for the therapeutic technique he called psychoanalysis.
At the center of Freuds theory is the concept of the unconscious-thoughts
attitudes impulses, wishes, motivations and emotions of which we are unaware.
Freud believed that childhoods unacceptable (forbidden or punished) wishes are
driven out of conscious awareness and become part of unconscious, where they
continue to influence our thoughts, feelings and actions. Unconscious thoughts are
expressed in dreams, slips of the tongue and physical mannerisms. During therapy
with patients, Freud, used the method free association, in which the patient was
instructed to say whatever comes to mind as a way of bring unconscious wishes
into awareness. The analyses of dreams serve the same purpose.

Unlike the behavioral approach, the psychodynamic approach focuses almost

exclusively on clinical applications rather than on experimental research. For this
reason psychodynamic approach has always been controversial and difficult to
validate. Nonetheless, they are an important part of psychology. Todays
psychodynamic theories tend to place less emphasis on sexual instincts and more
on cultural experiences as determinants of behavior.
The Cognitive Approach
According to cognitive psychologist, the brain houses or embodies a mind,
whose mental processes allow you to remember, make decisions, plan, set goal and
be creative. The cognitive approach then emphasizes the mental processes involved
in knowing: how we direct our attention, how we perceive, how we remember and
how we think and solve problems.
Cognitive psychologists view the mind as an active and aware problem
solving system. This positive view contrast with the behavioral view, which portrays
behavior as controlled by external environmental forces. The cognitive view also
contrast with pessimists views (such as those of Freud) the see human behavior as
being controlled by instinct or other unconscious forces. In the cognitive view, an
individuals mental processes are in control of behavior through memories,
perception, images and thinking.
The Behavioral Neuroscience Approach
The behavioral neuroscience approach emphasizes that the brain and the
nervous system are central to understanding behavior, though and emotion.
Neuroscientists believe that thoughts and emotions have a physical basis in the
brain. Electrical impulses zoom throughout the brain cells, releasing chemical
substances that enable us to think, feel, and behave. These chemicals are called
neurotransmitters which are the ink with which memories are written. Our
remarkable human capabilities would not be possible without the brain and nervous
system, which constitute the most complex, intricate, and elegant system
imaginable.
The Evolutionary Psychology Approach
The evolutionary approach emphasizes the importance of adaptation,
reproduction and survival of the fittest in explaining behavior. Evolution favors
organisms that are best adapted to survive and reproduce in a particular
environment. This view focuses on the conditions that allow individuals to survive or
fail. Natural selection in this regard, favors behaviors that increase reproductive
success and ability to pass its genes to the next generation.
Steven Pinker (1999) believes that evolutionary psychology is an important
approach to understanding behavior. According to Pinker, the way the mind works
can be summarized in three ways: 1) the mind computes, 2) the mind was
designed to compute by evolution, 3) these computations are performed by
specialized brain systems that natural selection has designed to achieve specific
kinds of goals such as survival.
The Sociocultural Approach
The sociocultural approach emphasizes the social and cultural influences on
behavior. This approach argues that a full understanding of a persons behavior
requires knowing the cultural context in which the behavior occurs. Moreover, this
focuses not only on comparisons of behavior across countries but also on the
behavior of people from different ethnic and cultural groups within a country.

A Positive Approach to Psychology

Psychology deals with both the positive and negative aspects of life. When
the tone of psychology was believed to be too negative, two movements emerged
to focus on the positive effects psychology can have on peoples lives. One of these
movements (humanistic) appeared in the middle of the twentieth century; the other
(positive psychology) began gaining momentum at the beginning of the twenty-first
century.
The Humanistic movement
The humanistic movement emphasizes a persons positive qualities, the
capacity for growth, and freedom to choose a destiny. Humanistic psychologists that
people have the ability to control their lives and avoid being manipulated by the
environment (Maslow, 1971; Rogers, 1961). They believed that rather than being
driven by sexual and aggressive impulses, as the psychodynamic approach dictates,
or by external rewards and punishments as the behavioral approach emphasizes,
people can approach to live by higher human values, such as altruism and free will.
Humanistic psychologists also think that people have a tremendous potential for
conscious self-understanding and that the way to help others achieve selfunderstanding is by being warm, nurturant, and supportive of them.
The Positive Psychology Movement
A strong emphasis on the experiences that people value subjectively (such as
hope optimism and happiness), positive individual traits (such as capacity for love,
work, creativity, talent and interpersonal skills), and positive group and civic values
(such as responsibility, nurturance, civility and tolerance).