Stella Kemecsei

Psychology over the years has changed and shifted into the great
scienti c subject that we learn today through the thousands of schools of
thought that were developed when the idea of psych was just beginning to
manifest. Many di erent ideas and perspectives combined to make what we
study in modern times like the seven modern perspectives of psychology. Every
contribution made is important and was able to drive the eld forward.

The question of which psychologist is the most in uential is a

controversial topic that can be argued till the end of time, but the one that made
an impact in the way people receive treatment is John Watson and behaviorism.
Behaviorism is the school of thought that expresses the idea that behavior is the
only attribute that should be observed in psychology. Watson created a solid
foundation of classical conditioning which can be used in treating illnesses like
phobias. Then that idea was later expanded upon leading to counterconditioning
which is also an impactful way to treat destructive behaviors. So while
behaviorism isn’t as present in modern psychology, conditioning is still used and
is a very popular treatment in today’s therapies and that is all thanks to John
Watson.

The seven modern perspectives of psychology that have manifested over

the years are behavioral, psychodynamic, biological, evolutionary, congestive,
humanistic, and sociocultural. Each perspective is not better than the other, it is
just a di erent way of looking at the same example. Consider the trait of
honesty. A psychologist from a cognitive perspective would look at honesty as a
mental process, and how the person decided to speak with or without honesty.
A behaviorist would study the environment the person is in which reinforces
them speaking with honesty or untruthfully. The psychodynamic perspective
would focus on the childhood of the person and the role that the unconscious
mind plays in the decision making, most likely the superego.

A major contribution that philosophy has contributed to the eld of

psychology is the study of perception and sensation. Philosophers study these
topics as well as memory and then share information with psychologists to drive
forward the study of the human behavior and the mind. Psychology as a natural
science refers to the examination of behavior and cognitive processes and how
those ideas of in uenced biologically. Reinhold Niebuhr has a book called
Psychology: the Ambiguities of the Self in which he connect science with
psychology as well as other prominent psychologists.

The school of thought that Sigmund Freud, the father of psychology,

created is still in circulation today as one of the seven modern perspectives of
psychology. It examines the unconscious mind and how that interacts with our
decisions as well as the impact our childhood have on behaviors. What happens
to people while they grow up and how the perceive it is very impactful and
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 psychology has proved that. Even today, some psychologists and therapists will
use these ideas of be able to diagnose.

The scienti c method is important everywhere, not just the eld of

psychology, because that is how results and nding are able to occur. the
scienti c method includes having a hypothesis, creating a situation to be able to
test it, modifying the experiment, and in the end getting results that either prove
or disproves that hypothesis. John Watson was able to gure out classical
conditioning though the scienti c method (the little Albert experiment)

So many di erent variable was able to shape and mold modern

psychology into what it is today. Many schools of thought that started out still
exist on some level today as seen in the seven modern perspectives of
psychology. To sum it up, the eld of psychology was able to evolve
tremendously due to the many contributions and contributors over time.

**Note: I wrote this from what I know since I have already started the course in
my other school. I have already passes all the tests. I stopped at the stress
unit***
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