PSYCHOANALYSIS

• Sigmund Freud is regarded as one of the most controversial intellectuals of all time.

• He created psychoanalysis – a means of gaining insight by making people aware or conscious

of their unconscious thoughts.

• The unconscious contains thoughts, memories and desires that are well below the surface of
conscious awareness, but that nonetheless exert great influence on behaviour.

• Freud thus states that people are not the masters of their own minds, which was
disconcerting to many.

• He also proposed that behaviour is influenced by how people cope with their sexual urges.

• Sex was a very taboo topic of conversation during this time period.

• Jung introduced the idea of analytic psychology.

• He is widely known as the father of archetypal psychology.

• Jung asserted that humanity had specific foundational patterns, diversified by personalities
and culture.

• He introduced a number of motifs or archetypes which detail the essential features of all
human psychological processes. Thus forming the collective unconscious: framework we use
to collect and interpret our experiences

BEHAVIOURISM

• This school of thought was founded by John B. Watson

• Behaviourism is a theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology

should study only observable behaviour.

• He implied that psychology should have abandoned the study of consciousness completely.

• He rested on the idea of verifiability, that theories can be proven by observing events and
stimuli.

• He also brought up the issue of nature vs. nurture

HUMANISM

• Behaviourism and psychoanalysis were unappealing to many people.

• It dehumanized people.

• Behaviourism and psychoanalysis stated that people were not in control of their
own destinies.

• Humanism is a theoretical orientation that emphasises the unique qualities of humans,

especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth.
• The prominent architects of the humanist movements were Carl Rogers and Abraham
Maslow

• They argued that human behaviour is governed by a sense of self, or self-concept.

• Psychologists must take into account the fundamental human drive towards personal
growth.

• People have a basic need to fulfil their potential.

• Many psychological disturbances are caused by thwarting these basic human needs, by
denying human individuality.

EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY

• Evolutionary Psychology examines behavioural processes in terms of their adaptive value for
members of a species over the course of many generations.

• Natural selection favours behaviours that enhance reproductive success- passing on genes to
the next generation.

• E.g. genes for aggression