Functionalism: an early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.
Behaviourism: the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).
Structuralism: an early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.
Gestalt: an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.
biopsychosocial
John B. Watson established the psychological school of behaviorism. He also conducted the “Little Albert” experiment.
Ivan Pavlov: Father of classical conditioning by studying the digestive systems of dogs. He used a bell as his conditioned stimulus
Wilhelm Wundt
Edward Bradford Titchener
William James: father of american psychology, promoted functionalism, authored important text Principles of Psychology, 1890
Humanistic: a historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential.
Abraham Maslow: humanistic psychologist who created the hierarchy of needs
Psychoanalytic/Freudian
Sigmund Freud: He is the founder of psychoanalysis (the “talking cure”) and developed techniques such as free association and transference. His theory of the unconscious included the id, ego, and superego model of the mind.
Carl Rogers
emphasized behaviour and thinking function
emphasized self reflection to learn about the mind's structure
Early in the twentieth century, a group of German psychologists noticed that people who are given a cluster of sensations tend to organize them into a gestalt, a German word meaning a “form” or a “whole.”
perspective that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole
Max Wertheimer
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.
psychodynamic
view human behavior as a dynamic interaction between the conscious mind and unconscious mind, including associated motives and conflicts. These theories are descended from Freud’s psychoanalysis—his theory of personality and the associated treatment techniques.
theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences.