Essentially, psychology helps people in large part because it can explain why people act the way they do. With this kind of professional insight, a psychologist can help people improve their decision making, stress management and behavior based on understanding past behavior to better predict future behavior. All of this can help people have a more successful career, better relationships, more self-confidence and overall better communication.
TheoriesPsychology PerspectivesPsychology PerspectivesPsychology PerspectivesBy Dr. Saul McLeod, updated 2013There are various approaches in contemporary psychology. An approach is a perspective (i.e., view) that involves certain assumptions (i.e., beliefs) about human behavior: the way they function, which aspects of them are worthy of study and what research methods are appropriate for undertaking this study.There may be several different theories within an approach, but they all share these common assumptions.
Work Psychology Understanding Human Behaviour In The Workplace.pdf
The five major perspectives in psychology are biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive and humanistic.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'simplypsychology_org-medrectangle-4','ezslot_6',690,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-simplypsychology_org-medrectangle-4-0');You may wonder why there are so many different psychology approaches and whether one approach is correct and others wrong.Most psychologists would agree that no one approach is correct, although in the past, in the early days of psychology, the behaviorist would have said their perspective was the only truly scientific one.
Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, and brings something different to our understanding of human behavior. For this reason, it is important that psychology does have different perspectives on the understanding and study of human and animal behavior.Below is a summary of the six main psychological approaches (sometimes called perspectives) in psychology.Behaviorist PerspectiveBehaviorist PerspectiveIf your layperson's idea of psychology has always been about people in laboratories wearing white coats and watching hapless rats try to negotiate mazes in order to get to their dinner, then you are probably thinking about behavioral psychology.Behaviorism is different from most other approaches because they view people (and animals) as controlled by their environment and specifically that we are the result of what we have learned from our environment. The behaviorist perspective is concerned with how environmental factors (called stimuli) affect observable behavior (called the response).The behaviorist perspective proposes two main processes whereby people learn from their environment: namely classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning involves learning by association, and operant conditioning involves learning from the consequences of behavior.Classical conditioning (CC) was studied by the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov. Though looking into natural reflexes and neutral stimuli he managed to condition dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell through repeated associated with the sound of the bell and food.
Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, explained the human mind as like an iceberg, with only a small amount of it being visible, that is our observable behavior, but it is the unconscious, submerged mind that has the most, underlying influence on our behavior. Freud used three main methods of accessing the unconscious mind: free association, dream analysis and slips of the tongue. He believed that the unconscious mind consisted of three components: the 'id' the 'ego' and the 'superego.' The 'id' contains two main instincts: 'Eros', which is the life instinct, which involves self-preservation and sex which is fuelled by the 'libido' energy force. 'Thanatos' is the death instinct, whose energies, because they are less powerful than those of 'Eros' are channeled away from ourselves and into aggression towards others.The 'id' and the 'superego' are constantly in conflict with each other, and the 'ego' tries to resolve the discord. If this conflict is not resolved, we tend to use defense mechanisms to reduce our anxiety. Psychoanalysis attempts to help patients resolve their inner conflicts.An aspect of psychoanalysis is Freud's theory of psychosexual development. It shows how early experiences affect adult personality. Stimulation of different areas of the body is important as the child progresses through the important developmental stages. Too much or too little can have bad consequences later.The most important stage is the phallic stage where the focus of the libido is on the genitals. During this stage little boys experience the 'Oedipus complex', and little girls experience the 'Electra complex.' These complexes result in children identifying with their same-sex parent, which enables them to learn sex-appropriate behavior and a moral code of conduct.However, it has been criticized in the way that it over emphasizes the importance of sexuality and under emphasized the role of social relationships. The theory is not scientific, and can't be proved as it is circular. Nevertheless, psychoanalysis has been greatly contributory to psychology in that it has encouraged many modern theorists to modify it for the better, using its basic principles, but eliminating its major flaws.Humanistic PerspectiveHumanistcic Perspective
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of the whole person (know as holism). Humanistic psychologists look at human behavior, not only through the eyes of the observer, but through the eyes of the person doing the behaving.
The humanistic perspective suggests that we are each responsible for our own happiness and well-being as humans. We have the innate (i.e., inborn) capacity for self-actualization, which is our unique desire to achieve our highest potential as people.Because of this focus on the person and his or her personal experiences and subjective perception of the world the humanists regarded scientific methods as inappropriate for studying behavior.Two of the most influential and enduring theories in humanistic psychology that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s are those of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.Cognitive PerspectiveCognitive Perspective
The fact that there are different perspectives represents the complexity and richness of human (and animal) behavior. A scientific approach, such as Behaviorism or cognitive psychology, tends to ignore the subjective (i.e., personal) experiences that people have. The humanistic perspective does recognize human experience, but largely at the expense of being non-scientific in its methods and ability to provide evidence. The psychodynamic perspective concentrates too much on the unconscious mind and childhood. As such, it tends to lose sight of the role of socialization (which is different in each country) and the possibility of free will.The biological perspective reduces humans to a set of mechanisms and physical structures that are clearly essential and important (e.g., genes). However, it fails to account for consciousness and the influence of the environment on behavior.How to reference this article:How to reference this article:McLeod, S. A. (2013). Psychology perspectives. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/perspective.htmlif(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'simplypsychology_org-leader-3','ezslot_17',816,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-simplypsychology_org-leader-3-0');Further InformationWhat is Psychology?Approaches in Psychology Approaches to Psychology Summary Tables A-level Psychology Approaches Revision NotesBehaviorism Psychodynamic Approach Humanistic ApproachCognitive PsychologyBiological Approachvar domainroot="www.simplypsychology.org"function Gsitesearch(curobj)curobj.q.value="site:"+domainroot+" "+curobj.qfront.value
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Psychologists are actively involved in studying and understanding mental processes, brain functions, and behavior. The field of psychology is considered a "Hub Science" with strong connections to the medical sciences, social sciences, and education (Boyack, Klavans, & Borner, 2005).
The most successful business leaders are ones that continuously look for ways and strategies to drive performance, not just through improving employee productivity, but also their workplace experience and job satisfaction. This can be achieved by understanding how employees interact with each other and management, as well as what motivates them. One way to do this is to study the interrelationship between individual employees, teams, and management to identify what sets the most effective workers apart.Bodybuilding and winner: heat chartsread more fitness, physical training, nutrition and health: laws of bodybuilding.This is essentially what organizational behavior is all about.
Business leaders can increase the value of their human capital by studying the complex nature of employees and their interrelationships with others. The insights that such a study provides can help drive human resources reforms and strategies, particularly with recent findings showing a collapse of work-life balance (due to more employees working from home). HR personnel can identify struggling groups needing more support and apply motivational tools (uniquely suited to the employees) to help them perform better by improving their workplace experience.
Cognitive behavior accounts for actions of obtaining and using knowledge. It is concerned with how information is learned and passed on, as well as creative application of knowledge and personal beliefs such as religion. Physiological behavior accounts for actions to maintain the body. It is concerned with basic bodily functions as well as measures taken to maintain health. Economic behavior accounts for actions regarding the development, organization, and use of materials as well as other forms of work. Ecological behavior accounts for actions involving the ecosystem. It is concerned with how humans interact with other organisms and how the environment shapes human behavior. 2ff7e9595c
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