Perspectives in Modern Psychology: A Comprehensive Overview

Categories: PsychologyResearch

Part I: Origins of Psychology The seven main perspectives in modern psychology include psychoanalytic, behaviorist, humanist, cognitive, neuroscientific/biopsychological, evolutionary, and sociocultural approaches.

Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic theory proposes that mental issues arise from conflicts between conscious actions and hidden sexual or aggressive desires. Known as Psychoanalysis, this approach relies on deduction rather than concrete evidence. Freud highlighted the importance of unresolved past struggles and repressed psychological processes.

John B. Watson, the behaviorist who founded behaviorism, dismissed the idea of conscious and unconscious minds in favor of highlighting observation and environmental influences on behavior.

This viewpoint was shaped by Pavlov's classical conditioning theory, which suggested that behaviors could be acquired through conditioned associations by pairing a neutral stimulus with a meaningful one to evoke a similar response (Feist, 2008, p. 449).

B.F. Skinner, a well-known behaviorist, supported the concept of "operant conditioning," which demonstrates how reinforcement and punishment impact behavior. Reinforcing a behavior makes it more likely to happen again, while punishing a behavior reduces its chances of being repeated.

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The humanistic perspective is primarily represented by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. They shared the belief that each individual possesses an inherent capacity for self-actualization, emphasizing concepts such as free will (decisions made by choice) and reaching one's full potential (achieving one's maximum potential) (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2008).

Cognitive psychologists research the cognitive processes in the brain, including information gathering, encoding, and storage. They investigate perception, memory, imagery, concept formation, problem solving, reasoning, decision making, and language within cognitive psychology. The human mind is compared to a computer in terms of receiving information (gathering), processing it (encoding), and generating a response - known as the information-processing approach.

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The neuroscientific/biopsychological perspective looks at how biological factors impact behavior through the use of genetics and brain processes to comprehend and clarify behavior, merging both biological and psychological elements.

Evolutionary psychologists study the effects of natural selection, adaptation, and the evolution of behavior and mental processes on an organism's reproductive success. They argue that behaviors that aid in natural selection are key in determining this success (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2008).

According to this perspective, sociocultural factors like ethnicity, religion, occupation, and socioeconomic status have a significant impact on behavior.

Part II: Research Methods

MethodPurposeStrengthsWeaknessesProvide an exampleExperimentalIdentify cause and effectAllows precise control over variables and identifies cause and effectEthical concerns, practical limitations, artificiality of lab conditions, research and participant biases Manipulation and control of variablesDescriptiveObserve, collect and record data Minimizes artificiality, easier to collect data, allows description of behavior and mental processes as they occurLittle or no control over variables, cannot explain cause and effect, and researcher and participant biasesNaturalistic observation, survey, and case study.

Correlational research helps to identify relationships between variables and predict one variable based on another. It clarifies relationships that cannot be studied through other methods and allows for prediction, but does not establish cause and effect. Statistical analysis is used to examine the relationship between variables.

Biological research, which includes experimental, descriptive, and correctional studies, focuses on investigating causation, description, and prediction. Its main focus is studying the brain and other parts of the nervous system.

Examine the similarities and differences between the Experimental and Correlational methods.

Experimental research method aims to establish cause and effect relationships, as opposed to the correlational method. An experiment includes an independent variable (manipulated), a dependent variable (observed for effects), and experimental/control groups. Maintaining consistency with extraneous variables in both conditions is crucial for preventing them from influencing results.

It is important for researchers to consider biases like experimenter bias and participant bias when conducting studies, as these biases can affect the outcomes. To ensure fairness, experimental techniques should involve a diverse sample of participants who are randomly assigned to different groups.

The Correlation method does not establish causation, but it reveals whether variables are linked without specifying the direction of influence. For example, when examining variables A and B, the Correlation method can determine if they are related but not if A causes B or vice versa. This approach is used to investigate the connection (Correlation) between variables by using a correlation coefficient to quantify the strength and direction of the relationship. Correlation coefficients range from +1.00 to -1.00, with the sign denoting the correlation's direction and the numerical value indicating its intensity (ranging from 0 to +1.00 or -1.00). Experimental and correlation methods are both research techniques employed in psychological research.

Part III: The Brain

Psychologists conduct twin studies to explore whether traits such as aggression, intelligence, and sociability are inherited or influenced by the environment. By analyzing twins, researchers can investigate these questions due to the significant genetic similarities between them. Identical twins (monozygotic- one egg) share all of their genes, while fraternal twins (dizygotic- two eggs) share about half of their genes, similar to regular siblings. This type of research offers valuable insights into how genetics impact behavior because both types of twins have the same upbringing and environmental factors; any variations observed can be linked to heredity. Therefore, if a characteristic is genetically influenced, identical twins should exhibit more resemblance compared to fraternal twins.

Researchers are examining families with adopted children to assess the impact of genetic factors on behavior. If adopted children exhibit similarities with their biological parents, it suggests a contribution from heredity. Conversely, if they show more resemblance to their adoptive family, it indicates that environmental factors have a significant influence.

1. Understanding the roles and impacts of neurotransmitters and hormones in brain function is crucial for addressing various medical issues. Serotonin, for instance, influences mood, sleep, appetite, sensory perception, temperature regulation, pain relief, and impulsivity.

Acetylcholine (ACh) has an impact on various functions such as muscle movement, cognitive abilities, memory, REM sleep, and emotions.

Both dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) impact a wide array of functions, such as movement, attention, memory, learning, dreaming, emotion, waking from sleep, eating habits, alertness, wakefulness, and responses to stress.

Epinephrine, or adrenaline, affects emotional arousal, memory retention, and glucose metabolism necessary for energy production.

The endocrine system utilizes hormones to regulate the body's response during emergencies. In times of crisis, the hypothalamus communicates with the pituitary gland through neural and endocrine pathways, which then signals the adrenal glands to release cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2008). Neuroplasticity is defined as the brain's capability to adapt and change its structure and function based on experiences and usage. Language acquisition serves as an example of neuroplasticity, showcasing the brain's ability to learn a new language.

References

The references for Feist, J., & Feist, G. J. (2008) Theories of Personality (7th ed). New York: McGraw-Hill and John Wiley & Sons Inc. (2008) Visualizing Psychology (1st ed.). NJ: Author.

Updated: Feb 21, 2024
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Perspectives in Modern Psychology: A Comprehensive Overview. (2016, Jul 31). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/origins-of-psychology-and-research-methods-worksheet-essay

Perspectives in Modern Psychology: A Comprehensive Overview essay
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