Psy 300 Foundations of Psychology
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Student Name
"Foundations of Psychology"
Univeristy of Phoenix
PSY 300
03/12/2011
Instructor: Name
People have always been fascinated by human behavior, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that psychology became a science. When psychology was first established, there was a debate over how it should describe or explain human behavior and the mind. It was originally tied in with philosophy, but the next generation of experimental psychologists wanted to divorce themselves from philosophical speculation and establish a fully scientific psychology. Instead of holding on to one particular outlook on psychology, ideas and theories were drawn from different schools of thought. The major schools of thought enhance our knowledge and understanding of psychology.
The schools of thought include structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, humanism, and cognitivism. Structuralism, a system developed by Edward Titchener is the study of the elemental composition of consciousness. He believed that this was the correct way for a science of psychology. The structuralism idea breaks away and opposes the neoclassical conception of the mind, which views man as autonomous. Structuralist thought explains thought and behavior of an individual or group as the operation of choice within the determinant structure of a cognitive system (Solo R.A, 1975).
Functionalism along with structuralism ruled psychology in the early years. It was influenced by the Darwinism theory emphasized the role or function—of psychological processes in helping individuals adapt to their environment. Functionalism explains that humans have primary needs that must be satisfied in order to survive. Its assumptions are implicit in practically all the earlier attempts to think systematically about human society (Fletcher R, 1956).
The school of thought that was developed by Sigmund Freud is psychoanalysis. The psychoanalysis approach is an approach to treating psychological...
"Foundations of Psychology"
Univeristy of Phoenix
PSY 300
03/12/2011
Instructor: Name
People have always been fascinated by human behavior, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that psychology became a science. When psychology was first established, there was a debate over how it should describe or explain human behavior and the mind. It was originally tied in with philosophy, but the next generation of experimental psychologists wanted to divorce themselves from philosophical speculation and establish a fully scientific psychology. Instead of holding on to one particular outlook on psychology, ideas and theories were drawn from different schools of thought. The major schools of thought enhance our knowledge and understanding of psychology.
The schools of thought include structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, humanism, and cognitivism. Structuralism, a system developed by Edward Titchener is the study of the elemental composition of consciousness. He believed that this was the correct way for a science of psychology. The structuralism idea breaks away and opposes the neoclassical conception of the mind, which views man as autonomous. Structuralist thought explains thought and behavior of an individual or group as the operation of choice within the determinant structure of a cognitive system (Solo R.A, 1975).
Functionalism along with structuralism ruled psychology in the early years. It was influenced by the Darwinism theory emphasized the role or function—of psychological processes in helping individuals adapt to their environment. Functionalism explains that humans have primary needs that must be satisfied in order to survive. Its assumptions are implicit in practically all the earlier attempts to think systematically about human society (Fletcher R, 1956).
The school of thought that was developed by Sigmund Freud is psychoanalysis. The psychoanalysis approach is an approach to treating psychological...