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The five major theoretical perspectives in psychology are biological,
learning, cognitive, psychodynamic, and sociocultural perspectives. Each one of
these perspectives searches for answers about behavior through different techniques
and through looking for answers to different kinds of questions. Due to the
different approaches, each perspective form their own assumptions and
explanations. Some perspectives are widely accepted while others struggle for
acceptance.
Biological perspective
\"The premise behind the biological perspective in psychology is that all
actions, feelings, and thoughts are associated with bodily events.\"
Biological psychologists examine how all of the electrical impulses, hormones,
and chemicals flowing through the body can effect behavior and how changes to
these bodily functions can change behavior. They are concerned with how the
aspects of biology effect peoples\' emotions, learning abilities, and their
perception of events.
One of the major theories of biological psychology is that \"We cannot
know ourselves if we do not know our bodies.\" Through application of this
theory, biological psychologists strive to understand the relationship between
the mind and body and they influence sickness or health. It is believed that
poor health can lead to negative attitudes while poor attitudes can lead to
poor health. Biological psychologists research and study the correlation of
this theory in an attempt to help solve some mental and emotional problems.
Learning Perspective
The writings and findings of Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner have
done much for the advancement of modern psychology. Many of the important
findings in psychology from their theory of behaviorism, later evolving into
the social-learning theory or cognitive social-learning theory. Proponents of
the learning perspective think that mentalism should be abandoned for
behaviorism. Psychologists should concentrate on observation and direct
measurement rather focusing on introspection.
Behaviorists believed that actions were responses to stimuli that were learned.
The basic concept was that positive responses would be triggered by good
stimuli while negative responses would could from bad stimuli. Actions that
would produce positive results tended to repeated, while those that led to
negative results tended to be avoided.
This concept led to a broadening of psychology. Many groups that were often
overlooked by psychologists were being discovered and observed. Behavior became
the dominant school of psychology in the U.S. until the 1960\'s.
Adversaries to this approach were repulsed by the concept that humans did not
think or feel, but only thought that they did. Nonbehaviorists and behaviorists
parted company. Behaviorists believed that feelings could not explain behavior.
Out of behaviorism came the social learning theory, which taught that in
addition to behavior, imitation and observation led to learning.
Cognitive Perspective
The cognitive perspective of psychology focuses on the thought process.
Psychologists from this school argue that it is necessary to know what is going
on in the mind to fully understand why a person will do the things that they
do. By observing behavior, psychologists try to interpret what thought process
led to the action. Critics who disapprove of this theory do so on the basis
that in addition to perceptions, external forces must also be taken into
consideration.
The objective of cognitive psychology is to understand how perceptions and
interpretations relate to behavior. Why is that one person will turn to
violence when insulted while another person will make excuses for that person
rather than acting violently. Through the use of computers, research data can
be further analyzed to discover the thought process used in behavior and in
some instances, programs can even be written to help understand how humans will
react in certain situations.
Psychodynamic Perspective
Many critics of the psychodynamic perspective do not think that this school of
psychology has any bearing on academic psychology. Primarily based upon the
fact that many of the psychoanalysis assumptions could not be verified,
research psychologist was more related to philosophy rather than clinical
science. Though not as scientific as the other perspectives, the psychodynamic
perspective is none the less still associated with psychology.
When Sigmund Freud released his book The Interpretation of Dreams, it was met
with very little success; but it eventually provided the foundation for
psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis contends that urges and thoughts live in the
unconscious and manifest themselves in events during normal everyday life. The
goal of psychoanalysis is to dig into the unconscious to find the source of the
disturbances.
Concerned more with therapy than scientific observation and research,
psychodynamic psychologists probe the mind to find events, usually from
childhood, that manifest feelings of fear, violence, love, etc. Aggressive
feelings, or even sexual feelings, are located in this unconsciousness; and
regardless of what a person does, they will come out during normal activities.
By finding the root of these feelings, it can be understood why a person may
act the way that they do. Also by discovering these events, it may be possible
to help people channel the energy in a positive way or solve the problem.
Sociocultural Perspective
Unlike the other perspectives, the sociocultural perspective concentrates on an
individual\'s or individuals\' culture or society rather than the individual.
To understand why people tend to show certain behavior traits, psychologists
look at what effects the person\'s community might have on their thought
process. Some of the questions pondered are if a person behaves a certain way
to be accepted or commits an act because it is accepted amongst their society.
They mainly study how other people affect a person. Some studies look at how
male and female roles relate to their respective emotion or how job status
relates to their ambitions. In this perspective violence does not reside in
instincts or brain waves, but instead, in cultural rules and political
arrangements.
These five perspectives are similar in that all try to determine what cause
certain behavior traits, though they all approach their explanations
differently. The biological and cognitive perspectives both look at the
physiological aspects of behavior. The learning and sociocultural perspectives
look at how society affects a person\'s behavior. With the exception of the
psychodynamic perspective, the other disciplines focus on a scientific
approach, many of their theories being able to be tested for accuracy. Each of
these perspectives has their strong supporters as well as their strong critics.
Regardless of opinion, these are the main perspectives and more than likely a
psychologist has roots in one of these psychological perspectives.