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In psychology there are six modern
psychological perspectives. These perspectives are behavioral, psychodynamic,
humanistic, cognitive, sociocultural, and biological. Each perspective has its
own unique way of explaining the human behavior. I believe to truly explain the
complex mental processes and behavior, each perspective must be examined, not
limited to just one. The following is my explanation and comparisons between
two of these perspectives: psychodynamic and behavioral.
\"The behavioral view is defined as the psychological perspective that
emphasizes the power of the environment to influence behavior.\"
(Zimbardo, page 17) The behavioral view is often referred to as behaviorism and
was developed by psychologists who disagreed with the cognitive view. Instead
of looking at the mental processes, behaviorists look at humans externally by
observing the effects of people, objects, and events on behavior. The
stimulus-response connection, developed by behaviorists, explains human
behavior by stating that each response has a stimulus. An example would be a
loud noise (the stimulus) causing a person to jump (the response). True
behaviorists claim that thoughts, feelings, and motives do not play a role in
determining behavior. Thoughts and feelings are not the cause, but the result.
B. F. Skinner is quoted as saying, \"The crucial age-old mistake is the
belief that…what we feel as we behave is the cause of our behaving.\"
(Zimbardo, page 20).
\"The psychodynamic view is defined as a psychological perspective that
emphasizes unconscious memories, needs and conflicts as the causes of
behavior.\" (Zimbardo, page 17) Psychodynamic psychologists look at the
cause and mental conflict that trigger behavior. Importance is put on the
unconscious motives and discords. Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis, which
is considered the most well-known of the psychodynamic theories. (Zimbardo,
page 19) Frued explained the mind as having pressures that build up and when
these can no longer be contained, then the unconscious mind releases these
pressures. (Frued, pages 13-15) These pressures might be jealousy and desires
from early childhood relationships. For the troubled mind, this release must be
more dramatic than the release normal people get from everyday activities. This
may result in violence or other bizarre behavior. (Zimbardo, page 19)
The behavioral and psychodynamic view points seem to differ more than they
overlap. An example of a situation where psychologists from both disciplines
might agree is with a teenager\'s low self-esteem. The behavioral view point
would claim that something had to have \'stimulated\' this feeling for it to
result in a response of a low self-esteem. Psychodynamic psychologists would
believe that something from the teen\'s past childhood experiences is causing
pressure that the mind is having a hard time releasing. In this case the
behavioral stimulus is the psychodynamic pressure and the response is the
releasing of the pressure as low self-esteem.
While examining these two very different psychological perspectives, I have
come to the conclusion that no situation or particular behavior can be
attributed to just one reason. If a situation is looked at through only one
perspective, then many questions are left unanswered. This is why I do not
believe that any perspective is \'wrong,\' nor do I believe any perspective is
completely and solely \'right.\'
WORKS CITED
Freud, Sigmund. An Outline of Psycho-Analysis. W.W. Norton and Company.
New York: 1949.
Zimbardo, Phillip G., Ann L. Weber, and Robert Lee Johnson. Psychology:
Third Edition. Allyn and Bacon. Nedham Heights: 2000.