History of Psychology

In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” one of the main characters asks the other “That’s all we do isn’t it- look at things and try new drinks?” (Hemingway 476). In Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, the characters could also claim that this was their lives. At any point in the story they are essentially doing nothing but looking at things and trying new drinks. Critics are right to say that the novel presents motion that goes nowhere and that it is a novel of stasis and despair.

William James and John Dewey are well-known for their contributions to early psychology. Both were highly influential in the transition from mental philosophy to scientific psychology. This transition involved moving from a narrow focus of consciousness structure to the psychological study of the purpose, and processes of human functioning. These psychologists used their own reflections to attempt the separation of conscious experience into elements.

Functionalist looks at society on a macro level. It is a consensus theory and structuralists prefer to use functionalism as it agrees with their ideals and models and they prefer to look at society as a whole. Functionalists are interested in studying what family is most functional.

Structural Functionalism states that everything in society serves a purpose, whether it is positive or negative. Structuralists look

In my opinion both of the theories structuralism and functionalism involved the study of the human mind and how it works and they were both concerned with the mind at the conscious level. Personally, my feel of the two is that functionalism is more important than structuralism. I believe that functionalism is far better school than structuralism as it is more flexible and scientific in nature which I can relate myself with. I happen to think that functionalism is an object that is designed to determine solely by its function. These are a few of the similarities between structuralism and functionalism. Throughout this paper I will further explore some of the differences between these

Two primary contributors to psychology were john Locke, who was known to reject the possibility of innate ideas. Locke’s entire system was dependent on association of sensations and ideas of reflection. Locke also suggested that complex emotions which were derived from pain and pleasure were indeed associated with other ideas. Alexander Bain is also another

History and Systems of Psychology is a course requirement offered to Psychology majors and minors. This course is used to provide majors and minors with the foundation and the evolution of the field of psychology. Within this class, many scholars of discussed. Two scholars that stood out to me in this course would be John Watson and Max Wertheimer. These two particular scholars are responsible for two of the most influential and famous schools of thought, behaviorism and Gestalt psychology. These two schools of thought are responsible for changing the field of psychology and introducing the field to new theories and ways of thinking. Although the two schools of thought are similar in being influential but they are different in many ways. The two schools of thought are even said to be contradictory of one another and one is even said to be the cause of the fading out of the other.

William James’ book was entitled: Principles of Psychology which was published in 1890 and also established him as one of the greatest thinkers of his time.

The functionalism theory is also known as structural functionalism and lays claim on the fact that the society is composed of interdependent portions each of which adds to the functioning of the whole society. Functionalists break

The most significant impact on the field of psychology was the explication of consciousness and its functions. During the early 20th century, psychology began to changed dramatically; Therefore, consciousness had

Psychology is the study of the behavior and mind of all living organisms. Perspectives are made in psychology in order for us to be able to have a better understanding of human behavior. These “theories” help contribute to studying how people think, feel, and behave. Three of the main perspectives include behaviorism, which is the study of people’s behavior, humanistic, which is the study of the potential good in everyone, and cognitive, the study of mental processes.

looking at process rather than structure is a common attribute of modern psychology. As an

I chose Gestalt Psychology for my first perspective, it is how people experience objects and perceive things as a whole. Gestalt allows us to look at everyday objects and distinguish them from their surroundings. Without the Gestalt Theory people would see every atom that made up a whole object. As I look at my computer screen, I do not see every little atom, I see the screen as a whole. From this perspective, learning objects as a whole instead of each individual part is beneficial because it allows us to open our minds for new learning experiences. However, there may be things in life that do not provide enough visual clues to determine what it is supposed to be.

Gestalt psychology is based upon the idea that we experience things as unified wholes. This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism. Rather that breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest element, the gestalt psychologist believed that you must look at the whole of experience. The problem that gestalt theory confronts is that of an extended event, whether an action,

In chapter one, Stanovich argues for a psychology supported by scientific research. He begins with The Freud Problem, a general outlook on psychology that primarily consists of Freudian-style psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist best known for developing the theories and techniques of psychoanalysis. He is seen as the father of psychology. Freud based his approach to psychology on his own developed theories. Freud responded to the public 's misconception about psychology in a general way. He took notes about the several fields that existed in psychology. There is over fifty different divisions in psychology with psychoanalysis