Humanistic And Scientific Approaches To Psychology

Psychology can be defined as the systematic study of mental processes, couple with behaviors, and experiences (Kalat, 2011). There are many ways in examining, mental processes and behaviors among people, and therefore psychologist uses different perspectives to understand how human beings, think, act, and behave. Some psychologist uses one perspective to analyze behaviors, and other uses a multidimensional approach. Carter & Seifert (2013) identified 7 major perspectives that are used to study people’s behavior, and mental processes. These perspectives are the biological, evolutionary, psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, and the sociocultural perspective.

Psychology, due to its complexity can be approached in a variety of ways. To help us understand the human mind, behaviourist and psychodynamic approaches have helped us understand the alternative outlooks in the science of mind and behaviour. Both approaches can be examined by the means of theoretical assumptions and methodology.

There has been an ongoing debate on whether psychology is indeed scientific, although recent, psychology is now considered a science. This is because it uses scientific methodology in researching, devising treatments and measuring the outcomes. These methods include collecting and analysing data and concluding their findings in order to identify whether the research or treatment adequality solves the problem. Scientific studies must be replicable, this means the if repeated exactly the same, the results should produce an identical outcome. Replicability can be increased by ruling out any alternatives that may not have originally been thought of. Objectivity in science is the idea that scientist, in an attempt to get the best results, must first

Psychology is not just philosophical speculation and reasoning over the years it has evolved and it is now also recognised as a science, to understand what psychology is all about it is necessary to know it’s origins and the theorist who brought it out of obscurity, Sigmund Freud. He developed the Psychodynamic or Psychoanalytical perspective to enable better understanding of human behaviour these concepts will be discussed further later in this study. After Freud opened the gateway other perspectives and approaches have been developed, now with five main areas of psychology - Cognitive, Behaviourist, Biopsychology and Humanist approaches. For a comparison with the Psychodynamic theory, Behaviourist Theory will be discussed.

Psychology is the scientific “study of the mind” (Gross, 2015) and behavior, which includes the study of humans and animals. There are various approaches in modern psychology. A theoretical approach is a perspective (view) about human behavior, there may be several different theories within an approach, but they all share these common assumptions and principles. (McLeod, 2007). A theory is an attempt by theorists to try to explain behavior. Theories are not facts but can be verified by testing. Theories can then be evaluated which I aim to do through this essay, where I will briefly explain the theoretical approaches in psychology and aim to focus on an analysis for each perspective which consist of the psychodynamic, humanist, cognitive and behavioral approaches where I will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each approach separately.

Psychology is the scientific “study of the mind” (Gross, 2015) and behaviour, which includes the study of humans and animals. There are various approaches in modern psychology. A theoretical approach is a perspective which is someone’s view about human behaviour, there can be many different theories within an approach, however they all piece together the same assumptions. (McLeod, 2007). A theory is an attempt by theorists to try to explain behaviour. Theories are not facts but can be verified by testing. Theories can then be evaluated which I aim to achieve through this essay, where I will briefly explain the theoretical approaches in psychology and aim to focus on an analysis of each perspective which consists of the psychodynamic,

This essay aims to compare and contrast Behaviourist and Humanistic psychology by considering the differing theories these perspectives use about human thought, experiencing and behaviour.

The focus of this paper is the person-centered approach, which is the understanding of personality and human relationships in psychotherapy and counseling in the areas of client-centered therapy, education of student-centered learning, organizations, and other group settings. Even though psychoanalysis and behaviorism have made major contributions to psychology, it has influenced the understanding and practices of the humanistic movement, specifically with the therapies for the different mental disorders. Psychoanalysis understands the unconscious behavior, behaviorism focuses on the conditioning process that produces behavior. Humanistic psychology focuses on the person's potential to act as a whole person in a nurturing environment by

Psychologists have been focused on observing and understanding human behavior for centuries, dating back to the Greek philosophers when psychology and philosophy were considered one.Today, Psychology is the study of human behavior, beginning before birth and lasting until death. It is clear that the observance human behavior is a vast and profound source of data for psychologists. Early philosophers relied on methods of observation and logic. A physiologist named Wilhelm Wundt in the 1800’s began using scientific research methods in his study of mental processes. However, the situation was totally different in the beginning of 20th century when psychology still struggled to be regarded as a separate discipline with practical value(Mastering,2011). Psychologists had only begun to be accepted as a science. It was John B. Watson who established the school of Behaviorism and inspired many other psychologists to study patterns of human behavior and their mechanisms. Watson 's contribution to psychology is important not to underestimate; he studied animal and human behavior to come up with a methodology that would give Psychology a respected status among other scientific disciplines. This essay will focus on the biography and works of John B. Watson with a purpose to show why his works are important for Psychology today(Hergenhahn & Henley, 2013).

Throughout the course of the first semester we as a Psychology class learned a whole variety of different and varying concepts of Psychology. Chapter one we went over all the different ways psychologists study behaviors and mental processes. Included were the contemporary perspectives, such as behavioral, which focuses on behavior that is observed. Psychodynamic focuses on our fantasies and our hidden motives. Humanistic is all about our free will and conscious choices. Physiological is the relationships between biological processes and behavior. Cognitive perspective is our acquired knowledge, and last but not least is sociocultural, which places great value on the role of cultural and social influences on our behavior.

Applying scientific method to psychology, helps to standardize the robust approach of measuring understandings of the human mind, behaviour and emotions. In order to have scientific knowledge both a theory and data are essential components so that it measures its claim rather than being a presumption. Initially a researcher will make an observation and come up with question. It is from this that a theory will be used to make predictions about future observations. After finding a specific question to answer, the researcher can then make a prediction (a hypothesis) about what the outcome maybe (Boundless,2016).This prediction is usually a statement about the relationship between two or more variables.

In order to be considered a science, Psychology must consequently adhere to using a scientific method. If this were, as usual,

The phrase “method of scholars” is an alternative title for the scientific method, for it is the absolute best set of methods in finding the truth, and of course the scholars would know. “It has often been said that the greatest discovery in science was the discovery of the scientific method of discovery”: (Feibleman, 1972). This method is an investigation in which a problem is initially identified. With this, observations, experiments, and other relevant data (provided by research) are then used to create or test hypotheses that lead to conclusions about the original problem. The steps involved in this process include: 1) Forming a testable hypothesis. 2) Devising a research plan and method of application. 3) Collecting data and researching. 4) Analyzing the data and reaching possible conclusions about the study. 5) Report findings. This research can be characterized as an activity of creative work that is carried out in a systematic way in an effort to increase knowledge and truth. In the field of psychology, this refers to the knowledge of the human mind, human behavior, cultures, and societies. In order to fully understand how researchers, scientists, psychologists, scholars, and students alike reach such conclusions, one needs to recognize the importance of the research process and measures that are applied when conducting the various types of psychological research. With this knowledge,

The biological approach examines mental processes and behaviors by focusing on genetics and physiology. Psychologists who use the biological approach believe that mental processes and behaviors are caused and explained by activity between the nervous system and the brain. The biological approach is very scientific; therefore, psychologists can perform consistent, measureable experiments to examine how our genes, neuronal activity, and neurotransmitters interact with our environment and how they influence our mental processes and behaviors. Psychologists performing such experiments have more control over their variables; thus, studies can be repeated to test how reliable they actually are.

There exist various schools of psychology, each having a different approach. Most psychologists agree that no one ‘approach ' is correct. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and adds to our understanding of human behaviour.