Major
Perspectives
of
Psychology
What do you see?
It depends on your perspective
Perspectives
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Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic
Behaviorism
Humanism
Cognitive
Sociocultural
Biological/Neuroscientific
Evolutionary
Psychodynamic
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The psychodynamic
perspective originated
with the work of Sigmund
Freud. This perspective
emphasizes the role of
the unconscious mind,
early childhood
experiences, and
interpersonal
relationships to explain
human behavior and to
treat people suffering
from mental illnesses.
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Freud focused on early
childhood experiences,
especially parent-child
relationships, believing
that personality was
formed in the first six
years of life.
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Our personality is a
conflict between our
unconscious Id and our
superego (our moral
sense) and our ego (our
sense of reality).
Defense Mechanisms
Displacement
Repression
Regression
Psychoanalysis
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Psychoanalysis is the form of treating
psychological disorders, invented by Freud
Personality assessment
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Psychoanalysts use projective tests like the
Rorschach Ink Blot test or the TAT test
Pros of Freud’s theory
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1. Argued that childhood experiences are
important in personality development.
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2. Information outside of awareness does
influence us.
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3. Defense mechanisms—good descriptions of
some of our behaviors.
Criticisms of Freud’s theory:
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1. Freud had no scientific data to support his
theories.
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2. Freud’s theories (unconscious, libido, etc.)
cannot be observed.
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3. Theory explains behavior (post-hoc) after the
fact.
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4. Observations not representative of population
(very sexist and not multicultural).
Behaviorism
Behaviorism
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By the 1950s, Psychoanalysis seemed very
unscientific. Behaviorists will bring science
back into psychology, even if they overdo it a
little.
Behaviorism is NOT interested in the
unconscious mind since it cannot be observed
or measured in a laboratory.
A telling quote…

Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed,
and my own specified world to bring them up
in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at
random and train him to become any type of
specialist I might select -- doctor, lawyer,
artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents,
penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and
race of his ancestors.
--John Watson, Behaviorism, 1930
Ivan Pavlov
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He was not a psychologist but a Russian
physiologist. He discovered classical
conditioning. Classical conditioning is
associative learning. He trained a dog to drool
to a bell.
Dog associates food with bell.
B.F. Skinner
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B.F. Skinner is the most famous of the
Behaviorists. He is famous for operant
conditioning. Operant conditioning (aka
shaping) is learning through reinforcements
(rewards) and punishments.
Behaviorism
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Albert Bandura did a famous experiment that
said our behavior does not have to be
classically conditioned or operant conditioned.
We can simply observe behavior and copy it.
Behaviorism
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The behavioral perspective can explain why
people get addicted to gambling (positive
reinforcement)
…or why you come home before curfew
…or why you don’t like grape jelly.
Behaviorism Summary
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Behaviorism says we do what we do because
of classical conditioning, operant conditioning
or we simply learn the behavior from watching
or copying it.
In its extreme, they think we are simply rats in
a cage pressing buttons.
Many diet apps are based on behaviorist
approach.
Humanism
Humanistic
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Humanism came about in the 1960s in
reaction to psychoanalysis and
behaviorism. Humanistic psychology
was instead focused on each
individual’s potential and stressed the
importance of growth and selfactualization. The fundamental belief of
humanistic psychology was that people
are innately good.
We are not rats in a cage! We are not
id-driven animals! We are humans with
free will.
Humanism
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Abraham Maslow said we have a hierarchy of
needs
Humanism
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Carl Rogers revolutionized talk therapy. His therapy
is client-centered, where the client has all the answers
instead of the therapist. Therapists treat the client
with unconditional positive regard (no judgments).
Group therapy comes from Humanism.
Humanism summary
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Humanists are really touchy-feely, but without
them we are just rats in a cage.
Rogers and Maslow put the “human” element
back into psychology and therapy.
Their philosophy: We are all humans striving
to maximize our potential. A therapist’s job is
to remove obstacles to
.
Cognitive Perspective
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What does the word cognitive mean? How
about cognition? Or Recognition?
It is the study of how people perceive,
remember, think, speak, and solve problems.
Cognitive therapy is about changing the
maladaptive thoughts of a person.
Cognitive Psychologists
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Jean Piaget studied cognitive development in
children.
Cognitive perspective on
depression
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We are depressed because we are irrational.
Our expectations are too high and misplaced.
We want everyone to love us and accept us.
We want every thing to go our way. We stay
angry about issues or events that happened a
long time ago. WE MUST CHANGE THE
WAY WE THINK TO BE HAPPY AND
SUCCESSFUL.
Cognitive Therapy
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Cognitive therapy is about changing the
maladaptive (bad) thoughts. Albert Ellis,
Aaron Beck and William Glasser are famous
for reality therapy. They challenged his
patients to ask, “Are my thoughts realistic or
rational?” Cognitive therapy also “educates”
the client, teaches him/her proper
behaviors/thoughts
Social Cultural Perspective
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How social environment and culture influence
behavior and thoughts. Behavior is heavily
influenced by social norms and expectations.
Cross Cultural research
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Reaction to ethnocentric bias, relying on
European and North American subjects.
Compare and contrast two or more cultures
Kenneth B and Mamie Clark
Doll Studies
Their research demonstrated that segregation
harmed Black children’s self-images, Their
testimony contributed to landmark Supreme
Court case Brown v Board of Education of
Topeka, KS
Evolutionary Psychology
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Studies the evolutionary origins of human
behavior. Behavior and mental characteristics
adapt over time based on natural selection.
Evolutionary Psychology
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Darwin published his theory of evolution in 1859
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Natural selection- if an inherited trait gives certain
members an advantage over others (such as increasing
ability to attract mates, escape danger and acquire food)
these members will be more likely to survive and pass
these characteristics on to their offspring).
Evolutionary Psychology
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Across the world, on average, men desire a younger
mate and women desire an older mate. How does this
help pass on genes?
Neuroscience Perspective
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This perspective is among
the most respected right
now. Neuroscientists
focus on our brain,
nervous system,
neurotransmitters and
hormones to explain our
behaviors.
Tools used by neuroscientists
PET Scan:
Positron emission tomography
fMRI machine: functional
magnetic resonance imaging
Dr Ben Carson Neurosurgeon
Director of Pediatric
Neurosurgery at Johns
Hopkins Hospital
Dr. Ramachandran
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Mirror box treatment for phantom limb
syndrome