Structuralism
Structuralism was the first formal approach in psychology.
It was started by Wilhelm Wundt in this laboratory in Germany. It was brought to the United States by Wundt's student Edward Titchener.
Edward Titchener
Structuralism tries to break behavior down into elements that can be measured and studied. The method to get to the elements is called introspection.
This method would have the person look into themselves and identify and isolate the elements of their behavior.
This theory is not followed often today since it is not easy to break down complicated behavior into
specific elements.
This theory has mostly historic value since it was the first attempt to study behavior with the the scientific method.
Functionalism
In the late 1880s William James authored the approach of functionalism.
Influenced by the work of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, this approach states that to survive, human behavior has to keep changing to fit the environment.
To help people, this approach would try to find reasons to change behavior to fit into their environment.
If this cannot be done in any way, then the person has to change their environment in order to survive much as animals must adapt to survive.
The functional approach also has more historical value today, but there are several applications.
Here's an example.
If you are in a job and do not like your job, the first attempt would be to find reasons for you to stay in your job. If none can be found, then the only way to survive and be healthy would be to change jobs and change environments.
Psychodynamic
In the early 1900s the psychodynamic approach was proposed by Sigmund Freud.
The main components of this approach are:
- childhood
- the unconscious
- the conflicts between the biological or sexual instinct and what society expects.
Freud believed that the unconscious sexual drives or conflict from childhood trauma shape behavior.
He also believed in the importance of dreams since he believed dreaming was the time the unconscious could express itself.
Although Frued gave psychology an in-depth approach, the problem was that this approach cannot be proved or disproved.
Here is an example of the psychodynamic approach.
What if as a child you were locked in a closet, but now you do not have any conscious memory of that. You are, however, afraid of closed spaces.
Freud would say the memory is locked in the unconscious and the fear shows itself in your behavior.
Behaviorism
In direct opposition to Freud's emphasis on the unconscious, John Watson presented his approach on behaviorism in 1913.
John B. Watson
Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning.
His approach is only concerned with observable behavior. If the behavior cannot be observed and measured, it is not of any importance to a behaviorist.
Behavior is determined by external events and stimuli, such as punishment and reward. If behavior needs to be changed, the environmental determinants can be manipulated.
Some examples of Behaviorism include Ivan Pavlov's use of classical conditioning of dogs and B.F. Skinner's use of operant conditioning.
This theory is still used in contemporary psychology and has had a large impact on education.
Most of you stop at stop signs because if you do not, a police officer can give you an environmental punishment of a ticket.
That is the application of behaviorism.
An Example
Cognitive Approach
The cognitive approach started in Germany with a group of psychologist called the Gestalt psychologists.
They focused on the importance of our mental abilities in guiding behavior.
Cognitive psychology was advanced into a modern day approach by the work of John Piaget in the 1950s. He focused on how we interpret, organize, store and retrieve information.
This approach suggests that mental processes shape our behavior and that if behavior needs to be changed, our thoughts need to be changed first.
An Example
Humanism
In the 1950s, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers presented a positive approach to the study of behavior. They called their approach humanism.
The humanistic approach looks at people as basically healthy and happy and in control of their behavior as a product of free will.
Humanists talk about an ideal image that we strive to be, and a real image that we realize we are.
The further these two images are from each other the more frustrated a person becomes, and then the result is a more negative behavior.
Humanists believe that they can only assist people in understanding their behavior and helping them bring about change.
This approach suggests that people strive to be the best that they can, or in humanistic terms, self-actualized.
For example, at the beginning of the school year you decide that you will be a straight-A student this year.
You lose motivation at the end of October as your grades have fallen to C's. This is the real situation.
The further away you are from your ideal, the more frustrated you become, and the more negative your behavior can result.
Other Approaches
The last three approaches are new ones that have evolved from other disciplines.
1. The neuroscience approach looks at the genetic contributions to behavior: the chemical balances and imbalances that can cause behavior to change. Because of new technology neuroscientists study the effects of brain damage, drugs and disease in ways that have never before been possible.
2. The sociocultural approach looks to see how behavior varies due to differences in culture, age, gender and social situations. This approach tries to help people understand the impact of how social expectations and cultural norms influence behavior.
3. The evolutionary approach looks at the adaptation of behavior through genetics that have allowed us to survive and thrive.
Let's look at how each approach would view aggression in the following scenario:
A driver expresses road rage or extreme anger and behavior towards other drivers.
Behaviorism: The driver has learned that aggressive behavior is ok because he was not punished for behaving aggressively.
Psychodynamic: Some childhood memory is suppressed and in a stressful situation the driver acts out because of repressed fear or anger.
Neuroscience: The driver either has a genetic condition or he is on some type of drug causing the aggressive/violent behavior.
Functionalism: Functionalists would focus on the mental activity involved with the expression on aggressive behavior.
Humanism: The driver should look to himself and ask what has frustrated him to the point that he has behaved poorly.
Evolutionary: In the survival of the fittest attitude, the driver shows aggression when the other driver is perceived to be blocking his forward momentum.
Cognitive: What the driver thinks about aggression will affect his behavior. For the behavior to change the thinking about aggressive behavior must change.
Sociocultural: If the social peer group of this person thinks this is cool, he will too although in most cases he knows that the culture of Americans would not approve of his behavior.
Structuralism: In a carefully controlled situation trained participants would report their thoughts on aggression or through the use of introspection and Wundt and others who followed the same approach would map out the basic structure of the thought processes. This style of research was soon abandoned because it led to a lack of reliability in results because the experimental methods used were too subjective.
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