The History of Psychology as It Developed to Be a Science - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Modern psychology has many different parameters and many different theories. Each of these theories is important, as each provides a puzzle piece to the overall discipline of modern psychology. Behaviorists explain why people behave the way that they do, and so do humanists, although each comes from a different perspective. Psychoanalysts provide explanations for why people think the way they do, and, in the process, supply another way of analyzing behavior. Structuralists provide yet a different angle, positing that behavior is the product of structure and associations. In short, each of these disciplines provides keys to human behavior, thought and motivation, thus each is important for understanding basic human psychology. Early Key Contributors The contributors to psychological thought can be traced back to the ancient Greeks Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle. For instance, major theories such as functionalism are based upon Aristotlean thought, and the concept of self-actualization, mentioned below, are based upon Aristotle’s theories. Jean Piaget’s theory of the mind, also explained below, is the same precise view as Aristotle. Plato influenced Freud and countless others, while Plato was influenced by Pythagoras (Malone, 2009). The age of enlightenment gave us the philosophy of Sir Francis Bacon, who promoted empirical science, and instances can be observed and empirical generalizations can be made. This view influenced behaviorism, as explained below. Thomas Hobbes, of the age of Enlightenment, pioneered the idea of thought and what constitutes it. For the modern theorists, Sir Francis Galton contributed the idea that selective breeding may produce a highly gifted race of men, so he seems to be the father of eugenics. He also pioneered the association test, where a stimulus word is used and the participant has to associate that word with other words (Malone, 2009). These are just a few of the major thinkers who provided foundation of modern psychology. Behaviorism Behaviorism, which is the science of how people behave, was developed in 1913 by John B. Watson, who issued a manifesto regarding this new science in his Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It. This was a radical departure from the prevailing wisdom in psychology during this time, which was studying mental processes and consciousness, as opposed to studying behavior. Watson created this manifesto because he observed what he called instinctive behavior; while Watson was toiling with a lack of facts, he did make the most of behaviors such as reflexes and conditioned reflexes. He also used Pavlov’s findings with dogs, as explained below, as a further factual basis for his new theory (Skinner, 1974), The nutshell of behaviorism is the ancient philosophy of post hoc ergo proctor hoc, which is cause and effect. Thus, behaviorism looks at the cause of behavior – such as the behavior of eating has the cause of being hungry. A person who speaks sharply to a friend does so because that person is angry, etc. Behaviorism is also concerned with innate behavior, which is behavior that is instinctual or reflexive. A behavior may become innate or reflexive through the process of operant conditioning, which is a process by which behavior is strengthened by its consequence (Skinner, 1974). If the behavior elicits a response, or operant, that is positive, then the consequence of this positive response is that the behavior is likely to be repeated. On other hand, if the operant is negative, then the consequence of this negative response is that the behavior is likely not to be repeated (Schwartz & Lacey, 1982). Some of the most important names in behaviorism include B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov and Edward Thorndike. Perhaps the most outstanding scientist is Ivan Pavlov, as the story of his findings with dogs is one that is universally known. Pavlov studied dogs and noticed that they salivated when food was placed in their mouths. He also noticed that they would begin salivating before food was placed in their mouths – merely seeing the laboratory assistants would make them salivate. Therefore, Pavlov saw that the behavior of salivating was because the dogs associated the lab assistant with food. Therefore, Pavlov was the first researcher to discover the power of association. He created the terms “unconditioned reflex”, which was the act of salivating, and “unconditioned stimulus”, food in the mouth that triggered the reflex. The conditioned stimulus is the sight of the lab technician, as the dogs were conditioned to associate the lab technician with the food and the conditioned response, which was the salivation at the sight of the lab tech (Schwartz & Lacey, 1982). Thorndike took exception with Pavlov and argued that behavior cannot be conditioned, but must be goal-directed and intelligent. He basically stated that an animal learns certain behaviors, and the example used was a cat that learned to get out of a box by trial and error, then used the successful method again and again. B. F Skinner was the other prominent behaviorist, and he pioneered the theory of operant conditioning, as explained above. Psychoanalytic Theory Psychoanalytic theory is another mode of psychological theory. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was the founder of this theory, and the theory arose out of psychiatric developments during the late nineteenth century. Freud pioneered psychoanalysis as a study of the conscious and unconscious mind, as well as the therapy for this. He became interested in the underpinnings of psychoanalytic theory when he studied male hysteria, which was in response to trauma. His theory was that memories are repressed, which means that they are not accessed by the conscious mind, but reside entirely in the unconscious mind. These repressed memories are then converted into hysterical symptoms as a mode of release for them. Freud then came to theorize that the repressed memories are not memories at all, but, rather, desires of the patient. Freud also coined the term Oedipus Complex, to describe repressed wishes and desires that a boy has for his mother, which is sexual, and for his father, who is a threat for the boy’s feelings towards the mother (Murray, 1983). Freud also states that personality consists of the Id, Ego and Superego. The Id is instinct, and is primal and chaotic. The Superego represents the standards that have been imposed upon the person by society or the family, and these standards have been adopted by the person and incorporated into his or her personality. The Ego is the mediator between these two (Benjafield, 1996). Thus, psychoanalysis uses the concepts put forth by Freud in order to try to understand the conscious and unconscious mind, as well as to formulate treatment for conditions that are caused by these processes. The other processes that Freud pioneered, and form the basis for psychoanalytic theory, are sublimation, which is where aggressive energies are rechanneled into harmless activity, such as art; reaction formation, which is where an opposite feeling to one that is repressed is cultivated, such as when somebody has repressed hatred for somebody else and treats them tenderly; introjection, which is where an individual feels hostile towards another, yet identifies with that person; rationalization, which is where unacceptable events and impulses are justified, such as when a soldier who commits a wartime atrocity states that he or she was just following orders; and displacement, which is where hostility about one object is directed towards another object, such as when a husband is angry with his boss and takes it out on his family. Freud also pioneered the concept of libido, which means that sexual energy is at the root of most of his theories (Murray, 1983). There are other major names in the psychoanalytic field, and not all of the scientists agree with Freud’s concepts. One such person is Carl Jung, who followed Freud, but broke with him by stating that the concept of libido should be de-sexualized, therefore, Jung did not want sex to be at the core of his theories. Rather, Jung was interested in the concepts of extraversion and introversion, which describe how people relate to the world. Extravert is the turning out of libido, introvert is the turning in of libido. He also was interested in the collective unconscious, which refers to characteristics that the species as a whole share, and personal unconscious, which is the unconscious of the individual (Benjafield, 1996). Alfred Adler (1870-1937) was another psychoanalyst who disliked Freud’s emphasis on sex. Rather than concentrating on sex as the be-all, end-all motivator, Adler looked at feelings of inferiority as a cause for psychological trauma, particularly in the realm of dominance-submission. Adler also pioneered the theory that birth order is important in developing one’s psyche and personality, stating that, because each child was born into different circumstances, each child will develop differently (Benjafield, 1996). Structuralism Structuralism is the science of seeking insight on behavior by looking at unlikely sources, such as “kinship relations among primitive groups, hundreds of myths about food and fire, the casual remarks of children engaged in solving a puzzle, [and] the minute differences between two imitations of the same model” (Gardner, 1973, p. 4). The structuralists believe that human behavior is part of a structure, as opposed to being random, and this sets their approach apart from the behaviorists. Piaget (1970) states that structures are transformative, whole and self-regulating (Piaget, 1970). As an example of how the structuralists see developmental psychology, one may look towards Jean Piaget, who is one of the pioneers of the field. Piaget saw the developmental behavior had structure, and the structure was different according to the age. A child in infancy may be said to be in the sensorimotor stage, and this means that the child is in a world of objects and increasingly masters his actions in this world of objects. Concrete operations mark the behavior after infancy, and this means that in his mind the child works with concrete materials such as objects, physical states and persons. Formal operations, which are manifested between the ages of 12 and 15, are shown by the fact that the child is capable of inductive thought. At this stage, the child may process abstractions as opposed to concrete concepts (Gardner, 1973). Edward Tichener (1867-1927) was a structuralist too, although his theory is completely distinct from Piaget’s. The basis for his theory was introspection, which is “the process whereby individuals describe their experience” (Benjafield, 1996, p. 122). Tichener saw the human mind as being a sum-total of the individual’s experience. The nervous system does not cause human experience, according to Tichener, but, rather, runs parallel to it. The way that Tichener conceived the nervous system is that it was like a map – the nervous system shows the person where they have been and where they are going (Benjafield, 1996). Humanism Humanists believed that behaviorists and psychoanalysts were being too simplistic, and that there was much more to being human than these two theories allowed. The humanists believed that, far from being ruled by the terms of operant conditioning or by their Id, Ego and Superego, humans live life with purpose and meaning. This opinion has its roots in European existentialism, which posits, among other things, that humans have choice, and this is the work of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). Friedrich Nietzche (1844-1900) was another influential existentialist, who theorized that there is no reality, because everybody has their own perspective and each perspective is as valid as any other. He also believed that no one person’s values are better than another. Jean Paul-Sartre (1905-1980) also was an influential existentialist who believed that consciousness is always directed outwards, and that only the individual is responsible for what happens to him or her (Benjafield, 1996). The major humanists are Rollo May (1909-1994) and Abraham Maslow (1908-1970). May wrote about anxiety, stating that it was a modern phenomenon being a reaction to changes in society that makes a person feel groundless. May stated that the values that were important in the past, such as rugged individualism and reason, do not necessarily work in the modern context. Rugged individualism was fine for the past when the country was being settled, but makes the person feel alone in the urban context. Reason glorification does not make sense because emotions and will play such a major part in the human experience. Therefore, humans must find different ways to define their sense of self, and this provokes anxiety (Benjafield, 1996). Abraham Maslow was best known for his hierarchy of needs. He basically said that humans have a hierarchy of needs, and they need to get certain needs met to feel secure and be able to advance to the next level of needs. Maslow thus pioneered the theory of motivation. At the bottom are physiological needs, such as hunger and thirst. If these basic needs are not met, the person’s upper needs will not manifest themselves. If the basic physiological needs are met, however, the next level of needs will be manifested, and these are safety needs – the need for shelter, peace and quiet, comfort and stability. If these needs are met, then the person will seek love needs, which include a sense of belonging. If these needs are met, the person will seek esteem needs, which are recognition and competence. If this and all lower needs are met, the person will seek self-actualization, which is self-fulfillment (Benjafield, 1996). Conclusion Each of the schools of thought – behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanism and structuralism – provides a synthesis of what is known about modern psychology. Each of the theories is useful in understanding how humans think and behave and their motivations for behaving and thinking the way they do. The discipline of psychology would not be complete without understanding the concept of repressed thoughts, yet, as the same time, the discipline of psychology would not be complete without understanding the effect that rewards and punishments have on a person’s behavior. Humanism has contributed to the field in explaining motivation, and why individuals seek basic needs before seeking other needs. Structuralism is also important, as Piaget explains how people develop, and this provides a platform for other understandings. Each of these theories intertwine to explain the whole of the person – why the person thinks the way that he/she does, why he/she behaves the way that he/she does, and what motivates him/her to behave the way that he/she does. No one theory is superior to another, and each is essential to the mosaic that is modern psychology. Bibliography Benjafield, J. (1996) A History of Psychology.London: Allyn and Bacon. Gardner, H. (1973) The Quest for Mind. New York: Alfred Knopf. Malone, J. (2009) Psychology: Pythagoras to Present. London: MIT Press. Murray, J. (1983) A History of Western Psychology.Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Piaget, J. (1970) Structuralism. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Schwartz, B. & Lacey, H. (1982) Behaviorism, Science and Human Nature.London: WW. Norton & Co. Skinner, B.F. (1974) About Behaviorism. London: Jonathan Cape. Read More