Comparison and Analysis of Cognitive Psychology and Psychodynamic Therapy - Assignment Example

? Cognitive Psychology vs. Psychodynamic Psychology Tamana sayed Thought process Similarities Both the psychodynamic psychology and the cognitive psychology deal with the conscious state of the mind although the psychodynamic perspective delves further into the unconscious as its core basis. Cognitive psychology focuses on the thought process of human beings in a bid to understanding their behaviour. This is quite like the study of the ego in the psychodynamic psychology. This is the part of the mental structure that influences the thought process and also keeps tabs on memories and other stimuli that are gotten from the external environment. Cognitive psychology follows the principle that the thinking and behaviour of human beings is influenced by the visual cues that they see in their surroundings. These cues are collected and stored in much the same way as computers do. A computer usually remembers the details that have been stored in their disks in the exact way that they stored without distortion. Therefore, people remember what they see and that affects how they act albeit not as clearly as computers do. Psychodynamic psychology also depends on the visual cues that people pick up from the environment and this influences their thought processes. Both tenets of psychology therefore rely on what people see, hear, feel, smell and taste. The only difference is in the way that those cues are stored and as far back as they can be remembered to the point that they affect the thought processes and behaviour of people in their present states. Differences Cognitive psychology attempts to compare the working of the brain with that of a computer. This encompasses inputting, processing, storing and retrieving the data. This means that human behaviour is as a result of what is put into their minds and what they remember of it (Adler 1927, p. 63). The mind usually will process the information that it has and that will be manifested in the resultant behaviour. This theory simplifies the processes that are ongoing in the mind. This is why earlier theorists classified the thought process as being a step-by-step one meaning that a series of thoughts were being conjured up one at a time. The simplicity of the brain functions is still supported by present theorists who claim that the only difference is that there are many thoughts that are being processed at the same time in the brain. Psychodynamic psychology does not follow these simple explanations and instead states that the behaviour exhibited by human beings is as a result of many years of storing the data that they have gathered unconsciously. While this acknowledges the role that memory plays, it goes ahead to say that the most influence of the thoughts by people is the unconscious cues that the brain records and that people are unaware of. The iceberg principle of the human brain where the id is completely submerged is what psychodynamic theorists use in their analysis. Psychodynamic psychology is set on the premise that children have to go through several psychosexual stages where pleasure is sought from different body areas by the id. The children get to a point of fixation as they grow, where they develop jealousy for the parent of the same sex because of competition for the parent of the opposite gender. This is known as the Oedipus complex for boys and the Electra complex for girls. The conflicts that arise from the child’s fixation are resolved by identifying with the parent of the same gender. Cognitive psychology does not advocate for the same psychosexual aggression and assumes that the development of the thought process and actions in children can be explained by what they see around them. Behaviourists assert that all the actions that occur in human beings which include the Oedipus and Electra complexes can be scientifically explained and that no differences exist between the observable processes and the internal thoughts of the human beings, in this case children. Piaget recommended that human beings go through a number of stages that have distinct characteristics. The sensorimotor stage is the initial one that begins from birth until the child is 2 years old. It begins with the child having basic coordination and ends with insight and creativity. Other stages are the preoperational, concrete operational stage and formal operational stage. All the stages influence the person specifically at that age. Freund?s thesis focuses on the development of humans on a multi-level stage. His theories start with the mouth, move on to the bowel, genitalia, feelings that touch on sexual dormancy and the maturity of sexual feelings. The difference between the two theorists is that Piaget does not believe in the influence of each stage on the other but Freund does. Interventions Similarities Both of these psychological studies are aimed at understanding the behaviour of human beings. Cognitive psychology has resulted in the development of cognitive behavioural therapy, which is used to treat people with psychological problems, as does the psychodynamic therapy. Both of the psychological doctrines have been developed through years of study of patients and attempting to build on theories that may ultimately explain the functioning of both. Cognitive behavioural therapy usually takes less than six months to complete whereas the psychodynamic one usually takes longer than six months although in some occasions, it may also take a shorter time. Differences Cognitive psychology has been developed as a mediational process where people who have abnormal behaviour are assisted. This is the reason why the therapy associated with it is considered as being short term. The longest therapy can take a maximum of six months whereas the minimum takes up just five weeks. On the contrary, psychodynamic psychology involves a very thorough form of therapy that aims at getting to the core of the problem as it is believed to lie in the unconscious meaning that it is hard to diagnose in comparison to that of the CBT that can be diagnosed straightforwardly. This is the reason that the therapy takes longer. Parts involved Similarities Naturally, the controlling part of personality is the brain. Personality can be influenced by the thought patterns of people, their feelings and the way that they act. Theorists all concede that the world is comprised of either the outer world that is referred to as physiological, the inner world that is referred to as being the basis of human thinking and acting or both. Philosophers and psychologists concede that there was a line between the inner world and the outer world in traditional studies. However, this line has been blurred by modern studies with many of them questioning the concept of duality. Both cognitive psychology and psychodynamic psychology have been criticized for not being able to conclusively draw the line between the two worlds. The critism that has arisen on matters concerning dualism has been denied by both sets of psychologists as they still hold onto the traditional narrow sets of thinking. In the same instance, numerous studies that have been conducted with the aim of determining which the best treatment therapy is for people with psychological abnormalities have lauded both as having the same success rate and that none is more superior to the other. This fact does not show that any one of the therapies can account for the success of the other but simply shows that to a large extent, both accounts are effective in their own rights and independently. Differences Cognitive psychology is dependent on the process involved in perception, remembrance, learning and thinking. This is unlike the psychodynamic psychology that deals with the unconscious mental processes. Cognitive psychology is focused on the way that human beings think and how those thoughts influence their behaviour whereas Psychodynamic psychology focuses on those actions that affect the behaviour of human beings, which they do not have control over. Sigmund Freud, who was a neurologist and the father of psychoanalysis which later grew to psychodynamics, believed that the childhood of a person plays a very integral part in their personality as the unconscious part of the brain picks up on stimuli which affect the way that the person thinks and acts in his adulthood (Freud 1900, p. 104). Psychoanalysis considered the conscious part of the awareness of reality as being a tip of the iceberg. It argues that what motivates us is beyond the realm of our awareness. The unconscious is what guides us and it is composed of the mental states that are beyond what we are aware of. The governing principles that guide the actions of both the unconscious and the conscious are very different. Freud proposed three mental structures that he said served different actions and follow different principles. These are the id, the ego and the superego. Cognitive psychology on the other hand grew from the works of Piaget and the phrase was coined by Ulrick Neisser whose book “Cognitive Psychology” aided in its development in 1967. He defined cognitive psychology as “the study of how people learn, structure, store, and use knowledge” (Neisser 1967, p. 4). The earlier studies classified cognitive psychology as a step-by-step process of deciphering information. However, modern theorists consider cognitive psychology as being a parallel process. Thus, the difference between the two psychological doctrines is that cognitive psychology focuses purely on thinking which is a conscious process whereas psychodynamic psychology focuses on the unconscious processes. Methods Similarities Traditionally, cognitive psychology was a purely scientific venture that relied on laboratory tests to make deductions whereas the psychodynamic psychology relied on case studies. In the modern context however, cognitive psychology has adopted the use of case studies as a viable way on analysis in order to make deductions a shift from the past practice and a step towards the psychodynamic way of experiment. Differences Cognitive psychology usually relies on scientific methods of proving theory. The psychology is also dependent on the development of introspection among other ways of experimenting, which has proven valuable in the analysis of the mind. The background of this method is important as the line between the physical world and the inner world has blurred. Wundt thought that the only way of accessing the thoughts of a person was for every individual to examine his own thoughts (Boring 1950, p. 46). This is where introspection began. The scientist attracted a number of people for the experiment. Then, he asked them to look at some images and then describe what was going on in their minds. This method was lauded as being sensible as people would give a firsthand account of what they were thinking. Many people had a difficult time thinking about their thinking. A degree of the uncertainty was found as thinking about ones thoughts ultimately changes the nature of the very thinking. Psychodynamic psychology on the other hand mainly focuses on the use of case studies. Here, the therapist uses a number of patients in order to analyse their behaviour and thought processes. A couple of questions are asked on all the aspects of the study’s life from childhood to the present time. The therapist will explore the individual further while attempting to draw parallels between the persons past and their present. Conclusion Cognitive psychology is a discipline that mainly focuses on the conscious part of the brain functions. This mainly deals with memory, thoughts, learning and perception. The overall behaviour of a person is therefore affected by these. Psychodynamic psychology on the other hand is hinged on belief that the way that people act and the way they think can be traced back to their childhoods (Erikson 1950, p. 45). This is because the records that are kept in the id are acquired subconsciously from when a person is a child until he reaches maturity. These unconscious recordings are what affect the behaviour of a person without his knowing it. This is unlike in cognitive psychology where the behaviour of a person is explained by the sum of his conscious recordings in the brain. Cognitive psychology therefore discredits the notion that circumstances that people may encounter in the course of growing up and recorded subconsciously can influence the behaviour of a person. The above discussion has exemplified the strengths and weaknesses of both psychological perspectives. The human being is composed of both the inner and the outer world. The inner world which comprises of the unconscious and the conscious can be said to be the central theme of psychology. Both perspectives have been proven effective in their respective therapies when concerned with treating people with behavioural disorders. In my opinion, both perspectives are strong because of the achievements that they have made. Therefore, neither is superior to the other nor inferior. References Adler, A. 1927. Understanding human nature. Greenburg, New York Boring, E.G. 1950. A history of experimental psychology. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York Erikson, E. H. 1950. Childhood and Society. Norton, New York Freud, S. 1900. The interpretation of dreams. In Standard edition (Vols. 4 & 5, pp. 1–627). Neisser, U. 1967. Cognitive psychology. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York Read More