Psychology: Concepts and Connections - Assignment Example

When explaining human behavior, it is advisable to use multiple perspectives for a number of reasons. The main reason why it is essential to use multiple perspectives is because human behavior varies from one person to another. As such, it is vital to apply various approaches since each approach gives a different explanation of a person’s behavior. The diversity in human behavior requires the use of various approaches to explain human behavior (Rathus 2-570). The origins of psychology can be traced back to ancient Greece, with the works of Plato who emphasized that the mechanism of mental processes was the brain.

The first approach to psychology (functionalism) originated from the works of William James (1842-1910). He argues was that there was no need of looking at the building blocks that make up experience since the mind changes constantly. In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology lab at the University of Leipzig, in Germany. By the year 2000, the field of psychology had spread to the entire world. Freud can be regarded as a central figure in the field of psychology. He made contributions, which emphasized on the role of the unconscious mind, described defense mechanisms, and also stressed that early childhood played a vital role in personality development.

Freud also stressed that one of the powerful human motives included sex drive (Rathus 2-570). Psychoanalysis, the theory put forward by Freud, states that psychological problems affecting people can be dealt with by making unconscious thoughts conscious. Psychoanalysis aims at releasing repressed experiences and emotions. One of the modern psychological perspectives includes the behavioral perspective, which focuses on learnt behaviors. This perspective focuses on the reinforcement of learned behaviors.

Another modern psychological approach is the cognitive perspective, which places emphasis on mental processes like problem solving, thinking, decision making, and language. The other modern perspective is the cross-cultural perspective, which deals with human behavior across various cultures. This perspective also focuses on the impact that culture has on both behavior and thinking (Rathus 2-570). #3 The scientific method steps comprise of observation/research, hypothesis, prediction, experimentation, and conclusion.

Observation is the first step and can also be referred to as research. This step helps in understanding the problem chosen in the study. Once the researcher decides the question that he or she wants to ask and decides on the area of science, there is a need to find more about the problem through observation and research. Hypothesis is the second step of the scientific method, which refers to a solution to a problem based on research and knowledge. The hypothesis comprises of a simple statement that defines what the researcher thinks about the outcome of the experiment.

Prediction entails how the researcher will demonstrate the truth of the stated hypothesis. The experiment designed is carried out with the aim of testing the prediction (Rathus 2-570). The experiment step can be regarded as the step of the scientific method that plays the role of testing the hypothesis. An experiment refers to a tool designed by the researcher in order to prove whether the ideas in the topic can be referred as wrong or right. The final step of the scientific method comprises of the conclusion, which refers to the summary of the results of the experiment and