The Study of Observable Behavior - Essay Example

Arguments Table Concept discussed Behaviorism Key features: Behaviorism, “the study of observable behavior” (Coon & Mitterer, 2008, p.23), discarded all mentalist concepts like feeling, sensitivity, image, aspiration, reason, judgment and emotion, and drove the concept of psychology toward what an animal did or how it behaved in response to a certain situation. Behaviorism claims that “there is a response to every effective stimulus and that response is immediate” (Watson, as cited in Arkin, 1998, p.45). This claim makes psychology a concept different than the study of mind and conscious behavior. Behaviorism moved psychologists away from introspection while studying mind, claiming that introspection is an unscientific means of judging behavior McLaughlin (1971, p.78). Arguments for Arguments against Behaviorism helps understand the relationship between stimulus (events occurring in the surroundings of an animal) and response to that stimulus (any muscular or glandular activity) (Wozniak & College, 1997). It helps study human behavior without connecting introspection to subjective experience (Friedman & Schustack, 2008, p.207). The principles and claims of John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B.F. Skinner were so strong that behaviorism ruled for another 50 years (Cherry, 2012). These behaviorists introduced a novel concept which revolved not around the conscious and unconscious mind, but around the animal’s behavior under controlled conditions. Behaviorism made the field of psychology less philosophical, and based the results merely upon empirical data without any judgment and reasoning (Kitchener, 1999, p.5). Since behaviorism focuses more on what an animal is going to do under certain circumstances, hence conditions like resistance to high temperature or infection, or aging of a person cannot be explained by behaviorism (Mises, 2010). Behaviorists never succeeded in defining the difference or relationship between physiology and behaviorism. Behaviorists call behavior what is actually a physiological phenomena. Hence, we can say that behaviorism does not describe human action but only tends to explain human reaction to a certain situation (Kincheloe & Horn, 2008, p.257). 2. Psychoanalysis Key features: Coriat (1999, p.11) defines Freudian psychoanalysis as “the most recent and advanced therapeutic procedure for the treatment of the neuroses.” In other words, it is an “analysis of the mind” that the psychoanalyst does in order to treat the patient for his psychological disorder. Psychoanalysis is an exploration of a person’s mind, and especially, the unconscious mind, through the application of the investigative methods and clinical experiences (AROPA, 2011). It studies an individual’s unconscious intentions and aspirations in certain situations which trigger nervous disturbances. Freudian psychoanalysis also talks about psychosexual model of personality development, which states that a person’s personality is based on his sexual libido or sexual drive since he is born (Priestley, 2001). Arguments for Arguments against Unlike other therapeutic procedures that only focus on apparent form of the neuroses and do not provide a proper cure, psychoanalysis focuses mainly on the root cause of psychological problems and symptoms, analyzing the problem and coming to a suitable solution at the same time (Roudinesco & Bowlby, 2004). Psychoanalysis should not only be understood only as a form of psychotherapy, but also be considered as an investigative method that explores mental processes (Milton, Fabricius & Polmear, 2011, p.vii). Psychoanalysis makes the patient feel like a unique individual, and this reduces his painful symptoms when he, with the help of the analyst, explores his mind (Clinard & Meier, 2010, p.66). Psychoanalytic sessions are quite long, and also prove to be very expensive for the patient (Kline, 1972, p.317). So, its time intensiveness and costliness is one of its main drawbacks. Since the psychoanalytic treatments are very long in duration, not many insurance companies are willing to fund the treatment processes (Plante, 2010, p.282). Freudian psychoanalysis is very descriptive, and does not base on any empirical data (Holt & Freud, 1989, p.319). Because of lack of sufficient evidence, psychoanalysis cannot be considered as a valid theory. 3. Cognitive Psychology Key features: Coined by Ulric Neisser in 1967, “Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn” (Cherry, 2012, para.1). Hence, the main focus of this branch of psychology is on the way people get hold of, store, and retrieve information in their brains. Cognitive psychology helps us study the internal mental states of an individual. Hence, it is unlike behaviorism that only focuses on observable behaviors (Tiangco, 2008, p.109). Cognitive psychology keeps a tacks of how much information we can store in memory simultaneously; how different sensory inputs are mixed together to generate high-end inferences; and, how knowledge is represented in our brains (Conjecture Corporation, 2012, para.2). Arguments for Arguments against There are many advantages of cognitive psychology in learning. For example, it helps in cognitive research regarding enhancing memory, improving decision-making capability, and designing such educational curricula that helps enhance the learning process (Cherry, 2012, para.2). Since, cognitive psychology studies internal mental states of an individual, we can say that it does not ignore the motives of the unconscious mind, unlike behaviorism (González-Márquez, 2007, p.4) Cognitive psychology uses scientific research processes, like experiments, to study human mind and collect data, which makes it an objective kind of psychology. This makes it different from psychoanalysis which is based merely on subjective perceptions. “Experiments are the preferred method in cognitive psychology because of the explanatory power they offer” (Riegler, 2008, p.40). It becomes difficult to study cognitive psychology when the learner is not sure which sub-field he is interested in (Eysenck, 2001, p.3). It is impossible to gain independent and direct access to one’s “unobservable” internal mental processes (Riegler, 2008, p.35). Behavioral outcomes more accurately determine the underlying mental processes of the brain. There are methodological problems in cognitive psychology (Danks, 2003). Even cognitive psychologists have started taking into consideration the relationship between efforts expended in cognitive research methods and the outcomes. 4. Biological Psychology Key features: Biological psychology is that branch of psychology that deals with “physiological processes and how they influence the human conduct and behavior” (Psychoid.net, 2012). The focus is on biological foundations for behavioral and mental processes of an individual. Biological psychology emphasizes the fact that brain and body are strongly interrelated (Albon, 2007, p.88). Anything that mind thinks has a drastic impact on how the body reacts to it in terms of behavior. Hence, our behavior depends on the sensory perceptions derived from physiology. Examples include post-partum depression syndrome, and mood swings in pregnancy or other illness (Freberg, 2009, p.57). In these conditions, the chemical and hormonal imbalance leads to certain moods and emotional states. Arguments for Arguments against Since biological psychology interlinks brain and behavior, scientists make use of it to study how the structure and function of brain is associated with psychological processes giving rise to certain behaviors (Corr, 2006). For example, biological psychology helps in understanding the link between an injured brain and behavior. Biological psychology helps psychologists in improving the quality of life of those individuals who have cognitive disorders accompanied by physical defects (Kalat, 2008, p.255). Hence, physical interventions may be used to treat mood disorders, like Ritalin is used to treat ADHD, and Prozac is used to lighten depression. Biological psychology also helps study how imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain results in malfunctioning of neurons (Bernstein et al., 2011, p.624), giving rise to illnesses like schizophrenia which has direct impact on mood and emotional states. Since physical interventions and drugs are used to treat behavioral disorders in biological psychology, the patient may become dependent on these drugs for normal behavior (Kushner, 2010, p.252). Also, the treatments under biological psychology may treat the symptoms of the behavioral disorder, yet they are not successful in resolving the underlying causes (Wordpress.com, 2011, para.6). When the treatment stops, the symptoms may recur (Yatham & Maj, 2011, p.106). 5. Humanistic Psychology Key features: Humanistic psychology presents such a therapeutic approach in which the counselor helps the patient play with creativity while discovering the opportunities for personal growth and advancement (Cherry, 2012, para.2). The humanistic approach tends to enable the client to discover his real self and understand his feelings. The client becomes competent enough to create choices and make decisions. Humanistic psychology has many branches, of which the main ones are Gestalt counseling, depth therapy, and transpersonal psychology. All of these kinds ensure a strong and close relationship between the therapist and the client (Elkins, 2009). Humanistic approach comprises of three elements: phenomenology, existentialism, and humanism (Hillner, 1984). Phenomenology means that the counselor helps the client analyze his problems and find solutions to them through the use of empathy. Existentialism explains that the counselor helps the client achieve a high quality of life through providing him self-awareness and self-realization. Humanism means that the clients are able to explore creativity which further helps in self-actualization and personal advancement. Arguments for Arguments against Humanistic psychology highlights the individual’s unique competencies and potential so that he is able to explore his self through creativity and self-awareness (Crider, 1993, p.522). Humanistic psychology is not based on scientific methodology like experiments. It uses qualitative research methods (Schneider, Bugental & Pierson, 2001, p.231), which may include case studies, open-ended questionnaires, structured and unstructured interviews and observations. Qualitative research in humanistic psychology is helpful for learning at the individual level (McLeod, 2007). Humanistic psychology offers the therapists a holistic approach (Pear, 2007, p.204) which focuses on the individual himself. Humanistic psychology is criticized as being unscientific based on subjective concepts (Nevid, 2008, p.503). It cannot objectively determine self-actualization. It also ignores the unconscious mind and is vague (Bentham, 2002, p.35). The qualitative research methodology, that humanistic approach uses, is very hard to compare and evaluate (Kalat, 2010, p.511). (Note for admin: Counting words separately under each main heading reveals that there are 300 words for each topic, thus making 1500 words in total, as there are 5 topics. Hence, the total word count is 1500.) References Albon, A. (2007). Biological psychology. Introducing Psychology through Research. USA: McGraw-Hill International. Arkin, R.C. (1998). Behavior-based Robotics. USA: MIT Press. AROPA. (2011). What is Psychoanalysis? Retrieved March 27, 2012, from http://www.freudfile.org/psychoanalysis/definition.html Bentham, S. (2002). Psychology and Education. USA: Routledge. Bernstein, D., Penner, L.A., Clarke-Stewart, A., & Roy, E.J. (2011). Psychology. USA: Cengage Learning. Cherry, K. (2012). Humanistic Psychology. About.com. Retrieved March 27, 2012, from http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/hist_humanistic.htm Cherry, K. (2012). 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