Introduction to Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour. The

word “psychology” comes from the Greek words “psyche,”
meaning life, and “logos,” meaning explanation. Psychology
is a popular major for students, a popular topic in the public
media, and a part of our everyday lives. Television shows
such as Dr. Phil feature psychologists who provide personal
advice to those with personal or family difficulties.
Psychological television crime dramas such as Cracked,
Criminal Minds, Psyche, CSI, and others feature the work of
forensic psychologists who use psychological principles to
help solve crimes. And many people have direct knowledge
of psychology because they have visited psychologists, such
as school counsellors, family therapists, and religious,
marriage, or bereavement counsellors.

Because we are frequently exposed to the work of

psychologists in our everyday lives, we all have an idea about
what psychology is and what psychologists do. In many ways
I am sure that your conceptions are correct. Psychologists do
work in forensic fields, and they do provide counselling and
therapy for people in distress. But there are hundreds of
thousands of psychologists in the world, and most of them
work in other places, doing work that you are probably not
aware of.
Most psychologists work in research laboratories, hospitals,
and other field settings where they study the behaviour of
humans and animals. For instance, my colleagues in the
Psychology Department at the University of Maryland study
such diverse topics as anxiety in children, the interpretation
of dreams, the effects of caffeine on thinking, how birds
recognize each other, how praying mantises hear, how
people from different cultures react differently in
negotiation, and the factors that lead people to engage in
terrorism. Other psychologists study topics such as alcohol
and drug addiction, memory, emotion, hypnosis, love, what
makes people aggressive or helpful, and the psychologies of
politics, prejudice, culture, and religion. Psychologists also
work in schools and businesses, and they use a variety of
methods, including observation, questionnaires, interviews,
and laboratory studies, to help them understand behaviour.

Major Schools of Thoughts in Psychology

When psychology was first established as a science separate
from biology and philosophy, the debate over how to
describe and explain the human mind and behavior began.
The first school of thought, structuralism, was advocated by
the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt.
Almost immediately, other theories began to emerge and vie
for dominance in psychology. The following are some of the
major schools of thought that have influenced our knowledge
and understanding of psychology:
Structuralism vs. Functionalism:
Structuralism was the first school of psychology, and focused
on breaking down mental processes into the most basic
components. Major structuralist thinkers include Wilhelm
Wundt and Edward Titchener. Functionalism formed as a
reaction to the theories of the structuralist school of thought
and was heavily influenced by the work of William James.
Major functionalist thinkers included John Dewey and Harvey
Carr.

Behaviorism:
Behaviorism became the dominant school of thought during
the 1950s. Based upon the work of thinkers such as John B.
Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner, behaviorism holds
that all behavior can be explained by environmental causes,
rather than by internal forces. Behaviorism is focused on
observable behavior. Theories of learning including classical
conditioning and operant conditioning were the focus of a
great deal of research.

Psychoanalysis:
Sigmund Freud was the found of psychodynamic approach.
This school of thought emphasizes the influence of the
unconscious mind on behavior. Freud believed that the
human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the
ego, and the superego. Other major psychodynamic thinkers
include Anna Freud, Carl Jung, and Erik Erikson.

Humanistic Psychology:
Humanistic psychology developed as a response to
psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Humanistic psychology
instead focused on individual free will, personal growth, and
selfactualization. Major humanist thinkers included Abraham
Maslow and Carl Rogers.

Gestalt Psychology:
Gestalt psychology is based upon the idea that we experience
things as unified wholes. This approach to psychology began
in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in
response to the molecular approach of structuralism. Rather
that breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest
element, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must
look at the whole of experience. According to the gestalt
thinkers, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Cognitive Psychology:
Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies
mental processes including how people think, perceive,
remember, and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive
science, this branch of psychology is related to other
disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and
linguistics. One of the most influential theories from this
school of thought was the stages of cognitive development
theory proposed by Jean Piaget.

Major Perspectives in Modern Psychology

The early years of psychology were marked by the
domination of a succession of different schools of thought. If
you have ever taken a psychology course in school, you
probably remember learning about these different schools
which included structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis,
behaviorism, and humanism. As psychology has grown, so
has the number and variety of topics that psychologists
investigate. Since the early 1960s, the field of psychology has
flourished and continues to grow at a rapid pace, and so has
the depth and breadth of subjects studied by psychologists.

1. The Psychodynamic Perspective

The psychodynamic perspective originated with the work
of Sigmund Freud. This view of psychology and human
behavior emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind, early
childhood experiences, and interpersonal relationships to
explain human behavior and to treat people suffering from
mental illnesses.

Psychoanalysis became one of the earliest major forces

within psychology thanks to Freud's work and influence.
Freud conceived of the mind as being composed of three key
elements: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the
part of the psyche that includes all the primal and
unconscious desires. The ego is the aspect of the psyche that
must deal with the demands of the real world. The superego
is the last part of the psyche to develop and is tasked with
managing all of our internalized morals, standards, and
ideals.

2. The Behavioral Perspective

Behavioral psychology is a perspective that focuses on
learned behaviors. Behaviorism differs from many other
perspectives because instead of emphasizing internal states,
it focuses solely on observable behaviors.
This approach to psychology was founded on the work of
psychologists such as Edward Thorndike and John B.
Watson.2 While this school of thought dominated psychology
early in the twentieth century, it began to lose its hold during
the 1950s. Today, the behavioral perspective is still
concerned with how behaviors are learned and reinforced.
Behavioral principles are often applied in mental health
settings, where therapists and counselors use these
techniques to explain and treat a variety of illnesses.

3. The Cognitive Perspective

During the 1960s, a new perspective known as cognitive
psychology began to take hold. This area of psychology
focuses on mental processes such as memory, thinking,
problem-solving, language, and decision-making. Influenced
by psychologists such as Jean Piaget and Albert Bandura, this
perspective has grown tremendously in recent decades.

Cognitive psychologists often utilize an information-

processing model, comparing the human mind to a
computer, to conceptualize how information is acquired,
processed, stored, and utilized.

4. The Biological Perspective

The study of physiology played a major role in the
development of psychology as a separate science. Today, this
perspective is known as biological psychology. Sometimes
referred to as biopsychology or physiological psychology, this
point of view emphasizes the physical and biological bases of
behavior.4
Researchers who take a biological perspective on psychology
might look at how genetics influence different behaviors or
how damage to specific areas of the brain influence behavior
and personality. Things like the nervous system, genetics, the
brain, the immune system, and the endocrine systems are
just a few of the subjects that interest biological
psychologists.
5. The Cross-Cultural Perspective
Cross-cultural psychology is a fairly new perspective that has
grown significantly over the last twenty years. Psychologists
and researchers in this school of thought look at human
behavior across different cultures. By looking at these
differences, we can learn more about how culture influences
our thinking and behavior.5

For example, researchers have looked at how social

behaviors differ in individualistic and collectivistic cultures.
In individualistic cultures, such as the U.S., people tend to
exert less effort when they are part of a group, a
phenomenon known as social loafing. In collectivistic cultures
such as China, however, people tend to work harder when
they are part of a group.

6. The Evolutionary Perspective

Evolutionary psychology is focused on the study of how

evolution explains physiological processes.6
Psychologists and researchers take the basic principles of
evolution, including natural selection, and apply them to
psychological phenomena. This perspective suggests that
these mental processes exist because they serve an
evolutionary purpose—they aid in survival and reproduction.
7. The Humanistic Perspective
During the 1950s, a school of thought known as humanistic
psychology emerged. Influenced greatly by the work of
prominent humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham
Maslow, this perspective emphasizes the role of motivation
in thought and behavior.

Concepts such as self-actualization are an essential part of

this perspective. Those who take the humanist perspective
focus on the ways that human beings are driven to grow,
change, and develop their personal potential. Positive
psychology, which focuses on helping people live happier,
healthier lives, is one relatively recent movement in
psychology that has its roots in the humanist perspective.7