psychology Essay -- essays research papers

As described, there are 10 different perspectives of early psychology. These perspectives are: Structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, Behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, physiological, evolutionary, cognitive, and cultural and diversity. I will only be looking at three of these perspectives still in common use today here is a summary of each. The behavioral perspective "focuses on the observable behaviors; thus it does not speculate about mental processes such as thinking." (Davis and Palladino, 2005).Unlike the other approaches, the behavioral perspective accentuates how it is important to learn and understand and doesn't focus on coconscious. B. F. Skinner, a well known psychologist, was a strong advocate of this thinking. He has since been called the "greatest contemporary psychologist" (Fowler, 1990). Skinner basically took an easy angle on his methods. "Behavior changes as a result of consequences (Bjork, D. W., 1997). When it comes down to it, Skinner teaches basic skills. When applying this type of psychology to young children you will see immediate results and these can be long standing results. However, in young children, this method will not give the parent ay idea of the motivations or thoughts behind that bad behavior. Only reinforcing the correct behaviors will do nothing to help parents or teachers better understand the feelings of the child or the internal factors that have contributed to this behavior. Behaviorism works well in conjunction with the other theories below to help parents and teachers gain a more complete understanding of not only their children’s behaviors but â€Å"why† they choose to behave in a certain way. The humanistic perspective "emphasizes free will and an individual’s control of their own behavior." (Davis and Palladino, 2005).This was more of a human approach to psychology which was to look at and study humans by the choices they make. Laboratory specimens can not possibly equate to what a human can achieve deeming any laboratory experiment illogical. Instead of developing principals about their theories, they concluded that each individual is their own being. Humanistic psychologists believe in the inherent â€Å"good† nature of all people. &nbs... ...ng the humanistic approach to reinforce their own decision making can teach a child to make the correct decisions and also give a more positive view of those choices no matter what they are. At any age the cognitive approach can be used to help children learn to recall information they have been taught or apply that â€Å"lesson† we are trying to get across. References Bjork D.W. (1997) Allport: A Life in Washington D.C. American psychological association Fowler, R. D. (1990). Psychology: The core discipline. American Psychologist, 45, 1-6. Humanistic Psychology and Education. Don Closson 1991 Probe Ministries International Retrieved 4 April 2005 from http://www.probe.org/docs/psy-educ.html Educational Technology's Effect on Models of Instruction. Judith Conway. May, 1997 Retrieved 4 April 2005 from http://copland.udel.edu/~jconway/EDST666.htm Saul Kassin, B.S., M.A., PhD, "Psychology," Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia 2005 Retrieved 4 April 2005 from http://encarta.msn.com Davis, Stephen F., Palladino, Joseph J. (2005) Psychology, Research and You, Psychology Chapter 1. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Custom Publishing