Psychology Theories Self Reflection Essay Example For Students

Psychology Theories Self Reflection Essay Introduction Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. It is a broad discipline which seeks to analyze the human mind and study why people behave, think, and feel the way they do. There are many different ways to approach psychology, from examining biologys role in mental health to the role of the environment on behavior. Some psychologists focus only on how the mind develops, while others counsel patients to help improve their daily lives. There are seven (7) major perspectives in modern psychology which include psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, behaviourist, humanist, cognitive, biopsychological, evolutionary and sociocultural. This assignment is an integration of knowledge; three dominant theories of †¦show more content†¦ Examples of this are Carl Jung who thought of the unconscious as the source of potential and creativity rejecting Freuds ideas of the sexual instincts. Karen Horney criticized Freuds penis envy theory and made her own interpretation that it was a cultural phenomenon in a male dominated society. Alfred Adler developed a theory that all people are born weak and thus resolves to overcome this weakness by being at one with others. Alfred Adler believed are born with physical inadequacies and as a result, people commit very early in life to rid themselves of these feelings of inferiority. There are, however, two ways to overcome those feelings: striving for success and striving for superiority, the latter of which is less mentally healthy. Behaviourism Behaviorism originated with the work of John B. Watson, an American psychologist. John Watson coined the term Behaviorism in 1913. Behaviorism assumes that behavior is observable and can be correlated with other observable events. Therefore, there are events that precede and follow behavior. Behaviorisms goal is to explain relationships between antecedent conditions (stimuli), behavior (responses), and consequences (reward, punishment or neutral effect). Watson claimed that psychology was not concerned with the mind or with human consciousness. Instead, psychology would be concerned only .