Psychological Schools of Thought

Consciousness DefinedThe parts of our minds that we control. Actions and Behaviors. Unconscious Mind = Parts of the brain we don’t control or are not aware of. Memories, Dreams, Personality.

Structuralism School

Wilhelm Wundt (Germany). Helped break Psych from Philosophy into its own field of study.

Focus = Basic elements of consciousness. Breaks down into objective and subjective.

Objective = Accurately reflect real world, can’t be argued. Subjective = Mental images and emotional response.

Explaining Objective Sensation and Subjective Feeling

Objective example = Ice is cold. Can’t be argued, it’s frozen so it’s cold.

Subjective example = Winter is better than Summer. Can definitely be argued, varies from one person to another.

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud (Czech) Psychodynamic thinking. Most of what exists in the mind exists in the unconscious. Constantly in conflict with our conscious mind. Impulses, urges, and wishes are restrained by our conscious.

The Freudian SlipWhen you say one thing, but mean another.

Unintentional error that reveals subconscious thoughts. Supports theory that humans had very little free will and are subject to the unconscious mind.

Developed “psychoanalysis” to study unconscious parts of the mind.

Functionalist SchoolWilliam James (USA) How mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment.

Show how the function of the mind helps us to adapt. Focus = Practicality of Psych.

Wanted to understand more than explain. Stressed importance of free will.

Functionalism and Free Will

Structuralism states = All human actions were connected to science. Functionalism states = Consciousness serves as a function to adapt.

Choices WE make allow us to live in our environment.

Behaviorism and Reinforcement School

John B Watson (USA). Psych = Study of observable behavior.

People can be conditioned by external events. Free will = An illusion

Believed humans had three basic emotions. Fear, Rage, and Love.

Reinforcement

B.F. Skinner (USA) Positive reinforcement encourages repeated action.

Action —> Reward Theory tested w/ animals.

Rats trained to perform an action (pressing button) by giving them a reward (food).

Cognitive Psychology

Jean Piaget (Switzerland) How people think, perceive, remember, and learn.

Led to advances in understanding of information processing, memory, perception, and language.

Applied to development psychology. Brains work differently at different stages of life.

Gestalt SchoolMax Wertheimer (Czech) Focus = Perception

Emphasized study of objects and experiences as a whole, not just each individual part.

The Whole =/= Sum of its Parts

Gestalt and Movies

We perceive motion where there is none. Movies = Sequences of flashing lights and still pictures. Pictures tied together and shown in quick succession so that it appears they are moving.

To understand the movie, you can't look at just one frame. You examine the movie as a whole.