preview

Modern Psychology: The Developments And Development Of Psychology

Decent Essays
Open Document

Psychology is a modern science which studies the human mind and how it functions. The area of psychology refers to all aspects of conscious and unconscious experience as well as thoughts. It can be described as both an academic and applied discipline. The aim of this science is to understand individuals and social groups. Psychology examines peoples mental functions and why they exhibit specific behaviours in certain settings. Some of the key concepts explored in psychology include cognition, perception,attention,emotion,motivation,personality, brain functions,behaviour,cognition and interpersonal relationships. Psychology has gone through many changes throughout the years. It has roots in philosophy, the link between biological foundations …show more content…

For example, the idea of nurture has came form Plato, one of the Greek philosophers during 5th century B.C., who thought people are in a blank slate at birth which can be modified to anything through their life time depending on the influence of their surroundings. Plato also suggested that the body and mind of a person were separate, but the mind was in the brain. Aristotle believe that the mind and the body were not separate but one and the same. The two main philosophical influences on modern development of psychology are empiricism and positivism. Empiricism argues that humans should only measure data that is objectively observable. Positivism argues that the methods and principles of science should be applied to human behavior. These two ideas facilitate the development of psychology as a science. Therefore, it can be said that philosophy and psychology interact with each other while having the same root …show more content…

Since then, psychology officially cut itself off from the philosophy. The first step of exploring psychology was structuralism. The idea was that object of psychological investigation should be the conscious mind, and introspection should be the studying method of this approach. This approach was very limited in a way of explaining and therefore, it was replaced by functionalism. Functionalism was investigated by William James who was influenced by Darwin’s view. This approach believed workings of the mind are functional. It is the investigation o what behavior and thoughts are for. After functionalism was psychoanalysis. This was a method of therapy that argued human’s behavior is determined by processes of which they are unconscious. Sigmud Freud described this approach as an underlying theory of the human mind and behavior that has had an enormous impact on psychology. Next step was behaviorism. It suggested that psychology should only observe the observable things. It had been dominant until 1950′s when cognitive psychology was newly investigated. Cognitive psychology studied the mind by using computer information. It was a more advanced approach that science methods were applied. Later, humanistic approach followed. It was less scientific but it focused on individual’s conscious experience and aims in life. The latest approach was biological

Get Access