Foundation Of Psychology Essay

Foundations of Psychology
Tanisha Manley
PSY/300
2/20/2012

Foundations of Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind. It was first introduced to us as a science separate from biology and philosophy. It has several theories and sub theories but there are six that we should know as psychology students. In this paper I will discuss the six schools of thought in psychology. Those thoughts include structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, Gestalt psychology and cognitive psychology. In discussing the different schools, I will identify the primary biological foundations of psychology linked to behavior.
Structuralism
Wilhelm Wundt, who is known as the father of psychology, came up with the first school of thought called structuralism. This perspective or way of thinking, says that psychology should examine the consciousness of people. It breaks down the process of mental thoughts into basic parts. In order to do so we have to take part in self-observation, which is known as introspect. When this is done, structuralists believe that people’s conscious experiences are boiled down to smaller components or structures of sensations and feelings.
Functionalism
Another major school of psychology is functionalism. Unlike structuralism, functionalism focuses on the role the process plays in breaking down the human mind. This school was introduced by William James in reaction to structuralism. It states that psychologist should be focused on the purpose of human conduct or behavior. It pushes psychologist to go beyond introspection and understand that behavior can also be affected by your upbringing, work, education and behavior. “Functionalism emphasized the role-or function- of psychological processes in helping individuals adapt to their environment” (Psychology 6th edition, 2011).
Behaviorism
In the 1950’s, behaviorism was brought into existence by psychologist Ivan Pavlov. Behaviorism concludes that there is a...