FREE ESSAY ON DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

John Wilson Psychology Essay (Development of psychology)
In the following essay I will explain the development of major schools in terms of
distinguishing features and historical context. 
Scientific study is a valid way of coming to an understanding of life, and can be very
useful in every area of life. Science develops theories based on what is observed. It
examines each theory with rigorous and scrupulous tests to see if it describes reality.
The scientific method works well in observing and recording physical data and in reaching
conclusions which either confirm or nullify a theory. 
During the mid-19th century, scholars (although at that time probably termed
philosophers) wanted to study human nature with the aim of applying the scientific method
to observe, record, and treat human behaviour that was deemed as unnatural. They believed
that if people could be studied in a scientific manner, there would be a greater accuracy
in understanding present behaviour, in predicting future behaviour, and, most
controversially, in altering behaviour through scientific intervention. There are many
areas of psychology, each attempting to explain behaviour from slightly different
perspectives; Social psychology is concerned with the effects of social situations on
human behaviour. Personality theorists study individual behaviour. Comparative
psychologists study animal behaviours across the range of species Physiological
psychologists are concerned with the biological basis of behaviour. Cognitive
psychologists investigate memory, thought, problem solving, and the psychological aspects
of learning. Analysis of behaviour studies the conditions under which a behaviour can be
learned and the situations that cause that behaviour to occur. Learning is an area of
psychology exploring how new behaviours are learned and maintained. Clinical
psychologists study ways to help individuals and groups of individuals change their
behaviour. 
Behaviourism.
This school of psychology arose partly as a reaction against psychoanalysis and
introspective methodology. Its founder J.B Watson claimed that psychology should be
studied like any other science with regards to chemistry, physics, biology etc and the
research should be available for public scrutiny. Behaviourism gained much respect for
psychology in adopting the scientific method and using the Experimental Method Of
Research in particular. B.F Skinner is the most famous contemporary behaviourist and is
often described as the most influential psychologist of this century. Skinner in
particular distinguished between two forms of behaviour: - respondent refers to the type
of behaviour shown during classical conditioning when a stimulus triggers a more or less
natural reaction. The Russian scientist Pavlov first identified classical conditioning as
a form of learning. Pavlov in fact won a Nobel Prize for his research. These responses
could include, excitement, fear, sadness or sexual response. The other type of behaviour
is operant which deals with the type of behaviour that is not a result of simple or
automatic response. Most human behaviour is operant which is learned and strengthened by
a process of operant conditioning. Examples of this type of behaviour would include: -
driving a car, going to work, playing a sport and daily events which take place. The
major elements, which are involved in operant conditioning, are, stimulus, the response
and reinforcement or reward. 
Cognitive.
Cognitive psychology emerged partly as a reaction against the narrowness of the
stimulus-response explanation of human behaviour. "The approach to this type of
psychology was offered by Edward Tolman, whom was a behaviourist himself, and found that
the stimulus-response of explanation of learning to be inadequate in explaining the
behaviour of his lab rats (in mazes experiments)" He claimed that his lab rats were using
'cognitive mapping' to find the location of food in the maze. "Cognitive research
included many different facets of mental life, such as the use of imagery in
presentation, processes of decision-making and problem-solving; and reasoning" It
combined the insights into human perception and learning from the Gestalt school with the
findings from the strict academic experimentalists, to create an interest in how human
beings deal with information on a cognitive level. The cognitive revolution places the
emphasis of psychology squarely on to the understanding of the human information
processing. From being the 'study of mind' to the 'study of behaviour' they also studied
the mental processes that intervene between stimulus inputs and response outputs. They
believed that an understanding of this process is necessary to provide a complete picture
of behaviour. Some theorists consider cognitive psychology to be synonymous with
psychology as a whole but others acknowledge the importance of the information processing
approach and as a consequence see cognitive psychology as a separate school.
Gestalt Psychology.
In Germany, a school of psychology developed which became known as Gestalt psychology,
after the German word for a complete unit or form. Gestalt psychologists investigated
those aspects of human experience that they felt were complete and couldn't be reduced to
constitute parts. In particular, they believed that the way that we gain a sudden insight
into the nature of the problem, or that we perceive objects, could not be understood in
the terms of chains of stimulus response, but represent something far more fundamental in
human psychology. "Gestalt psychologists proposed six principals or properties that lead
the perceptual system to 'glue' raw sensations together in particular ways, organising
stimuli into a world of shapes and patterns" Proximity being that the closer objects are
together, the more likely they are to be perceived as belonging together. Similarity is
when similar elements are perceived to be part of a group. Continuity is when sensations
appear to create a continuous form and are perceived as belonging together. Closure is
when people tend to fill in the missing contours to form a complete object. Orientation
when basic features of the stimuli have the same orientation (vertical or horizontal).
Simplicity is when people group a stimulus feature in a way that provides the simplest
interpretation.