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Warm Up

On your note card: Do you think your
personality is shaped by past experiences and
cannot change? Or do you feel it changes as
you age? Why?
Major
Perspectives
of
Psychology
What do you see?
It depends on your perspective
Perspectives
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Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic
Behaviorism
Humanism
Cognitive
Sociocultural
Biological/Neuroscientific
Evolutionary
Psychodynamic
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Originated with the work
of Sigmund Freud.
Emphasizes the role of
the unconscious mind,
early childhood
experiences, and
interpersonal
relationships to explain
human behavior
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Freud focused on early
childhood experiences,
especially parent-child
relationships, believing
that personality was
formed in the first six
years of life.
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Our personality is a
conflict between our
unconscious Id and our
superego (our moral
sense) and our ego (our
sense of reality).
Psychoanalysis
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Form of treating psychological disorders,
invented by Freud
Personality assessment
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Psychoanalysts use projective tests like the
Rorschach Ink Blot test or the TAT test
Pros of Freud’s theory
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1. Argued that childhood experiences are
important in personality development.
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2. Information outside of awareness does
influence us.
Criticisms of Freud’s theory:
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1. Freud had no scientific data to support his
theories.
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2. Freud’s theories (unconscious, libido, etc.)
cannot be observed.
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3. Theory explains behavior (post-hoc) after the
fact.
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4. Observations not representative of
population (very sexist and not multicultural).
Behaviorism
Behaviorism
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Behaviorists bring science back into
psychology
Behaviorism is NOT interested in the
unconscious mind since it cannot be
observed or measured
Ivan Pavlov
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He was not a psychologist but a Russian
physiologist. He discovered classical
conditioning.
Classical conditioning is associative learning.
Dog associates food with bell.
B.F. Skinner
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Famous for operant conditioning. Operant
conditioning (aka shaping) is learning through
rewards and punishments.
Behaviorism
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Albert Bandura said our behavior does not
have to be conditioned
We can observe behavior and copy it
Behaviorism
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The behavioral perspective can explain why
people get addicted to gambling (positive
reinforcement)
…or why you come home before curfew
…or why you don’t like grape jelly.
Behaviorism Summary
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Behaviorism says we do what we do because
of classical conditioning, operant conditioning
or we simply learn the behavior from watching
or copying it.
In its extreme, they think we are simply rats in
a cage pressing buttons.
Many diet apps are based on behaviorist
approach.
Warm Up

On your notecard:
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Are we born naturally good? Or are we born
naturally bad? Why do you think this?
Are we able to change this feature? (Can we go
from good to bad or from bad to good?)
Humanism
Humanistic
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Humanism came about in the 1960s
Humanistic psychology was instead
focused on each individual’s potential
and stressed the importance of growth
and self-actualization
People are innately good.
We are humans with free will.
Humanism
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Abraham
Maslow said
we have a
hierarchy of
needs
Humanism
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Carl Rogers revolutionized talk
therapy
Client-centered, where the client
has all the answers instead of the
therapist
Therapists treat the client with
unconditional positive regard (no
judgments)
Group therapy comes from
Humanism.
Humanism summary
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Humanists are really touchy-feely (emotional)
Rogers and Maslow put the “human” element
back into psychology and therapy.
Their philosophy: We are all humans striving
to maximize our potential. A therapist’s job is
to remove obstacles to
.
Cognitive Perspective
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The study of how people perceive, remember,
think, speak, and solve problems.
Cognitive therapy is about changing the
maladaptive thoughts of a person.
Cognitive Psychologists
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Jean Piaget studied cognitive development in
children.
Create a Hierarchy
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Create your own visual for a hierarchy of
needs
Provide an example for each part of the
hierarchy
Each group will share their work
Why do we act like we do?
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Have you ever changed your behavior to fit
social norms or expectations?
Have you ever changed your behavior or ideas
in order to fit with a particular group of
friends?
Social Cultural Perspective
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How social environment and culture influence
behavior and thoughts.
Behavior is heavily influenced by social norms
and expectations.
Cross Cultural research
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Reaction to ethnocentric bias, relying on
European and North American subjects.
Compare and contrast two or more cultures
Kenneth B and Mamie Clark
Doll Studies
Their research demonstrated that
segregation
harmed Black children’s self-images,
Their
testimony contributed to landmark
Supreme Court case Brown v Board of
Education of Topeka, KS
Evolutionary Psychology
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Studies the evolutionary origins of human
behavior.
Behavior and mental characteristics adapt over
time based on natural selection.
Evolutionary Psychology
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Darwin published his theory of evolution in 1859
Natural selection- if an inherited trait gives
certain members an advantage over others (such
as increasing ability to attract mates, escape danger
and acquire food) these members will be more
likely to survive and pass these characteristics on
to their offspring).
Neuroscience Perspective

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Most respected right
now
Focus on our brain,
nervous system,
neurotransmitters and
hormones to explain
our behaviors.
Tools used by neuroscientists
PET Scan:
Positron emission tomography
fMRI machine: functional
magnetic resonance imaging
Dr Ben Carson Neurosurgeon
Director of Pediatric
Neurosurgery at Johns
Hopkins Hospital
Dr. Ramachandran
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Mirror box treatment for phantom limb
syndrome
Pick one…
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Which of the 3 perspectives of psychology we
have covered today do you feel is the most
interesting or useful? Why?