Psychology’s Perspectives The Big Seven

Contemporary Psychology Take a blank sheet of paper Trace your hand Listen for instructions 7 Perspectives….

Sample Problem: Use this scenario to describe using the Contemporary Approaches how you would evaluate and treat The Hulk Problem: The hulk is constantly suffering from explosions of anger.

Focus: How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts Thumb Focus: How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts Study of unconscious motives and conflicts that determine behavior. Childhood experiences Unconscious are motives that you are not aware of. For instance if someone with brown hair rejects you, then you might not talk to people with that color hair. Unlike the other schools, psycho­analysis developed outside a university setting. It showed little interest in most of the traditional subject areas of psychology. Led by Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, it focused on the etiology, develop­ment, and treatment of abnormal behavior. From work­ing with troubled patients in his clinic, Freud concluded that unconscious mental forces direct our everyday behavior. Psychological maladjustment results from unresolved conflicts of which a person is unaware. Free association and dream analysis were among the impor­tant techniques Freud used in exploring the uncon­scious. He maintained that awareness of the uncon­scious forces should enable patients to lead more ration­al and satisfying lives. Unit 10 describes Freud’s theory of personality in depth, and Unit 13 explains his approach to therapy. Freud made just one trip to the United States. In 1909, he accepted G. Stanley Hall’s invitation to speak at the twentieth anniversary celebra­tion of Clark University. Psychoanalysis- Asserted mental disorders arise from conflicts in the unconscious mind; we are driven by dark forces of the unconscious (needs, conflicts, repressed memories, and childhood experiences) Austrian physician, and his followers emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind and its effects on human behavior. We then move into one of the most controversial domains of psychology – Freud’s psychodynamic theory. I should point out that while Freud was the originator of this domain, he was by no means the only psychologist who held to these beliefs. A number of people worked with him throughout the years and who then started their own psychodynamic departments. Freud was born in the now Czech Republic and moved to Vienna when was 4. He stayed there until the Nazis forced him to move to London in 1938, just before his death. He was one of 8 children (his mom was 20 years younger than his dad), and had several half-brothers as well. He was a good student and studied medicine, specifically localizing brain injuries. He set up private practice and realized that he couldn’t make a living studying ‘normal’ neurological cases so he expanded his practice to treat ‘hysterical’ patients. No one else would treat these patients, but he took it very seriously. From his work with these hysterical patients, his psychodynamic approach began to take shape. His basic model involves the conflict between one’s conscious and unconscious in terms of which one is controlling thought and behavior. He focused a lot on motivations – mostly those involving sex and aggression. He felt that most mental illness evolved because the conscious part wanted to address the problem the patient was having while the unconscious feared the pain and didn’t want to do it. Later theories involved free association – where everything the patient says has meaning and dream analysis. Both of these haven’t necessarily stood the test of time but the conscious/unconscious framework is still utilized in some aspects of psychology today. Unconscious: motivations and memories of which we are not aware especially sexual drives from childhood Mental illness arises from being overwhelmed by which of these is ‘in control’ Id: (devil) I want it now! Impulses desires Superego: (angel) represented your morals and how society expected you to behave Ego: (you!) caught in the middle, tries to balance the needs of both the Id and the Superego FREE ASSOCIATION: a patient said everything that came to mind without attempting to produce logical or meaningful statements DREAM ANALYSIS: a patient would share the content of their dreams, with the understanding that dreams are messages from the unconscious CASE STUDY: intense observations of one or two patients at a time

Psychoanalytic Psychology Freud used the technique called free association He would say a word and you would say the first word that popped in your head and he would then analysis what is going on in your unconscious.

Psychodynamic?

Cognitive Approach Cognition is the mental processes involved in acquiring, processing, storing & using information POINTER Jean Piaget In order to understand someone’s behavior, we must understand how they think How does our interpretation of a situation affect our thinking, reactions, behavior? Example: Is your boyfriend dumping you traumatic or do you just think it is therefore you are depressed? child-development-guide.com sciencedaily.com

You meet a girl… Hopes are high!!! She rejects you…don’t even get digits. How do you react to the rejection? Some learned get back on the horse And try again. Some learned to give up and live a lonely life of solitude.

Cognitive

Scientific Psychology should focus on observable behavior. Behavioral Approach Scientific Psychology should focus on observable behavior. Middle finger…. Learning, environment, modeling. Reinforcement – Punishment WHY ARE YOU AFRAID OF CLOWNS?

Pretend that you fail psychology class. You become depressed Pretend that you fail psychology class. You become depressed. In turn, you begin to binge and gain weight. What do you think a behaviorist may do? They would probably ignore the fact that you are depressed and just focus on your overeating. Maybe make you run a mile every time you eat over 2000 calories.

Behavioral Approach

Rebellion of 1st group of psychologists against the accepted definition Not so much early childhood influences, but environment and basic needs can inhibit or promote our growth Human nature is always evolving and self-directed The environment and other outside forces simply serve as a background to our own internal growth Individual or self-directed choices influence our behavior Reaching our full potential  SELF ACTUALIZATION Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow “Hierarchy of Needs” Focuses on positive growth Attempt to seek self-actualization Therapists use active listening and unconditional positive regard.

Humanistic Approach Ring finger Need others to reach potential emphasizes self- concept, interpersonal relationships, and need potential for personal growth. You have the potential to be great. Self Actualization. Carl Rogers believed in “client centered therapy” Abraham Maslow came up with the Hierarchy of needs

Humanistic Psychology?

Biological Approach Examples: Pinky….and the brain Neuroscience The interaction between anatomy (brain/ nervous system) AND behavior Neuroscience Genes, brain, NS, hormones Examples: Depression and antidepressants. Problems neurotransmitter (serotonin) You drank an energy drink before you entered class & are bouncing off the walls

Biological?

Evolutionary Perspective Wrist --- Watch/bracelet – time to pass down genes; family treasures Focuses on Darwinism - Natural selection- survival of the fittest We behave the way we do because we inherited those behaviors. Thus, those behaviors must have helped ensure our ancestors survival. you are afraid of spiders because your ancestors were & helped them survive

Evolutionary Perspective?

Social-Cultural Approach Palms into HUGS! Behavior is influenced by ethnicity, culture, gender, etc How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures. Sample Issues How are we, as members of different races and nationalities, alike as members of one human family? How do we differ, as products of different social contexts? Why do people sometimes act differently in groups than when alone?

Socio-cultural?

Biological/Neuroscience Schools of Psychology Biological/Neuroscience They would attribute Stewie’s behavior to something physically going wrong with his body. They would look at Stewie’s brain for abnormalities, look at his blood chemistry and diet, and maybe put him on drugs to change his behavior.

Schools of Psychology Evolutionary Way back in the caveman days, Stewie’s great grandfather also wanted to kill his mother. For some reason that trait helped Stewie’s ancestors to survive and they passed this trait all the way down to Stewie.

Schools of Psychology Cognitive This approach would say that Stewie wants to kill his mom because he has reoccurring thoughts of her being overbearing/mean when she is actually just caring/supportive

Schools of Psychology Humanistic Stewie feels that his mother isn’t giving enough unconditional positive regard to him and henceforth has not yet reached his full potential and these negative feelings about himself makes him take it out on his mother

Behaviorist Perspective Schools of Psychology Behaviorist Perspective Stewie’s mother spanked him once when he was naughty so he was conditioned to believe his mother is mean, so now he wants to kill her They might do something like shock Stewie every time he tries to kill his mom. He would eventually associate the shocking behavior with the idea of killing his mom, and stop his attempts.

Schools of Psychology Socio-Cultural Perspective Several things affect the way we act (environment, religions, family structures, money, etc.) In Stewie’s case, maybe his violent tendencies are a result of living in a family where the smartest member is the talking family dog.

Schools of Psychology Psychodynamic In Stewie’s case, a person from the psychodynamic school might say that Stewie actually has sexual feelings for his mother (hidden in the unconscious) To ignore those feelings, he does the opposite of his true desire (defense mechanism – reaction formation) and tries to eradicate her.