1. Approaches of Present Day Psychology

2. Behavioral Approach First described by John B. Watson, 1913
Emphasized environmental determinants of behavior
Role of heredity deemphasized
Environment can be manipulated to change behavior

3. Behavioral Approach Deal with directly observable behaviors
Behavior is the result of external stimuli
B.F. Skinner prominent advocate of this approach
View behavior as the product of learning and associations

4. Behavioral Approach
Advantages: It can help parents teach children appropriate behavior.
Disadvantages: It takes away our “free will”

5. Psychoanalytic Approach
Developed by Sigmund Freud
Human behavior primarily determined by unconscious processes
Theory not based on experimental evidence; many aspects of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory are untestable.
Influential on American psychology
Stressed the importance of early experiences in determining later behavior patterns

6. Psychoanalytic Approach
A system of viewing the individual as the product of unconscious forces
Advantages: It provides a framework for analyzing thought processes below consciousness
Disadvantages: It focuses on how people are only products of mostly negative unconscious impulses.

7. Neurobiological Approach
Behavior understood by describing underlying biochemical and neurological causes
Observable behaviors reduced to physiological explanations
Viewing behavior as the result of nervous system functions and biology
Roger Sperry- split-brain research

8. Neurobiological Approach
Advantages: Understanding biological aspects of behavior can help in developing treatment for some disorders.
Disadvantages: It does little to explain social influences on behavior

9. Cognitive Approach
Origins can be traced to Gestalt psychology, as cognitive psychologists study thoughts and mental processes
Study the intervening mental processes between stimulus inputs and response outputs
Significant contributions made in the areas of language, thought, and memory

10. Cognitive Approach
Prominent figures include: Jerome Bruner, Jean Piaget, Herbert Simon, and Noam Chomsky
Emphasizes how humans use mental processes to handle problems or develop certain personality characteristics

11. Cognitive Approach
Advantages: It analyzes how thoughts affect behavior.
Disadvantages: It downplays the role of emotions

12. Humanistic Approach Emerged in the 1950’s
Viewed behavior as a product of free will and opposed the determinism of behaviorism and psychoanalysis
Believed too much emphasis placed on ‘rat studies’ in the understanding of human behavior
Emphasized the inherent goodness of human beings

13. Humanistic Approach
Developed methods of psychotherapy consistent with their views
Prominent figures include Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, and Gordon Allport
Believing that people are basically good and capable of helping themselves

14. Humanistic Approach
Advantages: It gives people power over their own lives and behavior.
Disadvantages: No one is good all the time; it may be a bit too good to be true.

15. Sociocultural Approach
Behavior viewed as strongly influenced by the rules and expectations of specific social groups or cultures.
Advantages: It helps psychologist to counsel people from different cultures and to understand social influences on behavior.
Disadvantages: It does not address physiological influences on behavior

16. Assignment
You will create a magazine cover for a magazine written by and for people from one of the modern day perspectives.
Name the magazine
Develop a creative cover design
List the titles of five articles that would be found in this magazine
Due Mon.