introduction to psychology, theories, sigmund Freud

Psychology

A social science that studies human and animal behaviors and their behavioral processes through observation inquiry and standardized tests

History of modern psychology as an independent discipline

1879 in Leipzig Germany

Father of modern psychology

Wilhelm Wundt, in the university of Leipzig

Subfields in psychology

Clinical psychology

Counseling psychology

Sports psychology

Educational psychology

Neuro psychology

Organizational psychology

Health, cognitive, developmental psychology

Structuralism

1. The foremost school of thought. Main theorists are Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener

2. Concerned with Breaking mental processes into basic parts to understand the processes

Functionalism

1. Main theorists: William James as well as John Dewey and James Angell

2. It is concerned with the functions of the processes rather than the processes itself

3. Created as a response to structuralism but is mainly extinct

Psychodynamic approach

1. Founded by Sigmund Freud(1856-1939), a medical doctor from Vienna

2. Unconscious thoughts/processes are responsible for people’s behaviors and responses. Also early childhood experiences play an important role later on.

Gestalt psychology

1. Originated in 19th century in Austria and Germany

2. Major theorists: Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler

3. Concerned with the whole experience of the person

Behaviorism

1. Major theorists- John B Watson. Ivan Pavlov and B.F skinner

2. We’ll know behavioral theories are classical and operant conditioning

3. During the 1950s

Classical Conditioning

Learning by association. When a neutral stimuli becomes associated with an unconditioned stimuli creating a conditioned response similar to the unconditioned response

Operant conditioning

A behavior becomes more or less likely depending on whether it is followed by reward or punishment

Conditioning

Acquisition of a pattern of behavior in the presence of a well defined stimuli

Humanistic approach

1. Major theorists - Abraham Waslow and Carl Rogers

2. Developed as a response to behaviorism and psychodynamic

3. It focuses on individual potential and personal growth(positive psychology)

Cognitive school of thought

Studies mental processes including how people think remember and learn

Social-cultural school of thought

1. Major theorist: lev vygotsky

2. Social and cultural interactions shape human behaviors and responses

Cognitive-behavioral school of thought

Individuals thoughts, feelings and behaviors are connected and influence each other.

Eclectic school of thought

Combines theories from different schools of thought

Psychosexual theory of development

By Sigmund Freud

It has 5 stages

Oral stage

1. Pleasure focus is mouth

2. 0-1yr

Anal stage

1 to 3 years

Pleasure focus is bowels

Here potty training is done

If there is a fixation it can lead to anal expulsiveness (disorganization) or anal retensiveness(over organization) in the future

Phallic stage

3-6 years

Pleasure focus is genitals

Here there is attraction to parent of the opposite gender while copying characteristics of parent of the same gender

Latency stage

6-12 years

Here sexual libido is repressed and transferred to other things like sports

Genital stage

13-18 years

A child’s personality is fully formed, sexual behavior is developed and there is need for autonomy

The personality structures here are:

The id The ego The superego

The id

This is the pleasure seeking part of the personality which impulsively seeks instant gratification

The ego

This is the rational decision making part of the personality. It acts as a mediator between the id and the super ego

The superego

This is the trained part of the personality which follows rules and morals of where they find themself