ap psych c1--history of psychology

psychological perspectives

• humanist perspective—we choose our behaviors and are guided by physiological, emotional, or spiritual needs (having less friends because you feel more socially satisfied)

  • examples: abraham maslow and carl rogers

• psychodynamic perspective

  • unconscious mind controls much of our thought and action, like having unrecognized trauma

• biopsychology (or neuroscience) perspective

  • everything is related to biological processes, referring to genes, DNA, etc.

• evolutionary (or darwinian) perspective

  • some traits are better for survival and this is why they persist (ex: being extroverted to make more friends and be protected)

• behavioral perspective

  • look at behaviors and human response to different stimulation (ex: extrovert is an extrovert because he or she will be rewarded for having more friends)

• cognitive perspective

  • human behavior in terms of how we interpret environmental events (an extrovert interprets social situations as something important for their life)

• social-cultural perspective

  • behaviors vary among cultures

• biopsychosocial perspective

  • our thinking/behavior is a combo of bio, psychological, and social factors