The Three Major Approaches In Psychology

Major Approaches in Psychology

Psychology is a subject which carries out the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour. It also refers to its application in various human spheres; for example, treating mental illness. It focuses on studying the mental processes and behavior of individuals. Psychology marked its journey as a scientific field from the late 19th century. It started with William Wundt, a German scientist, founding the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research.

Wundt used philosophical introspection with scientific techniques and appartuses. Introspection meant the observartion of one 's own 'self ' or 'consciousness ' which included the heart, mind and soul and its processes.

There were different

Behaviourist Approach

Behaviourism was founded by John B Watson. It says that scientific psychology should study only observable behaviour. He told that psychologists shouldn’t study consciousness altogether and should focus exclusively on behaviours that could observed directly.Behaviour referred to any kind of observable response or activity by an organism.

Behaviourism views organisms as controlled by by the environment in which it is present and specifically that we are the result of what we hve learned from our environment. It denies the existence of organisms learning or acquiring any kind of trait or character through genetic inheritance. It downplayed the importance of heredity.Behaviourism beleieves in sceientific methodology and that only observable behaviour should be studiesed because this can be measured objectively.It denies the idea of people having free will and says that environment is the guiding factor which dtermines all kinds of behaviours.

Behaviourism eventually came to relate overt behaviours or 'responses ' to observable events in the environment or 'stimuli '. Hence, thre behavioural approach is often reffered to as the stimulus-response

He felt a person 's motive can be the reason for some of his behaviours.

Behaviourism has been widely criticised. This is due to the fact that it under-estimates the the complexity of human behaviour. Many studies had used animals whose results cannot be generalized upon human and it cannot explain