Understanding_Psychology

Understanding Psychology In psychology, there are many different types of theories that can be explored. One type of psychology that could be discussed is behaviorism. Also, functionalism is a type of psychology that can be found interesting. Third, humanistic psychology is also another theory. These are three different types of psychology, out of many, that can be explained. To begin with, behaviorism is pretty much defined at attitude. This type of psychology is not a science of the mind but a science of behavior (Grahm, 2010). Behavior can be explained without referencing mental events or internal psychological process (Grahm, 2010). If a food deprived rat is put in an experimental chamber and is presented with food after pressing a lever when a certain light is on, the rat will be more likely to press that lever when that certain light is on, the next time it is hungry (Grahm,2010). This is an example of how behaviorism works. Today, behavior influences psychology by appealing to theorist who deny that there are innate rules by which an organism learns (Grahm, 2010). They believe that an organism learns by its influences in a situation rather than the mental state of the organism (Grahm, 2010). Secondly, there is functionalism. This can be described as a theory that was developed as an alternative to both behaviorism and the identity theory of mind (Mahammad, 2009). The main idea of functionalism is that mental states are used solely by their functional role (Mahammad, 2010). Functionalism is the belief that the mind has a functioning way of helping us adapt to our environment (Mahammad, 2009). An example of functionalism would be putting children into a classroom and teaching them something but in different ways. Some children may respond to different techniques used in the classroom better than others (Mahammad, 2009). They are adapting to what works best for them. Functionalism influences psychology today by teaching us, at a young age, how to function in society. This is the importance of functionalism today. Lastly, humanistic psychology is the theory that human reality is not just made by applying methods of natural science (Dodson, nd). That may work for understanding chemical reactions in test tubes but when it comes to human behavior, it is more complex (Dodson, nd). When a person is in a situation and they choose how they act and their attitudes towards the situation, that is an example of humanistic psychology. This has been a big influence on psychology today because it is all about human nature and understanding the way we act. Humanistic psychology, simply put, is the study of human nature. Behaviorism, functionalism, and humanistic psychology are different and similar in many ways. They are all studies of how we act and why we do the things we do. They aren’t just a study of the mind but much more. All three of them have a different way of processing the actions of organisms but humanistic psychology is based on human behavior only. References George Grahm (July 27, 2010) Behaviorism. Retrieved on 1/10/13 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/#1 Eric Dodson (n.d.) A Conversation About Humanistic Psychology. Retrieved on 1/10/13 from http://www.westga.edu/~psydept/dodson/convers1.html Sultan Mahammad (January 27, 2009) Theory of Functionalism in Education Psychology. Retrieved on 1/10/13 from http://research-education-edu.blogspot.com/2009/01/theory-of-functionalism-in-education.html