Psychology / Unit 1: Introduction and Research Methods
1.2 Major Perspectives
Notes
Psychologists use different perspectives to explain the same behavior. No single one is complete.
| Perspective | Focus |
|---|---|
| Biological | Brain, genes, hormones |
| Cognitive | Thinking, memory, problem solving |
| Behavioral | Learning from rewards and consequences |
| Psychodynamic | Unconscious drives and childhood experiences |
| Humanistic | Personal growth and free will |
| Sociocultural | Social and cultural influences |
- Example: a student who is afraid of tests might be explained by anxiety-related brain activity (biological), negative thoughts (cognitive) or a bad past experience (behavioral).
Practice
A psychologist explains a student's fear of dogs by pointing to a past dog bite that taught the fear. Which perspective is this?
The fear was learned through experience, which is the behavioral view.
Which perspective emphasizes personal growth, free will and reaching one's potential?
Humanistic psychology (Rogers, Maslow) focuses on growth and self-fulfillment.
Dr. Lee studies how differences in culture and family affect the way teens make friends. Her perspective is mainly:
She is looking at social and cultural influences on behavior.
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