Seven Approaches To Psychology Essay Example

Psychology is a complex field of study of human behavior and mental processes. It cannot be studied in one certain way, thus, there are seven contemporary approaches to psychology: humanistic, evolutionary, psychodynamic, sociocultural, biological, behavioral, and cognitive. Each approach studies psychology on different levels, providing different views on the causes behind specific behaviors and mental processes. 

The first approach, the humanistic approach, focuses on an individual’s positive qualities, ability and capacity for growth, and their free will. In this approach, it is believed that humans have the ability to be in control of their everyday lives rather than the environment being in control. Additionally, humans are motivated by the idea of self-actualization, the ability to reach their full potential. For example, I had friends who placed racial stereotypes upon me, making me feel bad about being my ethnicity. I decided to cut ties with these people to focus on who I am rather than who I could be. I should be proud of my ethnicity, personality, and characteristics without worrying if I will be accepted into a particular group. This demonstrates aspects of the humanistic approach as I am focusing on myself and my growth as a person. The decision I made was of my free will in order to grow and become a better individual who focuses more on my self-worth rather than what I am expected to be. 

The evolutionary approach to psychology is centered around the ideas of adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection to explain why we act the way we do. As humans, we have adapted to the changes in the environment, both biologically and mentally. The evolution of humans has caused our decision making, emotions, physical features, and mating patterns to change with the development of technology and changes in society. It also deals with Charles Darwin’s natural selection, the idea that the traits we have are a result of our ancestors adapting in order to survive in an environment. Taking a look at a real-life application, I am scared of spiders. Ever since I was a child, I have hated the way spiders crawled and I was always scared that they would crawl on me and bite me. I did not learn to be scared of spiders. The idea was already within my understanding, passed down from my ancestors who recognized them as poisonous and deadly animals, demonstrating the evolution of humans and natural selection. Thus, some of my behaviors, especially those related to fear and reactions, are due to the information that has been passed on by previous generations as a form of survival and adaptation to the environment. 

Some information resides in the unconscious part of the mind, representing the psychodynamic approach. This information would include sexual desires and aggressive impulses. The psychodynamic approach also emphasizes the concept that childhood experiences contribute to adult behavior, as developed by Sigmund Freud. The unconscious thoughts and the childhood experiences influence the behavior, thoughts, and feelings a person may have. In my case, I grew up in a strict household where good grades were everything. As a result, I am very conscious of getting good grades in school, which is both a good and bad thing. Good in that I will put in a lot of effort in my classes, bad in that I could become overly-conscious in maintaining a good grade. This would be an example of the psychodynamic approach because my experiences during my childhood has shaped my behavior towards my educational successes. My thought that I should always do well has directly affected my behavior and emotions towards my education while also shaping my determined personality. Unconscious, underlying thoughts and the development of concepts during childhood has helped to define the actions and feelings I have today.

Quite similar to the psychodynamic approach is the sociocultural approach. This approach outlines the social and cultural environments that affect an individual’s behavior. Exposure to different environments and ideas can shape one’s outlook on the world, along with how they respond to certain interactions. People of different cultures will often disagree in this respect as the values of a country, ethnicity, or generation will influence how they behave and feel. In view of this, cross-cultural research compares individuals from different countries to observe the alignment or lack of alignment in their psychological qualities. Taking for example, I heavily engage in the use of technology in my everyday life, whether it be for leisure entertainment or problem-solving. The convenience of technology has made it easier to communicate and learn without as much effort as was previously needed. Everyday use of technology has become a big part of my generation’s culture, influencing my behaviors and displaying the sociocultural approach. Thus, I prefer electronic resources rather than physical, a short reading over lengthy, and online interactions over in-person ones. The advancement of technology has become a part of my culture, shaping how I behave in particular environments as well as my mental processes for acquiring knowledge.

The biological approach of psychology, however, looks at behavior and mental processes as a result of occurrences within the body, especially in the brain and the nervous system, rather than a result of external factors. With this approach, psychological characteristics of an individual are identified and defined by changes in the body such as the heart racing when the person is exposed to a tense environment. There is also the idea that some behaviors are inherited through genes passed from parent to child. Furthermore, neuroscience is known as a core part of the biological approach, emphasizing that thoughts, behavior, and emotion are central to the brain and nervous system. As the electrical impulses of information travel from our body to our brain for processing, we are able to react and behave in a certain way. In my case, I have Tourette's syndrome. This causes me to make involuntary movements and sounds, commonly known as “ticks”, due to an issue in the communication of nerve cells in my brain. Thus, my unique behavior is defined by my Tourette’s syndrome, a good example of the biological approach. My behavior is not caused by any external factors such as human interaction or childhood experiences, it is due to an internal, biological happening with my nerve cells and neurotransmitters that are not functioning normally. 

The behavioral approach has a very contrasting view, focusing solely on the observable behaviors of an individual. As adopted by behaviorists B.F. Skinner and John B. Watson, this approach is centered around what can be seen, not what cannot be seen. It also emphasizes how we learn when exposed to various environments. Conditioning, reinforcement, and punishment all play a factor in what behaviors an individual takes on. This can be seen in the way I have learned to wash my dishes almost immediately after I use them. In the past, I would leave my dish out, but after being scolded for not cleaning up after myself by my parents, I have been diligent in washing my dishes. This would be an example of negative reinforcement as I have increased my behavior of washing dishes in order to not endure the scolding of my parents. In the behavioral approach, behavior and mental processes are analyzed through what is seen. Thus, my change in behavior is an example of how I have learned to behave after eating and can be actively seen by others as I wash the dishes. The behavioral approach is very unique in this observational way that it studies psychology through our responses to the environment. 

Lastly, the cognitive approach. This approach deals with the memory, planning, and problem solving of the mind. Instead of the behavior being dictated solely by the environment, behavior is within the control of mental processes. Information stored within the mind helps in assessing what actions must be taken in certain situations. This information would include information that is available in the environment along with what has already been learned through previous experience. For instance, when I go shopping, I look for things I need at my house. Despite this, I always find various products that are outside of what I am actually looking for. Thus, I try to be rational and ask myself, “Do I really need this?” Decision making is a big part of the cognitive approach as it is distinguishing the available options from each other, providing reasoning for each through logic and what we know. This displays the cognitive approach in that I think about and process the information in front of me, making judgments of what I need before I make a final decision. The connection of the ideas I am aware of and the behaviors I engage in serve as an example of the cognitive approach. 

The seven contemporary approaches to psychology each take on different perspectives in why particular behaviors and mental processes are present. Some approaches deal with the internal happenings of the brain and mind to explain behaviors, while others focus on what can be seen and how we act in reaction to certain environments. Each approach provides different interpretations of behavior, therefore providing different, yet valuable, insights.