There are many ways to conceive of human behavior, many plans from which to analyze it, so there are practically the same number of different ways of understanding psychology, which is the discipline that seeks to explain the processes of the mind and its behavioral expression. .
How is it possible, in the face of such a variety of perspectives, to achieve some unanimity to make sense of behavior?
- Psychologists use a variety of perspectives or approaches to study how people think.
- Feel.
- And behave.
- Whatever the approach.
- The subject of study is invariant and the conclusions are generally not far apart.
- Here are some tips to help you find this understanding.
Some researchers focus on a specific school of thought, others, on the other hand, take a more eclectic approach that incorporates multiple views, in this sense, there is no single perspective better than another by definition. different aspects of human behavior.
“I guess it’s tempting to treat everything like a nail when the only tool you have is a hammer. “Abraham Maslow.
As far as psychology is concerned, an approach is a perspective that involves certain assumptions about human behavior, as opposed to different hypotheses, used by other schools. There may be several different theories within the same chain, but they all share certain roots when they are included in the same school.
Some of the most important current approaches psychology has to understanding human behavior are:
So let’s review what each one consists of
Is conductism different from most other approaches because it sees people?And animals, too? Like controlled beings? Because of his surroundings. Specifically, for behaviorism, we are the result of what we learn as a result of stimuli, boosters, and associations.
Thus, conductism studies how environmental factors (stimuli) affect observable behavior (response).
The behavioral approach proposes two main processes by which people learn from the surrounding environment: conventional conditioning and operational conditioning. Classic conditioning is reflected in Pavlov’s experience and Skinner’s operational experience.
Depending on the behavioral approach, observable behavior should only be studied because it is the only one that can be measured; in fact, conductism rejects the idea that people have free will because it argues that the environment determines all behaviors.
The cognitive approach revolves around the idea that if we want to know what makes people work, we need to figure out what works in their minds.
Therefore, this way of understanding psychology focuses on the analysis of mental processes. In other words, from a cognitive point of view, do psychologists study cognition?that is, the act or mental process by which knowledge is acquired.
So does cognitive focus deal with mental functions, such as memory, perception, attention?In a way, an outdated but valid metaphor for getting an idea, cognitivism considers people to be similar to computers in the way information is processed.
The biological approach explains behavior based on the underlying genomics, it is a study of how genes affect people’s behavior, from this way of understanding psychology is thought to be inherited by most behaviors and have an adaptive function.
The biological approach is based on the relationship between the behavior and the brain mechanisms that support it, so it looks for the causes of behavior in the activity of genes, the brain and the nervous and endocrine systems, that is, the interaction of all these components.
Thus, psychobiologists focus on the body’s effects on behavior, feelings and thoughts, in this way, they try to understand how the mind and body work together to create emotions, memories and sensory experiences.
To talk about psychodynamic approach is to talk about Sigmund Freud, who developed psychodynamic principles by observing that the psyche of some of his patients was governed by his subconscious. The fact is that psychodynamic or psychoanalyst psychologists emphasize the role of internal forces and conflicts in behavior.
Thus, human acts would result from innate instincts, biological impulses and attempts to resolve conflicts between personal needs and social demands.
The psychodynamic approach proposes that our childhood events can have a significant impact on our adult behavior.
In this way, our behavior is determined by the unconscious and childhood experiences, because people, according to this approach, have little desire to make decisions.
An important aspect of psychoanalysis as a school is Freud’s theory of psychosexual development, which shows how early experiences affect adult personality and suggests that stimulation of different areas of the body is important as the child progresses through the stages of development.
This theory posites that many adult problems arise from a “fixation”. The psychological and sexual development of the child.
The humanist approach emphasizes the study of the person as a complete and integrated body, humanist psychologists observe human behavior not only through the eyes of the observer, but through the eyes of the individual himself, taking into account the confluence of each of his vital spheres. .
From this way of understanding psychology, it is thought that an individual’s behavior is related to his inner feelings and the image of himself.
The humanist perspective focuses on the idea that each person is unique and individual, and has the freedom to change at any time in his or her life.
This vision suggests that we are all responsible for our own happiness, therefore we have the innate capacity for self-realization, which refers to our desire to develop our potential.
In the evolutionary approach, the brain? And so the mind evolved to solve the problems encountered by our hunter-gatherer ancestors in the Paleolithic era, more than 10,000 years ago.
In this sense, this current explains the behavior in terms of selective pressures that shape behavior throughout the natural evolutionary process.
From an evolutionary perspective, observable behavior has developed because it is adaptive and, in this sense, similar to the biological approach, according to this theory, our behavior was chosen naturally, that is, the best people are the ones who survive. and play.
This way of understanding psychology suggests that behavior is determined by innate tendencies and dispositions.
Behaviors can even be sexually selected, in this sense, those who are most successful in accessing sexual resources would leave more descendants.
Therefore, its characteristics will become more present over time and, as a result, the mind would be endowed with instincts that would allow our ancestors to survive and reproduce.
Therefore, the evolutionary approach focuses on determining the relative importance of genetic factors and experience in relation to specific aspects of behavior.
Finally, the sociocultural approach studies how society and cultures affect behavior and thinking, i. e. it is based on the cultural and social influences surrounding people, and how they influence or influence the way they act or think.
From this perspective, culture is a determining factor in human behavior, so it studies the differences between different societies and, for this purpose, examines the causes and consequences of the behaviour of the inhabitants of different countries. into account the cultural environment of the individual.
The sociocultural approach holds that culture and spirit are inseparable, as they are built together, so it focuses on the interactions that occur between people and the environment.