Ap Psychology And Behaviorism B F Skinner

Behaviorism only focuses on observable behaviors, so behaviorists might say Ashley’s anxiety of speaking to her boss comes from his observable behavior and responses. Psychologist and behaviorist B.F Skinner’s fundamental principle was that organisms tend to repeat responses that lead to positive responses and they tend to not repeat responses that lead to neutral or negative responses. With this being said, Ashley may be afraid to ask her manager for a raise because she tends to get negative or neutral responses from him, making her apprehensive when having to speak to him.

The Psychodynamic theory focuses attempting to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior.

Sigmund Freud, the father of the psychodynamic theory, also suggested that there is a level of consciousness that contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well hidden below the surface of consciousness, yet still greatly impacts behavior, called The Unconscious. Psychodynamic theorists might say that Ashley's anxiety and discomfort from speaking to her boss comes from a bad memory, most likely a childhood memory, in her unconscious.
The Cognitive Perspective focuses on cognitive processes. They say that people's cognition, which is the mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge, is what affect someone's behavior. Our behavior is determined by a series of stimuli and our cognitive responses to these by thought process. Cognitive scientists may say that Ashley's anxiety is due to irrational cognitive processes, and her immediate thought process is to feel anxiety.. They might say that her anxiety stems from other external stimuli, such as fear from losing control, or anticipation of danger.
Humanism is a theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth. A humanist might say that Ashley has some insecurities about herself and is holding in bad feelings. They might say that she needs to let go of the past in order to focus on the future and better herself. They would say that her anxiety is a product of her own free will and the environments she's in, and she needs to focus on something good instead of her anxiety. In order to get past her anxieties she needs to look at herself honestly and acceptingly.