Psychology Q&A

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Question 1

Psychology is defined as the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of individuals. Before psychology, people did not know why we feel the things we feel or think the things we think. So psychology began with some goals in mind. The first goal is to observe behavior and describe what is happening. This allows for the next goal which is to explain what is happening. It is important to be able to explain how and why behavior happens. It is necessary to find motives or triggers that will cause outcomes. By knowing what causes behaviors to occur we can then predict what will happen in the future. We can then know what to expect and intervene to control the outcome of behavior. Predicting behavior will allow psychologists to better help people by being able to control the outcome of their behavior.

There have been a few pioneers that have paved the road for modern psychology. In Leipzig, Germany, a scientist by the name of Wilhelm Wundt became one of the largest contributors to the development of psychology. Wundt created a laboratory strictly for the study of psychology. Another key player is Edward Titchener who founded the first experimental psychology lab in the United Sates. One of the most important documents written in psychology, The Principles of Psychology, was written by William James. With all of these great minds at work an argument arose. The argument was about the right subjects to study and the correct methods to use while studying them. One side of the argument was structuralism. Structuralism uses the idea that all mental processes could be explained by knowing what the mind is made of. The other side of this argument was functionalism. Functionalism asks not so much what the mind is made of but how and why it operates. Functionalism states that the mind depends on it’s adjustment to the environment and that it will be an ever-changing entity.

In psychology, there are many different perspectives that are employed. The psychodynamic perspective was made famous by Sigmund Freud. Freud exclaimed that behavior motivated by internal forces such as instincts or heredity. The behaviorist perspective declares that behavior is determined from reactions to environmental occurrences. Another perspective is the humanistic perspective which believes that no matter what inheritance or environment provides people are still able to make a choice as to how we behave. The cognitive perspective states that a human is designed to think and imagine.

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