Aspects of Psychology

Aspects of Psychology In this paper, I will compare and contrast three different perspectives of early psychology. I will use the following perspectives: Behaviorism, Psychodynamic, and Physiological. Behaviorism focuses on observable behaviors, Psychodynamic focuses on how behaviors are controlled by unconscious forces, and the Physiological perspective focuses on how the physical body reacts to psychological influences (Davis & Palladino, 2007). The behavioral perspective was introduced by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, in the early 1900’s. This perspective was noted by the behavior of a bunch of dogs when they were about to be fed. Behaviorism is the perspective based on how people and things react to certain other things and forces (Davis & Palladino, 2007). It is based on associations, such as how if a person is bitten by a dog as a child, that person may continue to fear dogs, even as an adult. Another example would be if on certain days, a grandparent picks a child up from school and takes them for ice cream before taking them home. The child would likely show excited behavior at the sight of the grandparent on those days, knowing that they would be taken for a treat of ice cream. The psychodynamic perspective was introduced by Sigmund Freud, a neurologist of the time, and discusses how certain behaviors are controlled by unconscious forces (Davis & Palladino, 2007). One of the more common associations to Sigmund Freud’s perspective, is the term “Freudian slip”, which refers to a person speaking, and instead of saying what they intended to say, they might slip and say what they really mean instead. This perspective also points out that to understand a person’s true problems and behaviors, that person’s early childhood would need to be examined, as Freud strongly believed that a person’s early childhood had a major impact on their behaviors as adults. The physiological perspective states that all behaviors in living creatures are related

References: Davis, S., Palladino, J. (2007). Psychology (5th ed.). Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ.