SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY

 

SCHOOLS OF PHYCHOLOGY

1 .STRUCTURALISM

• It is one of the oldest schools of thought.

• It was propagated by Wilhelm Wundt.

• He is known as father of experimental psychology.

• Structuralism emphasized the systematic study of the structure of mind by adopting introspection as the main technique.

• It focused on the inner working of consciousness

2. FUNCTIONALISM

• The first American psychologist and the author of famous book principles of psychology William James led the movement of functionalism.

• It studies mind as it functions in adapting the organism to its environment.

• It focused on how and why the mind functions.

This school emphasizes the functional aspects and therefore it is known as functionalism. 

3 . BEHAVIOURISM

• John .B .Watson popularized behaviourism.

• He stated that psychology is the science of behaviour i.e. Observable and measurable behaviour. 

• Behaviourist believed that all behaviour is merely a response to some stimulus in the environment.

• Conditioning through environmental influences is responsible for shaping the behaviour of a child .

• The chief exponents of this approach are Pavloc , Thorndike,Skinner  etc.

4 .GESTALD PHYCHOLOGY

• The most prominent members of this school were Max Wertheimer,Kurt koffka,Wolfgang kohler anr Kurt Lewin.

• Gestald is a German word which means configuration or an organized whole.

• It is opposed to the molecular approach to behaviour.

• According to it an individual perceives the thing as a whole and not as a mere collection of its elements.

• The fundamental Gestald principle is that the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

• It stressed that learning by insight is more forceful.

 5 .COGNITIVE APPROACH

• Cognitive processes are mental activities involving the acquisition , representation , storage ,retrieval ,or use of information.

• Therefore cognitive psychology studies man’s thinking , memory ,perception and other mental processes.

• Cognitive psychologists are totally opposed to S-R approach of behaviorists .

• The major contributors of this approach are Jean Piaget ,Jerome S Bruner etc.

 6 .HUMANISTIC APPROACH 

• Humanistic approach gives more value to human Abraham Maslow ,Carl Rogers,  Allport  etc have contributed to the growth of this approach.

• It does not consider man as a machine but as a purposeful being ,capable of adjusting himself to his environment ;have free will freedom of choice inorder to achieve the goals.

• According to humanists education is self realization.