Early Perspectives in Psychology Essay

Structuralism emphasized that the objective of psychology is to study the elements of consciousness and to learn how it operates and how it influences behavior (Eysenck, 1998). Structuralism foc apply more on the structure of consciousness and tried to identify the different feels that each sensation and perception elicited. They believed that by breaking down the elements of each sensation, they would be able to light up a better understanding of human behavior.For example they tried to identify the different tastes that a person could experience, like salty, sour, sweet and bitter. By identifying the structure of the experience and of how a person perceives it, psychologists can identify the different behaviors that the individual may exhibit based on that experience, like when some unity who eats something salty may make a grimace and then look for a drink. The method used by structuralists was introspection or the systematic observation of ones experience.Structuralism was an attempt by psychology to become scientific experiments were conducted to define the different elements of consciousness. Psychologists were accomplished to explore behavior by analyzing their own experience, introspectionism as a method was heavily criticized because it was a vague concept that did non lend itself to scientific replication. Moreover, it was difficult to learn and was subjective.Structuralism however provided a limited vision of psychology and there arose a different panorama called behaviorism. Behaviorism posits that the goal of psychology is to examine behavior. Overt behavior as seen by behaviorists as the save human facet that can be objectively analyzed, how a person reacts or behaves towards a stimuli explains behavior (Zimbardo, Gerrig & Richard, 1999). Behaviorists believed that a person can be trained to exhibit a certain behaviory providing him/her with the right environment and learning. Although behaviorism gained popularity in the field of psychol ogy, many criticized it as being too mechanistic and take the human race out of the person. One of the appeal of behaviorism however was that it was very objective and treated mental processes as kind of a black box that should not be given due importance because it was not overtly possible. Behaviorists think that a persons behavior is a reaction to the presenting stimuli.Behaviorism used the scientific method to study behavior one of its most important contributions is the concept of classical and operant conditioning. It has been applied to a wide range of mental fields like education, training and psychotherapy. Psychoanalysis was developed by Freud in the period when Behaviorism was at its height. Psychoanalysis as a psychological perspective says that mans behavior is influenced by his experiences during childhood (Conlan, 1994).Psychoanalysis also believes that human behavior is greatly influenced by the unconscious part of the human mind. He likened the human mind to an ic eberg wherein the tip was the part that was conscious. Psychoanalytic theory argues that an individuals internal conflict is brought about by the repressed desires of the person. The method used by psychoanalysis is free association, wherein the person is asked to relate to the therapist what comes to mind, aside from free association, psychoanalysis also delved into dream analysis and hypnosis.The theory was criticized for grownup too much importance to the unconscious and at that time, Freud offered a controversial perspective of human behavior which many did not understand, however it has become one of the most important theories in psychology and many theorists within this orientation developed. Psychoanalytic theory however lacked scientific credence as it was focused on personal thoughts, memories and interpretations of which differed from one theorist to another.