Free Term Paper on Psychodynamics.
In psychology there are six modern psychological perspectives. These perspectives are behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive, sociocultural, and biological. Each perspective has its own unique way of explaining the human behavior. I believe to truly explain the complex mental processes and behavior, each perspective must be examined, not limited to just one. The following is my explanation and comparisons between two of these perspectives: psychodynamic and behavioral.
\"The behavioral view is defined
as the psychological perspective that emphasizes the power of the environment to
influence behavior.\" (Zimbardo, page 17) The behavioral view is often referred
to as behaviorism and was developed by psychologists who disagreed with the
cognitive view. Instead of looking at the mental processes, behaviorists look at
humans externally by observing the effects of people, objects, and events on
behavior. The stimulus-response connection, developed by behaviorists, explains
human behavior by stating that each response has a stimulus. An example would be
a loud noise (the stimulus) causing a person to jump (the response). True
behaviorists claim that thoughts, feelings, and motives do not play a role in
determining behavior. Thoughts and feelings are not the cause, but the result.
B. F. Skinner is quoted as saying, \"The c
rucial age-old mistake is the belief
that…what we feel as we behave is the cause of our behaving.\" (Zimbardo, page
20).
\"The psychodynamic view is defined as a psychological perspective that
emphasizes unconscious memories, needs and conflicts as the causes of
behavior.\" (Zimbardo, page 17) Psychodynamic psychologists look at the cause
and mental conflict that trigger behavior. Importance is put on the unconscious
motives and discords. Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis, which is
considered the most well-known of the psychodynamic theories. (Zimbardo, page
19) Frued explained the mind as having pressures that build up and when these
can no longer be contained, then the unconscious mind releases these pressures.
(Frued, pages 13-15) These pressures might be jealousy and desires from early
childhood relationships. For the troubled mind, this release must be more
dramatic than the release normal people get from everyday activities. This may
result in violence or other bizarre behavior. (Zimbardo, page 19)
The
behavioral and psychodynamic view points seem to differ more than they overlap.
An example of a situation where psychologists from both disciplines might agree
is with a teenager\'s low self-esteem. The behavioral view point would claim
that something had to have \'stimulated\' this feeling for it to result in a
response of a low self-esteem. Psychodynamic psychologists would believe that
something from the teen\'s past childhood experiences is causing pressure that
the mind is having a hard time releasing. In this case the behavioral stimulus
is the psychodynamic pressure and the response is the releasing of the pressure
as low self-esteem.
While examining these two very different psychological
perspectives, I have come to the conclusion that no situation or particular
behavior can be attributed to just one reason. If a situation is looked at
through only one perspective, then many questions are left unanswered. This is
why I do not believe that any perspective is \'wrong,\' nor do I believe any
perspective is completely and solely \'right.\'
WORKS CITED
Freud, Sigmund. An Outline of Psycho-Analysis. W.W. Norton and
Company.
New York: 1949.
Zimbardo, Phillip G., Ann L. Weber, and
Robert Lee Johnson. Psychology:
Third Edition. Allyn and Bacon. Nedham
Heights: 2000.