In order to enable me to compare and contrast the psychodynamic approach and the behaviourist approach they must be discussed in more depth. Behaviourism is a movement in psychology that advocates the use of strict experimental procedures to study observable behaviour or responses in relation to the environment. B.F Skinner was a behavioural psychologist who became famous for his work with rats using his "Skinner box". He took the extreme liberty of transferring his experience and theories of rats directly to humans. It should be kept in mind that rats and people are tremendously different creatures, yet Skinner had no problem with easily assuming what was true for rats, on a very simple scale, would be applicable to humans in very different and complex situations. Classical and operant conditioning played a large part in Skinners research (Glassman, 2000).
In a traditional behavioural approach, Skinner followed in the footsteps of Pavlov and Watson. This view puts across that the subject matter of human psychology is only the behaviour of the human being. Behaviourism claims that consciousness is neither a definite nor a usable concept. The behaviourist holds the belief in the existence of consciousness; it goes back to the ancient days of superstition and magic. The behaviourists asks: why don't we make what we can (Nye, 2000).
The initial influence of behaviourism on psychology was to minimize the study of the mental processes, emotions, and feelings and to substitute the study of the objective behaviour of individuals in relation to their environment by means of experimental methods. This orientation suggested a way to relate human and animal research and to bring psychology into line with the natural sciences (Wadeley, 1997).
Psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud is generally recognised as one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of the twentieth century. Working initially in close collaboration with Joseph Breuer, Freud elaborated the theory that the mind is a complex energy-system.
He articulated and refined the concepts of the unconscious, infantile sexuality, repression and tri-partite mind structure. He came up with a radical new framework on the understanding of human psychological development and for the treatment of abnormal mental conditions (Cardwell & Flanagan, 2002). Freud's analysis of human actions, dreams and culture has had massive implications for other fields of psychology. Freuds most important claim is that he invented a new science of the mind (Rieber & Salzinger, 1998).
Freud's theory of the unconscious is highly deterministic. Freud was arguably the first thinker to apply deterministic principles systematically to the mind. Instead of treating the behaviour of the neurotic as being causally explainable- which had been the approach for centuries, Freud insisted on seeking for an explanation of the behaviour through dreams and past experiences. There is much doubt about Freud's beliefs; his principles and theories are very much questioned by psychologists of other fields (Mc Garty, 1997).
In order to compare and contrast these two schools of psychology the main similarities and differences must be discussed. The psychodynamic approach and the behavioural approach will have many more differences than similarities as they differ greatly in their beliefs about behaviour and the mind.
Watson founded the behavioural approach to psychology because he wanted a scientifically based theory of behaviour. Behaviour can be observed and therefore measured, to him any other approach would just be guesswork. In contrast the main assumption of the psychodynamic approach is that an individuals personality is contained deep inside the individual, here behaviour is controlled by the interaction of the id, ego and super ego. The behaviourist approach opposes the tripartite personality theory as it cannot be scientifically proven (Eysenck, 2003).
The psychodynamic approach treats abnormality through assessing the unconscious using dream analysis and free association, in order to find the source of the problem. On the other hand, the behaviourist treatment to abnormality would be focused on eliminating the maladaptive behaviour through conditioning. Consequently, a Freudian based theory would argue that because the behavioural model does not address the underlying cause of the illness, then symptoms will resurface in other ways (Glassman, 2000).
In conclusion, behaviourists believe that all behaviour is learned and can be understood via principles of conditioning from the individual's environment. In contrast the psychodynamic approach looks at conflicts in the subconscious to explain behaviour. In comparison, the behaviourist focuses on external factors that can explain behaviour whereas the psychoanalyst focuses on internal factors that can explain behaviour (Carlson, Buskist, & Martin, 2000).
References
Cardwell, M., & Flanagan, C. (2002). Do brilliantly A2. London: Harper Collins Publishers.
Carlson, N.R., Buskist, W., & Martin, G.N. (2000). Psychology: The science of behaviour. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Eysenck, M. W. (1994). Perspectives on psychology. Erlbaum: Psychology Press.
Eysenck, M.W. (2003). Psychology for AS level (2nd ed.). New York: Psychology Press, Taylor & Francis Group.
Glassman, W.E. (2000). Approaches to psychology. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Mc Garty, C. (1997). The message of social psychology: perspectives on mind in society. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Nye, R.D. (2000). Three psychologies: perspectives from Freud, Skinner, and Rodgers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Rieber, R.W., & Salzinger, K.D. (1998). Psychology- theoretical-historical perspectives (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association.
Wadeley, A. (1997). Perspectives in psychology (2nd ed.). Basingstoke: Macmillan
