The most famous experiment looking into behaviourism is by the Russian scientist I.P Pavlov (1849-1946) in which he found that by ringing a bell every time he fed the dogs in his lab, he realised that the dogs learned to associate the bell with food so therefore salivated, eventually the dogs would salivate without the need for food as the simple ringing of the bell was enough for them to assume that the bell meant food therefore salivation would occur. Not only does this form of behaviourism work with animals it has the same effect on humans, therefore it proves that a behaviour can be learned without an action being taken if you already associate that behaviour with something that you unconsciously learned before.
There is also psychoanalytic perspective in which Freuds(1856-1938) theory on the unconscious mind is a typical example, he believes that you must reach three elements, which are ID, EGO, and Superego which briefly explained are, ID stage, he believes this is our unconscious impulse to seek instant gratification, in a way our selfishness and need for attention from others, this is also known as the Pleasure Principle, there is then the Ego Freud’s reality principle, which is the mediator between the Id and reality what we want and what we have, then the Super ego which suppresses the Id and the Ego, its known as the Guilt principle which is part of our mind that makes us feel guilty for selfish acts. Freud concludes it as the conflict theory: ID= I want biological- instinct, EGO = I can psychological- intelligence, Superego = I ought social/moral – institutional v individual. Freud also believes that from birth we go through Psych Sexual stages which are Oral (birth) the stage at which you start suckling, Anal (2-3) this is associated with the fascination with faeces potty training stage, Genital/phallatic (3-4) where children have a fascination with their genitals, Latenency/forgettfull (5yrs to puberty) where you forget psychosexual desires until you reach Puberty when you experience normal sexual behaviour. There has been criticism over Freud’s work focussing on the fact that he cannot really prove his theories, for in fact who can really predict the unconscious mind if we ourselves cannot even do so.
The final part of psychology I am going to be looking at is Humanism and a prime example of this is Maslow (1908-1970), Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model which he researched between 1940-50 is still used today for understanding human motivation, basically he put the needs of an individual into a table consisting of 5 stages. The first stage he calls Physiological needs which is our basic needs for example warmth, comfort, food e.t.c, then came the second stage Safety needs which is commonly seen in children, the need for security, protection and stability, the third stage is Love and Belongingness needs which is being loved and accepted, being able to give and take affection and feeling accepted in daily life as well as having your own identity, the fourth stage is Esteem needs, being accepted and looked up to, holding a respectable place in society and being happy with your own achievements, and finally the fifth stage Self actualization needs, the feeling of fulfilment in life, reaching your goals and being happy with your life as a whole. Although people will argue the final stage because no one can ever really reach it, after all no matter what you achieve in life there is always something else a person will strive for as this is human instinct because no matter what you have they’ll always be something bigger and better you will want as well. Maslow said “that the needs must be satisfied in the given order”. This study gave people a further understanding into the psychological needs of a person and their minds in order to survive.
So as you can see from looking at a few examples of psychology and its history it is a fascinating world of what really goes on in peoples minds, in fact the mind is a mysterious place in which no one will ever truly understand but will continue to study. The mind is the key to our existence and without its functions we could not survive.