MODERN PERSPECTIVES

1. PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE

- The focus may still include the unconscious mind and its influence over
conscious behavior and on early childhood experiences, but with less of an
emphasis on sex and sexual motivations and more emphasis on the
development of a sense of self, social and interpersonal relationships, and the
discovery of other motivations behind a person’s behavior.

2. BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE

- Skinner developed a theory called operant conditioning, to explain how voluntary

behavior is learned.
- In this theory, behavioral responses that are followed by pleasurable
consequences are strengthened, or reinforced. For example, a child who cries
and is rewarded by getting his mother’s attention will cry again in the future.
Skinner’s work is discussed later in more depth.

3. HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE

- Often called the “third force” in psychology, humanism was really a reaction to
both psychoanalytic theory and behaviorism.