Assignment No: 1 Advanced General Psychology

1. Discuss elaborately about the various schools in psychology.

This part briefly reviews the systematic movements that have been of greatest
significance in the development of psychology. Some appreciation of these movements is
necessary as a basis for understanding contemporary psychology.
These movements have been mainly in the form of "schools". Within psychology, a
school is a group of individuals who share certain fundamental methodological or theoretical
points of view. The following are some important
schools of psychology:
1. Structuralism,
2. Functionalism,
3. Psychoanalysis,
4. Gestalt psychology,
5. Behaviorism,
6. Humanistic psychology.
1. Structuralism: Studying the elements of the mind
Psychology's first major theoretical position or school came from the writings of Wilhelm Wundt
(1832-1920),a professor of philosophy who founded the first formal laboratory of psychology at
the university of Leipzig, in Germany, in 1879. Wundt setup the laboratory at the university in a
small room that had served as a dining hall for impoverished students.
Wundt wrote more than 50,000 pages of books and articles, despite being blind in his
right eye during the second half of his life. Beginning in1879, Wundt's laboratory was the site of
formal research conducted by many students who later become some of the most renounced
psychologists in the world. More than 30 American psychologists took their PhD's with Wundt's
accomplished by celebrating 1979 as psychology's centennial year.
According to Wundt, the subject matter of psychology was immediate conscious
experience, one's experience of awareness of the content of one's own conscious mind.
Psychology thus should seek to understand the structure of the mind. Wundt argued that the
fundamental approach of science, namely, analysis, should be applied to the human mind .To
understand any problem, we need to break it down into its smallest parts or elements, and then
examine the parts themselves as fundamental building blocks.
To study the elements of the mind Wundt developed "introspection method".
Introspection requires an observer who can objectively examine and verbally report what is
going on in his mind in response to controlled stimulation. These verbal reports are then
analyzed and the elements categorized in an effort to determine the number and kinds of
elements in the mind. Wundt's studies led him to conclude that there are three basic elements;
which he called sensations (the direct products of external stimulation), images (sensation like
experience produced by the mind), and feelings (the emotional component of an experience).
2. Functionalism: Studying How the Mind Adapts
The major limitation of structuralism is its failure to relate the mind to action. It examines
the content of the mind, but neglects the subsequent action. This significant omission was
pointed out by the American psychologist William James (1842-1910). James (figure 1-2) did
not deny that the mind and consciousness were important concepts in psychology but believed
that a complete picture of human nature emerged only when the mind was related to action.
 James argued that psychologist should be concerned with not only what the mind is
made of but also how and why it works as it does. He viewed the mind as a stream, which, like a
stream of water, cannot be meaningfully broken down into discrete elements. So he preferred to
think of mind or consciousness as a continuous flow and often used to phrase "stream of
consciousness".
This led to a rivalry with Wundt. In the same year that Wundt established his laboratory
at Leipzig, James established a psychology laboratory at Harvard University. James made
several contributions to psychology. His classic textbook "The Principles of Psychology"(1890) is
still in print. William James also contributed a theory of emotion (James-Large Theory) that is
still influential today.
The functionalists also expanded the subject matter of psychology to include such topics
as memory, thinking and personality. They also applied their research to everyday life (applied
psychology).The functionalist John Dewey first applied psychology to the improvement of
educational practices.
In 1892 William James hired Hugo Munsterberg (who first applied psychology to the field
of industry) to take over the laboratory. Munsterberg has earned his Ph.D. under Wundt. He
conducted research and wrote books describing how psychology could be applied to industry,
law and film criticism.
3. Psychoanalysis: Studying the Unconscious Mind
Unlike the other schools of psychology, which originated in universities, psychoanalysis
originated in medicine? Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis was an
Austrian neurologist
Psychoanalysis grew, in part, from Freud's attempts to treat patients suffering from
physical symptom, such as paralyzed legs, inability to speak, or loss of body sensations, that
had no apparent physical causes. Based on his treatment of patients Freud concluded that the
disorder was the result of unconscious conflicts about sex caused by cultural prohibitions
against sexual enjoyment. Those conflicts were "converted" into the physical symptoms as seen
in conversion hysteria, which often provided the patient with an excuse to avoid engaging in the
taboo behaviours.
Freud's case studies of patients led him to infer that unconscious conflicts, usually
related to sex or aggression, were prime motivators of human behaviour. Hemwas the first
person to include the unconscious mind in a formal psychological theory. Freud believed that all
behaviour –whether normal or abnormal –is influenced by psychological motives-
often-unconscious one. This belief is called psychic determinism. It explains misstatements,
popularly known as "Freudian slip" like that of the announcer who began a bread commercial
advertisement by saying "For the breast in the bed ...I mean, for the best in bread..."
In addition to shocking the public by claiming that human beings are motivated chiefly by
unconscious –often-sexual – motives, Freud made the controversial claim that early childhood
experiences were the most important factors in the personality development. Freud believed
that memories of early childhood experiences were the most important factors in the personality
development. Freud believed that memories of early childhood experiences stored in the
unconscious mind continue to affect behaviour throughout the life and became the causes of
psychological disorders.
 Psychoanalysis has been criticized for failing to provide adequate research evidence for
its claims of the importance of sexual motives, unconscious processes, and early childhood
experiences. In fact, Freud never tested his theory experimentally. Instead, he based his theory
on notes written after seeing patients, which made his conclusions subject to his own memory
lapses and personal biases. Moreover, Freud violated good scientific practice by generalizing to
all people the results of his case studies of a `handful of `people` with psychological disorders.
Despite these shortcomings, Freud's views have influenced the psychological study of
topics as diverse as dreams, creativity, motivation, development, personality and psychotherapy.
4. Gestalt Psychology: Studying Psychological Processes Holistically
The structuralist attempted to analyze the mind into its component parts or elements and
it was countered by the German psychologist. Max Wertheimer (1880-1943) who founded the
school of Gestalt psychology (Figure 1-4). Wertheimer used the word gestalt, meaning " form "or
"shape", to underscore his belief that we perceive wholes rather than combination of individual
elements .A famous tenet of Gestalt psychology asserts that " the whole is different from the
sum of its parts" Because of this basic assumption, Wertheimer ridiculed structuralism as "brick
– and mortar psychology " for its attempt to analyze mental experience into discrete elements.
Wertheimer proposed the concept of phi phenomenon – apparent motion in the absence
of actual motion as in a motion picture. According to Wertheimer, the phi phenomenon shows
that the mind does not respond passively to discrete stimuli, but instead organizes stimuli into
coherent wholes. Thus perception is more than a series of individual sensation.
Though founded by Wertheimer, Gestalt psychology was popularized by his colleague
Wolfgang Kohler, who applied it to the study of problem solving (insight learning). Gestalt
psychology also influenced the field of social psychology, mainly through the efforts of the
German psychologist Kurt Lewin. He applied Gestalt concepts in his pioneering research on the
effects of leadership styles, the principles of small group behaviour, and the best of means of
resolving social conflicts.
5. Behaviourism: Studying Overt Behaviour
This school was proposed by the American psychologist John B. Watson (Figure 1-5
).He argued that private mental states like the mind or consciousness, that we study through
introspection , can not be the subject matter of a reputable science – psychology .Only overt
and public events – that is , actions , responses or performances that can be observed and
measured by others – fulfill the requirements of a true scientific discipline .These events Watson
called behaviours, and the school of thought he represents came to be called behaviourism –
which dominated the field of psychology for half a century.
Behaviours according to Watson (1878-1950) , are affected directly by stimuli in the
environment. The major goal of psychology thus is to identify those stimulus- response
relationships that are lawful and predictable.
During the same period in Russia, Ivan Pavlov (1848 – 1936) provided an impressive
demonstration of the use of stimulus – response analysis in his famous description of classical
conditioning.
Watson believed that all behaviour is learned .He once boasted that he could make any
healthy baby into any kind of an adult – lawyer, doctor or thief – merely by controlling the child's
conditioning .To day we recognize that although conditioning and other learning process are
important to behaviour, Watson's claim was too extreme because it neglected heredity.
 Although it was Watson who defined and solidified the behaviourist position, it is
B.F.Skinner (Fig 1-6), the contemporary American psychologist, who refined and popularized it.
Skinner attempted to show how his laboratory techniques might be applied to society as
a whole. Skinner's theory and technique is highly influential in psychology. Behaviourist inspired
techniques compete with more traditional psychotherapy for use in the treatment of various
psychological disorders.
The technique of reinforcement or controlled reward or punishment, have become
increasingly popular in education and Skinner's teaching machine was the forerunner of modern
computerized programmed instruction. Moreover, a vast number of today's psychologists use
Skinner's research methods to obtain, precise findings in their laboratory experiments.
6. Humanistic Psychology: A positive View of Human Nature
The school of humanistic psychology was founded in the 1950s by theAmerican
psychologists Abraham Maslow (1908 –1970) and Carl Rogers (1902 –1987). Maslow and
Rogers (figure 1-7) promoted the idea that human beings have free will and are not merely
pawns in the hands of unconscious motives or environmental stimuli.
Maslow stressed the human being's natural tendency toward self- actualization, which
was his term for the fulfillment of one's potentials. Maslow's views were echoed by Rogers.
Humanistic psychology has been a prime mover in the field of psychotherapy notably through
the efforts of Rogers who developed the "person –centered therapy or non- directive
counseling". Humanistic psychology has made a valuable contribution in promoting the study of
positive aspects of human experience, including love, altruism, and healthy personality
development.

2. In detail explain the factors influencing perception.

3. Discuss about the causes of forgetting.

4. Describe Piaget’s cognitive development theory.
5. Give a detailed account of Projective techniques.