DIFFERENT VIEWS OF WHAT PSYCHOLOGY SHOULD BE

Overview

Why are there multiple perspectives?

    Answers:

• Most sciences study their subject matter from a variety of perspectives.
  For example, some physicists try to understand the physical world by looking at it from sub-atomic perspective (e.g., physicists studying quantum mechanics) but
  some try to understand the world by looking at the behavior of objects that you don't need an electron microscope to see (e.g., classical physicists).
• Similarly, biologists trying to understand human biology will, depending on their view of what is most important or most interesting about people, usually adopt the perspective of one of the following fields:
  • zoology,
  • genetics,
  • ecology,
  • evolutionary biology
  • cell biology,
  • molecular biology, or
  • systems biology.
• Similarly, psychologists trying to understand human psychology will often adopt a  perspectives/models of psychology that focuses on what  they think is the most important or interesting thing about people.
  For example, some believe that the most important thing about us is what we do, some believe that the most important part of us is what we think, and some think the most important thing about us is that we can be great.

What are these perspectives?

1. Biological
2. Behaviorism
3. Cognitive
4. Psychoanalytic
5. Humanistic