There are several schools of thought that try to explain human behavior and development. The schools of thought are based on various psychological theories developed over the years. The theories give different approaches to explaining human behavior. Each theory has its strengths and weaknesses and helps to understand human behavior from a different perspective. In the contemporary field of psychology, there are three significant schools of thought that seek to explain human behavior. The three are psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanism.
Historical Foundations of Each School of Thought
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis was first developed in the 1890s by Sigmund Freud, one of the most influential psychologists in the field of psychology. Dr. Josef Breurer inspired Freud attention and interest to study the human mind. Dr. Breurer treated a patient who suffered from physical symptoms without any physical cause. Dr. Breurer noted that when he helped the patient recover memories of traumatic experiences that she had suppressed in her memory, the physical symptoms reduced. This case sparked Freud's interest to study the unconscious mind which led to the development of the psychoanalytic theory. Freud’s work was later continued by his student Carl Jung whose work formed the basis of most contemporary psychological theories.
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Freud argued that the observable behavior is portrayed only a small fraction of the human mind. According to Freud, the human brain is divided into three layers, the conscious, subconscious, and the unconscious layers. The conscious layer is responsible for observable human behavior, such as feelings and current thoughts. The subconscious keeps memories and enables individuals to retrieve or recall memories. The unconscious layer has the most underlying influence on human behavior. This part of the mind has a repository of processes that include instinctual desires that drive human behavior (McLeod, 2013). Some of the repressed desires in the unconscious layer may be socially unacceptable. Freud used three methods to analyze the unconscious mind: free association, slips of the tongue, and dream analysis.
The major concepts in psychoanalysis are based on three components of the unconscious mind. Freud believed that the unconscious mind consists of the 'id', the 'ego' and the 'superego. The id contains primitive desires and instinctual drives, which are controlled by the pleasure principle. According to Freud, two biological instincts compose the id. The instinct to survive that pushes individuals to engage in life-sustaining activities and the death instinct which may trigger aggressive, violent, and destructive behavior. Freud referred to these instincts as Eros and Thanatos, respectively. The primary goals of these instincts are to avoid pain and seek pleasure.
The Ego operates under the principle of reality and helps to keep the id in check. The Ego recognizes that there are consequences for every behavior. The Ego realizes that there are social rules that govern people’s lives to ensure harmonious coexistence among the people. The Ego uses the constraints of reality to balance the demands of the id and the superego, which are often in conflict with each other (Deci, & Ryan, 2010). It controls mental processes such as problem-solving and reasoning to ensure that the primitive desires of the id are satisfied within the constraints of the superego demands. The Ego starts to develop at infancy and helps to ensure an individual behaves in a socially appropriate manner. The superego has a repository of moral principles that encourage individuals to act in a socially and morally acceptable way. The values and social morals are developed from the rules of right and wrong that are often instilled by parents during childhood. The superego seeks to control the pleasure-seeking demands of the id such as aggression and sex. In addition to the above concepts, Freud also tried to explain human development based on five developmental stages in what he referred to as psychosexual development. The stages are oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital.
In the oral stage, a child seeks pleasure from the mouth through activities such as sucking. The anal stage is characterized by pleasure-seeking activities from the anus such as withholding feces. The third stage, which is phallic, the child seeks pleasure from their genitals. Actions such as masturbation are common. The fourth stage is latent, and it is characterized by minimal or no sexual motivation. Lastly is the genital stage where the child seeks pleasure from their sexual organs. Activities such as sexual intercourse characterize the stage (McLeod, 2013). Freud argued that for an individual to become a psychologically healthy individual, he or she must undergo all the developmental stages. Otherwise, the individual may develop emotional or behavioral issues in their adulthood.
The psychoanalysis school of thought had a significant impact on societal thinking about mental disorders. Most people thought it impossible to treat psychiatric disorders, and others felt that it was a hereditary condition that could not be treated. Also, there was a common belief that mental illness was caused by witchcraft and demonic possession. Religious leaders often used exorcism to cast out the demons, which often led to inhuman handling of the victims. Freud's theory helped to explain most of the mental illnesses, and psychoanalysis was used as a therapy to treat some of the illnesses. More studies on the human brain led to a remarkable revolution in the field of psychology in later years.
Behaviorism
This approach to understanding human behavior was first explained by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist in the 1890s. Pavlov explained a learning behavior called conditioned reflex. Pavlov used salivation reflex in dogs in his experiment to research on this learning behavior (Benjamin, 2018). Other psychologists did more experimental research on learning behavior, which led to the development of behaviorism as a school of thought. Other psychologists who made a remarkable contribution in this school of thought include Edward Thorndike (1898), John B. Watson (1913), and B.F. Skinner (1974). Behaviorism dominated the field of experimental psychology for several decades, and its influence is still felt in the contemporary psychological world.
Behaviorists argue that the environment significantly influences human behavior. The behaviorist approach suggests that conditioning has a significant impact on response. There are two significant types of conditioning, classical and operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus is paired with a naturally occurring stimulus to produce the desired behavior. When this is repeated on several occasions, it is noted that the neutral stimulus evokes a response in the absence of the natural stimulus. For instance, when food is presented to a dog, it naturally salivates. The behavioral outcome in classical conditioning is referred to as a conditioned response, and the associated stimulus is known as the conditioned stimulus (Eelen, Depreeuw, & Van Den Bergh, 2018).
In operant conditioning, learning occurs through enhancement of the desired behavior and punishment of the undesired behavior. Reinforcements and punishments are used respectively to enhance or discourage particular behavior (McLeod, 2015). In operant conditioning, when a desirable outcome follows a response, the behavior is more likely to recur in the future contrary to when adverse outcomes follow a particular action. For instance, rewarding a child every time they answer a question in class is likely to encourage a repeat of the same behavior in the future. Both classical and operant conditioning explains the development of behavior in humans.
Like other schools of thought that seek to explain human behavior, behaviorism raised concerns among individuals in society. Its impact on the psychological world was thus delayed considerably. The science of human behavior challenged the beliefs and assumptions made by various individuals. For instance, the religious assumption that humans have a free will to do what they want contradicts the behaviorism theory. Some viewed behaviorism as a form of mind control; hence, they rejected it. However, behaviorism brought a new era in the field of psychology and helped to explain the development of unusual behavior in humans. For instance, practices such as bullying can be described through behaviorism.
Humanism
The early development of humanistic psychology was significantly influenced by the work of two influential psychologists, Abraham Maslow, and Carl Rogers. In 1943, Maslow developed 'A Theory of Human Motivation' that describes the hierarchy of human needs. He would later work with other psychologists to develop a more humanist approach to human psychology (Benjamin, 2018). His other work that made a considerable contribution in this school of thought is 'Toward a Psychology of Being' (1962) which placed humanistic psychology as a third force in psychology. In 1951, Carl Rogers also described a humanistic, client-directed approach to therapy, which was published in Client-Centered Therapy. His work helped to actualize the humanist approach to psychology.
Humanism approach emphasizes the perception of an individual as a whole. The approach endeavors to help people realize their potential and attain maximum well-being. The major concepts of humanistic psychology include self-actualization, free will, and self-efficacy. Self-actualization stresses the importance of personal growth and the exploitation of one's potential. Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs that help an individual realize the self-actualization. At the peak of the hierarchy, an individual achieves their maximum potential. The necessities form the base of the hierarchy.
Humanistic psychology also holds the view that humans can make life choices. The external forces do not influence the decisions made by individuals. Humanists believe that individuals can exercise free will any time they want, and it is limitless. Humans can choose to be good and do so freely. Humanism also suggests that the need for personal growth has a remarkable influence on behavior. It motivates people to pursue things that will enable them to achieve their potential. Individuals are, therefore, continually looking for new methods to attain self-actualization (Bland, & DeRobertis, 2018). This state of achievement is also known as congruence and is realized through the constant pursuit of self-improvement. This explains why individuals pursue college degrees and further their studies to attain a doctoral degree.
The humanist school of thought had a significant impact on the perception of mental health. It offered a new approach to study human behavioral development. Also, it helped in psychotherapy by providing new techniques to deal with mentally ill patients. Humanism helped to mitigate the stigma that was often associated with therapy. The therapy became more acceptable, and individuals would use it to explore their abilities and attain potential. The humanists felt that behaviorism and psychoanalysis schools of thought were pessimistic and focused on tragic experiences. This led to the development of humanism, which provided a more optimistic approach to human psychology.
Case Study Analysis
A psychoanalyst would explain Judy’s case based on the id and Ego components of the unconscious mind. Judy’s id is composed of instinctual desire to achieve despite the prevailing conditions. She derives pleasure in achievement. When she does not perform, she no longer gets the pleasure, which affects her self-esteem, thus feels unworthy. She does not accept the reality that it's not always guaranteed to perform well in every situation. The high standards push her Eros to achieve in stressful situations (McLeod, 2013).
To a behaviorist, the previous achievements in Judy’s life conditioned her to become familiar with excellent performance. Probably she underwent operant conditioning in that she was always rewarded after achieving. Failure is, therefore, a strange thing to her; thus, she experiences emotional stress when she does not deliver. To a humanist, Judy's desire to achieve congruence has pushed her in the past to realize her success. The same passion is forcing her to show excellence in her work, and when this fails to happen, she feels demoralized and emotionally broken. Probably she has set extremely high standards that cannot be achieved in the prevailing conditions.
Strengths of the Three Schools Concerning Judy's Case
The three schools of thought present similar approaches to Judy's case. The three acknowledge that Judy's case is a psychological issue that is only based on Judy's mind. Psychoanalysis brings the idea of underlying intrinsic desires in the unconscious layer of the brain as the cause of Judy's issues. Behaviorism also identifies psychological conditioning as the probable cause of Judy's predicament. Humanism recognizes the psychological need to acquire congruence as the contributing factor to Judy's issues. The three schools, therefore, identify underlying psychological problems as the contributing factors to Judy's feelings of worthlessness and shame. Psychotherapy can consequently be used to curb the situation.
Limitations of the Three Schools concerning Judy's Case
The psychoanalytic approach is not scientific, and it is mostly limited to sexuality and aggressive behavior. It cannot provide a compelling analysis of Judy's case without scientific evidence. Judy does not portray aggressive behavior and other forms of primitive desires, which is why it cannot accurately evaluate her situation. Subjective perception of the world rather than the natural desires can influence behavioral patterns of an individual. The behaviorism approach is speculative per se in that there is no substantive evidence that Judy underwent psychological conditioning. The approach undermines the complexity of human behavioral development. There could be other mental issues such as family conflict and sleep deprivation that could be responsible for the low performance. Humanism also has its limitation in that it is not scientific and therefore cannot provide tangible evidence to support its analysis. It does not account for human experience and environmental factors in influencing behavior.
The Most Appropriate School to Address Judy’s Case
Humanism school of thought would give the most appropriate approach to Judy’s case. This because humanistic theory focuses on holism where an individual is studied as a whole. It considers how a person feels and thinks and what humanity is all about (Bland, & DeRobertis, 2018). Also, it proposes the free-will nature of humans where they are responsible for the decisions they make. In Judy's case, for instance, her setting of high standards and desire to perform can be explained by the congruence concept. She desires to improve her performance continuously, and that pursuit keeps pushing her to achieve more. She has high expectations, and when she fails to meet them, she feels miserable and blames herself. Also, Judy lives in a highly competitive work environment which would oust her if she fails to keep up. This explains her apparent need to keep up with the competition to acquire self-actualization in the long run.
In conclusion, a single perspective is not adequate to explain psychological cases. Different aspects help to understand and the issues and come up with practical solutions to ensure a healthy mind. Also, the fact that there are different approaches to human psychology suggests the complexity of human behavior. Both scientific and non-scientific methods alike cannot exhaustively describe it.
References
Benjamin Jr, L. T. (2018). A brief history of modern psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
Bland, A. M., & DeRobertis, E. M. (2018). Humanistic perspective. Encyclopedia of personality and individual differences, 1-19.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). Intrinsic motivation. The corsini encyclopedia of psychology, 1-2.
Eelen, P., Depreeuw, E., & Van Den Bergh, O. (2018). The Therapist as Conditioned Stimulus. Psychologica Belgica, 58(1), 172.
McLeod, S. (2015). Skinner-operant conditioning. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
McLeod, S. A. (2013). Psychology perspectives. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/perspective.html
