Exploring Major Schools of Psychology: Behaviorism, Psychoanalysis, Cognitive Psychology, and Humanistic Psychology

Major Schools of Psychology

Behaviorism

Behaviorism, a dominant school of thought in the 1950s, emphasizes the role of environmental causes in shaping behavior. Observable behaviors, such as classical conditioning (Pavlov's experiment) and operant conditioning (Skinner's experiment), are the focus of research.

Psychoanalysis

Founded by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalysis highlights the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior. Freud's theory of the id, ego, and superego explains the complex interactions that drive human behavior. The five stages of psychosexual development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) are key concepts.

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology emerged as a response to behaviorism, focusing on mental processes such as thinking, perception, memory, and learning. Information processing, language, and memory are areas of research. Piaget's stages of cognitive development theory is a notable contribution.

Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic psychology, a reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, emphasizes individual free will, personal growth, and self-actualization. Maslow's hierarchy of needs (physiological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem, self-actualization) is a central concept. Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers are prominent thinkers in this school.