Numerous theories
Numerous theories have been used over the decades to explain various behaviours. For instance, there is Erickson’s theory of psychosocial functioning, Freud’s psychoanalytical theory, Bandura’s theory of social learning and the Big-five theory, among others. These theories make it easier to understand the mind and different behaviours of a particular individual or group. Besides, these theories can adapt and evolve with time, and they inspire future research in that specific field.
B.F. Skinner made several contributions in many fields, such as in the field of theory. He proposed an experimental analysis of behaviour and rejected mentalist’s explanation of behaviour. According to Skinner, understanding of behaviour comes about when people learn to predict and control behaviour. The experimental analysis of behaviour separates between the evoked and the emitted responses by an organism. Besides, Skinner made contributions to the field of philosophy to what is called empirical epistemology, to the problems of determinism and freedom, and evolution and its consequences. From his research methodology on behaviour, he focuses on the study of a single case rather than a comparison among groups. Skinner also believes that all behaviour is caused and there is no such thing as free will.
Moreover, Skinner contributed to the understanding of verbal behaviour. From early in his life, Skinner showed interest in the field of language through his interest in writing. Later, he also published work on the topic, which include his book, “verbal behaviour”. The core of this work is that verbal behaviour has to be studied in the context of functional analysis. This is because according to Skinner, it is under the consequences mediated by other people. He also believes that verbal behaviour is as a result of the genetic history, the behavioural history and the present environment of the speaker. Besides, it depends on the relationship with the situation where it occurs rather than a function of unobserved entities. Additionally, Skinner has contributed to behavioural technology due to his great mechanical ability, and his deep interest in instrument construction. For example, he designed the baby air Crib in 1944 when his daughter Deborah was born.
Carl Rogers also was a humanistic psychologist. He agreed with the main assumptions of Abraham Maslow. However, he also added that for someone to grow, they need to be provided with an environment that provides them with a genuineness that promotes openness and self-disclosure. The background should also provide them with empathy, which is the ability to be understood and listened to as well as acceptance which is being seen with unconditional positive regard. Rogers further states that without these, it would be difficult to develop healthy personalities and relationships as they should. Besides, Rogers believed that everyone could achieve their desires, goals and wishes in life with self-actualization taking place. This is the most important contributions of Rogers to psychology.
Moreover, Rogers maintained that people behave the way they do because of the way they perceive their situation. He also believes that the one motive every human has is to achieve the highest level of human-beingness and to fulfil one’s potential. Besides, people will flourish to rich their potential only when the conditions in their environment is good enough. However, this will depend on the different personalities of a person since he also believes that human beings are inherently creative and good. As a result, human beings only become destructive when external constraints or poor self-concept override the valuing process.
Abraham Maslow conceptualized the human hierarchy of needs. He is, therefore, known to be the founder of humanistic psychology. Besides, he believed that every person has a strong desire to reach self-actualization, he conducted his research among mentally healthy individuals and concluded that for a self-actualized person, they have more peak experiences than others. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs depicts the various physical and psychological demands that a person progresses through in a lifetime, and he explains this using a pyramid.
At the bottom of the pyramid is the basic physiological needs of a person which include water and food. This is followed by safety which is necessary for survival. The third level of the pyramid is the desire to share oneself with others, which is the psychological need to love and to be loved. The next level is esteem which focuses on accomplishments, status and success. At the top of the pyramid is self-actualization, which is where a person is said to have reached a state of understanding and Harmony. An individual has to progress through these from the lowest, and one cannot proceed to the highest level without accomplishing a particular lower need.
Sigmund Freud was named the father of psychoanalysis between 1856-1939. Sigmund developed talk therapy which was based on a set of therapeutic techniques. For instance, he used strategies like free association, transference and interpretation of dreams. These contributions to psychoanalysis have become relevant and influential up to date.
As a result, Freud has not only contributed to psychology but also his ideas have permeated concepts such as the unconscious, Freudian slips, self-denial, ego and popular culture. Through his work, it is clear that not all mental illnesses have physiological causes, that some such as hysteria only need talking out, and one would get better. He also mentioned that cultural differences also have an impact on psychology and behaviour.
Carl Jung’s lifetime was between 1875-1965. His most significant contribution in the field of psychology was in the formulation of the constructive theory, which was the first significant theory of personality. This has led to fruitful work by other psychologists. Besides, this work has been vital in empirical investigations and theoretical formulations which has resulted in a deeper understanding of psychopathology as well as its treatment.
Jean Piaget, on the other hand, existed between 1896-1980. He contributed to genetic epistemology and Swiss psychology. He is, however, mostly remembered for his contributions in the field of psychology when he came up with his theory of cognitive development. This theory looks at the intellectual development of children throughout their childhood. Before Piaget came up with his approach, it was thought that children are mini-adults. However, he explained that children’s way of thinking is far different from that of adults.
His theory led to the development of education and developmental psychology as a subfield of psychology. He is also remembered as the pioneer of the constructivist approach. This theory suggests that there is an interaction between the ideas and experience of people and as a result, people actively construct their knowledge of the world.
Ivan Pavlov’s timeline was between 1849 and 1936. He was a Russian psychologist and was well known for his contributions, such as the discovery of classical reasoning. He noted that naturally, animals would salivate when food was presented to them. He did this during his study of the digestive systems of dogs.
He also noticed that the animals associated presentation of food to the lab assistant and hence when the animals saw the white lab coat of a lab assistant, they would salivate too. These discoveries of Pavlov influenced the thinking of other Psychologists such as John Watson. Besides, it led to the development of behaviourism.
Additionally, John Watson contributed to the development of behaviourism. His main contribution to the field of psychology was in the development of the conditioning process. He also believed that psychology should be an observable scientific behaviour. Moreover, he is remembered for little Albert experiment where he demonstrated that a child could be conditioned to fear a stimulus that was initially neutral. He further explained through his research that this conditioned fear could extend to all other similar objects.
In this experiment, Watson worked together with his assistant Rosalie Rayner where they conditioned a young child to fear rats. They did this by accompanying a white rat with a frighteningly loud sound. This experiment is still criticized to date because the conditioning is never deconditioned. However, it was found that Little Albert had died at the age of six due to hydrocephalus. As a result, many argue that Watson might have misrepresented him as a healthy person.
In conclusion, the above-discussed psychologists, among others, were very influential and instrumental. For instance, they contributed to the development of humanist, learning psychology, behavioural, developmental, cognitive and personality psychology. As a result, they made significant contributions to psychology and other fields.
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