The Four Psychology Goals
The first goal of psychology is to describe the different types of human behavior. Behavior therapists use psychology to distinguish between abnormal and normal behavior to obtain a more accurate perspective and understanding of human thoughts, actions, and behavior (Bednarik, 2013). Psychologists also utilize various research methods to describe human behavior, and these include natural observation, self-tests, surveys, and case studies. The fundamental descriptions of different behavior consist of cognitive perspectives, biological perspectives, and behavioral perspectives. Behavioral perspective describes human thought and action through classical conditioning, while cognitive perspective describes an individual’s behavior based on their interpretation, memory, and perception. The biological perspective attributes human behavior as a result of neurotransmitters, genetics, and hormones
Secondly, psychology helps explain behavior patterns in human beings, which help in understanding the factors affecting an individual’s mental health, personality, and actions (Longino, 2012). By doing experiments, behavior scientists formulate grand and mini theories to expound the psychology and behavior aspects of human beings. Grand theories describe the entire psychology of human beings, which includes learning theory and psychoanalytic theory. The mini-theories explain small developmental issues such as the formation of early childhood socialization and self-esteem. Other approaches include Bowlby’s attachment theory and Pavlov’s classical conditioning. Additionally, Erikson’s theory of the eight human developmental stages and Sigmund Freud’s theory also help to describe the entire human behavior.
The third goal of psychology is to predict the thoughts, behavior, and actions of individuals through observing their past behavior to describe their future behavior patterns. Therefore through predicting human behavior patterns, psychologists can understand the underlying cause for their actions (Bednarik, 2013). For example, the use of aptitude tests can help to predict the probability of students dropping out of school. Moreover, personality traits can also assist in predicting human behavior in certain situations. For instance, a person’s extreme alignment for a specific trait may be an indication of a particular behavior. Also, personality traits can predict a person’s behavior in a given time, which is crucial for determining the long-term behavior of an individual.
The final objective for psychology is to transform and control the behavior of humans through the utilization of various activities and approaches that focus on the environment and a person’s influence on behavior (Longino, 2012). The three stages for human behavior transformation consist of the stage of pre-contemplation, stage of contemplation, the preparation stage, an individual’s action stage, and stage of behavior maintenance. The stage of pre-contemplation involves an individual’s problem awareness without intention for changing behavior. In the stage of contemplation, individuals are aware of their problems and intend to change their behavior in the future. The stage of preparation includes a person’s intention to take action, and the action stage consists of an individual’s behavior transformation to overcome behavioral problems. The maintenance stage involves a person’s commitment to preventing relapse of behavior problems while consolidating the gains.
References
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Top of Form
Bednarik, R. G. (2013). The psychology of human behavior.
Longino, H. E. (2012). Studying human behavior: How scientists investigate aggression and sexuality. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Bottom of Form