Psychology has evolved greatly since its philosophical roots and was first founded by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879.
Psychological experimentation originally began in 700 BC in Ancient Egypt, when Pstamik I who was fascinated with language ordered children into the wild to see how their language skills would develop as, in spite of this psychology had not yet emerged as a separate discipline. Years later, in the 17th century, Rene Descartes introduced the theory of Cartesian dualism, suggesting the mind and body were separate, also distinguishing humans from animals. Descartes believed that animals acted purely on instinct whereas, humans had the ability to thought process. In 1859, Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution, indicating that …show more content…
The psychodynamic approach focuses on psychoanalysis and believes our personalities are caused by active forces, including our childhood experiences and biological forces which bring about our behaviour.(Davenport,2000) The psychodynamic theory stresses the importance of our unconscious thoughts on our conscious mind. Repression causes us to push unwanted memories into the unconscious mind; these memories can be accessed through psychoanalysis. Not only did Freud believe we have two instinctive urges which included libido and death instincts, he also concluded that sexual drive develops through five ‘psychosexual stages’ which includes oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital which are related to the cause of nearly all psychological problems. (Gross, 2003) Freud also emphasised that there were three distinctive parts of our personalities which included ‘id’, ‘ego’ and ‘superego’. (Russell & Jarvis, 2007)Freud’s methods have enabled psychologists to gain an initial insight into the mind and allowing understanding to be made about human experiences. Furthermore, Freud discovered the importance of childhood experiences on behaviour later in life and the significance of unconscious mental processes which have a profound impact on our behaviour as we cannot control it. Nevertheless, Freud’s methods cannot be seen to be …show more content…
(Gross, R 2010) “It investigates how chemical and electrical events that occur within us affect our thinking, emotions and behaviour.” (Russell & Jarvis, 2007: 3) Within the brain there are different areas which control what we do from our emotions to movements, these lobes include, frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital and cerebellum each with their own function. The endocrine system which secretes hormones also has an influence over our behaviour, emotions and thinking as well as affecting the actions of specific organs. There are also neurons within the body which conduct electrical messages; motor neurons cause our muscles to contract whereas interneuron’s are concerned with decision making.(Russell & Jarvis, 2007) Brain activity has been measured by PET scans, showing response of different areas within the brain to different stimuli. Biopsychology has been a significant factor in helping develop treatments for mental health disorders as it has enabled psychologists to have a more in-depth understanding of how the human brain works and the behavioural outcome of stimuli. Furthermore, through studying a person’s biology it allows for clear predictions of behaviour to be made of the individual and those who are genetically related. In addition, permits explanations of behaviour to be scientifically tested and proved. (Simply psychology, 2007)In spite
Psychological experimentation originally began in 700 BC in Ancient Egypt, when Pstamik I who was fascinated with language ordered children into the wild to see how their language skills would develop as, in spite of this psychology had not yet emerged as a separate discipline. Years later, in the 17th century, Rene Descartes introduced the theory of Cartesian dualism, suggesting the mind and body were separate, also distinguishing humans from animals. Descartes believed that animals acted purely on instinct whereas, humans had the ability to thought process. In 1859, Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution, indicating that …show more content…
The psychodynamic approach focuses on psychoanalysis and believes our personalities are caused by active forces, including our childhood experiences and biological forces which bring about our behaviour.(Davenport,2000) The psychodynamic theory stresses the importance of our unconscious thoughts on our conscious mind. Repression causes us to push unwanted memories into the unconscious mind; these memories can be accessed through psychoanalysis. Not only did Freud believe we have two instinctive urges which included libido and death instincts, he also concluded that sexual drive develops through five ‘psychosexual stages’ which includes oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital which are related to the cause of nearly all psychological problems. (Gross, 2003) Freud also emphasised that there were three distinctive parts of our personalities which included ‘id’, ‘ego’ and ‘superego’. (Russell & Jarvis, 2007)Freud’s methods have enabled psychologists to gain an initial insight into the mind and allowing understanding to be made about human experiences. Furthermore, Freud discovered the importance of childhood experiences on behaviour later in life and the significance of unconscious mental processes which have a profound impact on our behaviour as we cannot control it. Nevertheless, Freud’s methods cannot be seen to be …show more content…
(Gross, R 2010) “It investigates how chemical and electrical events that occur within us affect our thinking, emotions and behaviour.” (Russell & Jarvis, 2007: 3) Within the brain there are different areas which control what we do from our emotions to movements, these lobes include, frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital and cerebellum each with their own function. The endocrine system which secretes hormones also has an influence over our behaviour, emotions and thinking as well as affecting the actions of specific organs. There are also neurons within the body which conduct electrical messages; motor neurons cause our muscles to contract whereas interneuron’s are concerned with decision making.(Russell & Jarvis, 2007) Brain activity has been measured by PET scans, showing response of different areas within the brain to different stimuli. Biopsychology has been a significant factor in helping develop treatments for mental health disorders as it has enabled psychologists to have a more in-depth understanding of how the human brain works and the behavioural outcome of stimuli. Furthermore, through studying a person’s biology it allows for clear predictions of behaviour to be made of the individual and those who are genetically related. In addition, permits explanations of behaviour to be scientifically tested and proved. (Simply psychology, 2007)In spite