Schools of Thought in Psychology

 

      7 School of Thought in phychology

Table of Contents ·   

     Early Schools of Though

   Gestalt Psychology

    Behaviorism

·        Psychoanalysis

·        Humanistic Psychology

When psychology first emerged as a science separate from biology and philosophy, the debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. The different schools of psychology represent the major theories within psychology.

The first school of thought, structuralism, was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt. Almost immediately, other theories began to emerge and vie for dominance in psychology.

In the past, psychologists often identified themselves exclusively with one single school of thought. Today, most psychologists have an eclectic outlook on psychology. They often draw on ideas and theories from different schools rather than holding to any singular perspective.

The following are some of the major schools of thought that have influenced our knowledge and understanding of psychology:

Structuralism and Functionalism: Early Schools of Thought

Structuralism is widely regarded as the first school of thought in psychology. This outlook focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major thinkers associated with structuralism include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener. The focus of structuralism was on reducing mental processes down into their most basic elements. The structuralists used techniques such as introspection to analyze the inner processes of the human mind.

• Gestalt Psychology
• Behaviorism
• Psychoanalysis
• Humanistic Psychology

When psychology first emerged as a science separate from biology and philosophy, the debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. The different schools of psychology represent the major theories within psychology.

 The first school of thought, structuralism, was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt. Almost immediately, other theories began to emerge and vie for dominance in psychology.

In the past, psychologists often identified themselves exclusively with one single school of thought. Today, most psychologists have an eclectic outlook on psychology. They often draw on ideas and theories from different schools rather than holding to any singular perspective.

The following are some of the major schools of thought that have influenced our knowledge and understanding of psychology:

Structuralism and Functionalism: Early Schools of Thought

Structuralism is widely regarded as the first school of thought in psychology. This outlook focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major thinkers associated with structuralism include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener. The focus of structuralism was on reducing mental processes down into their most basic elements. The structuralists used techniques such as introspection to analyze the inner processes of the human mind.

Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralist school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James. It functioned on the mind's functions and adaptations. Unlike some of the other well-known schools of thought in psychology, functionalism is not associated with a single dominant theorist. Instead, there are some different functionalist thinkers associated with this outlook including John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey Carr.

Author David Hothersall notes, however, that some historians even question whether functionalism should be considered a formal school of psychology at all given its lack of a central leader or formalized set of ideas.

Instead of focusing on the mental processes themselves, functionalist thinkers were instead interested in the role that these processes play.

Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology is a school of psychology based upon the idea that we experience things as unified wholes. This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism.

Instead of breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest elements, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must look at the whole of experience. According to the Gestalt thinkers, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The Behaviorist School of Thought in Psychology

Behaviorism became a dominant school of thought during the 1950s. It was based upon the work of thinkers such as:

• John B. Watson
• Ivan Pavlov
• B. F. Skinner

Behaviourism suggests that all behaviour can be explained by environmental causes rather than by internal forces. Behaviourism is focused on observable behavior. Theories of learning including classical conditioning and operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of research.

The behavioral school of psychology had a significant influence on the course of psychology, and many of the ideas and techniques that emerged from this school of thought are still widely used today. Behavioural training, token economies, aversion therapy, and other techniques are frequently used in psychotherapy and behaviour modification programs.

The Psychoanalytic School of Thought

Psychoanalysis is a school of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud. This school of thought emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behaviour.

 

·        Early Schools of Thought

·        Gestalt Psychology

·        Behaviorism

·        Psychoanalysis

·        Humanistic Psychology

When psychology first emerged as a science separate from biology and philosophy, the debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. The different schools of psychology represent the major theories within psychology.

 The first school of thought, structuralism, was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt. Almost immediately, other theories began to emerge and vie for dominance in psychology.

In the past, psychologists often identified themselves exclusively with one single school of thought. Today, most psychologists have an eclectic outlook on psychology. They often draw on ideas and theories from different schools rather than holding to any singular perspective.

The following are some of the major schools of thought that have influenced our knowledge and understanding of psychology:

Structuralism and Functionalism: Early Schools of Thought

Structuralism is widely regarded as the first school of thought in psychology. This outlook focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major thinkers associated with structuralism include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener. The focus of structuralism was on reducing mental processes down into their most basic elements. The structuralisms used techniques such as introspection to analyse the inner processes of the human mind.

Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the structuralist school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James. It functioned on the mind's functions and adaptations. Unlike some of the other well-known schools of thought in psychology, functionalism is not associated with a single dominant theorist. Instead, there are some different functionalist thinkers associated with this outlook including John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey Carr.

Author David Hothersall notes, however, that some historians even question whether functionalism should be considered a formal school of psychology at all given its lack of a central leader or formalized set of ideas.¹

Instead of focusing on the mental processes themselves, functionalist thinkers were instead interested in the role that these processes play.

Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology is a school of psychology based upon the idea that we experience things as unified wholes. This approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in response to the molecular approach of structuralism.

Instead of breaking down thoughts and behavior to their smallest elements, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must look at the whole of experience. According to the Gestalt thinkers, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The Behaviorist School of Thought in Psychology

Behaviorism became a dominant school of thought during the 1950s. It was based upon the work of thinkers such as:

• John B. Watson
• Ivan Pavlov
• B. F. Skinner

Behaviorism suggests that all behavior can be explained by environmental causes rather than by internal forces. Behaviorism is focused on observable behavior. Theories of learning including classical conditioning and operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of research.

The behavioral school of psychology had a significant influence on the course of psychology, and many of the ideas and techniques that emerged from this school of thought are still widely used today. Behavioral training, token economies, aversion therapy, and other techniques are frequently used in psychotherapy and behavior modification programs.

The Psychoanalytic School of Thought

Psychoanalysis is a school of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud. This school of thought emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior.

 Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, ego, and superego. The id consists of primal urges while the ego is the component of personality charged with dealing with reality. The superego is the part of the personality that holds all of the ideals and values we internalize from our parents and culture. Freud believed that the interaction of these three elements was what led to all of the complex human behaviors.

Freud's school of thought was enormously influential, but also generated considerable debate. This controversy existed not only in his time but also in modern discussions of Freud's theories.

Other major psychoanalytic thinkers include:

• Anna Freud
• Carl Jung
• Erik Erikson

The Humanistic School of Thought

Humanistic psychology developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviourism. Humanistic psychology instead focused on individual free will, personal growth and the concept of self-actualization. While early schools of thought were primarily cantered on abnormal human behaviour, humanistic psychology differed considerably in its emphasis on helping people achieve and fulfill their potential.

Major humanist thinkers include:

• Abraham Maslow
• Carl Rogers

Humanistic psychology remains quite popular today and has had a significant influence on other areas of psychology including positive psychology. This particular branch of psychology is cantered on helping people living happier, more fulfilling lives.

Cognitive School of Psychology

Cognitive psychology is the school of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.

Cognitive psychology began to emerge during the 1950s, partly as a response to behaviorism. Critics of behaviourism noted that it failed to account for how internal processes impacted behavior. This period is sometimes referred to as the "cognitive revolution" as a wealth of research on topics such as information processing, language, memory, and perception that began to emerge.

One of the most influential theories of this school of thought was the stages of cognitive development theory proposed by Jean Piaget.

A Word From Verywell

While some schools of thought have faded into obscurity, each has had an influence on the course of psychology's development. Some more recent schools of psychology, including behaviorism and cognitive psychology, remain highly influential.

Today, many psychologists do not align themselves solely with a single school of thought. Instead, they may take a more eclectic approach, drawing upon many different perspectives and theoretical backgrounds.

 

 

 

 

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Difference Between Managemen And Administration?

  Management And Administration

Management and administration are both important functions that support the success of any business or organisation. But what is the difference between management and administration?

In this post we will answer that question and look at just how management differs from administration. But first, its important to note that both management and administration are needed in any organisation in order for it to function successfully.

At a high level we can say that management is concerned with getting things done, whereas administration looks at how these things are done.

While that definition should provide a frame of reference there is a lot more than goes into understanding the difference between administration and management, the unique skill sets each entails and how they impact the success or otherwise of an organisation.

What is Management

Broadly speaking management is focused on managing resources, in particular people, and how they are utilized by an organisation in order to achieve a common goal or outcome.

Essentially a Manager works in an environment where they need to pool resources together, such as people, plant or equipment, financial resources and industry knowledge into a cohesive unit that has the capability to achieve this goal.

Functioning more as a coordinator Managers have to often juggle the competing priorities of various stakeholders, limited or hard to attain resources, all while taking account of competition and changing market conditions, to achieve a positive outcome.

Beyond this process of management, there is also the human element that brings with it emotions, relationships, desires and fears that all need to be managed. As can often be seen in sporting teams, you can have all the right players on the field, but that still doesn’t guarantee a positive outcome if the mindset isn’t right.

This deficit in a managers ability to coordinate their human capital can manifest itself in a lack of direction, poor planning or control, and a decrease in motivation.

What Is Administration

As we have see management is focused largely getting things done. While there is process involved in the management and coordination of resource this is more often an art rather than a science.

The “science” of business is however more evident in the administration of business. Essentially administration is concerned with the process around which a business operates. So while a Manager may be responsible for hitting a given revenue target, the administration of that goal would focus on how sales opportunities are managed, forecast and eventually closed.

Similarly, a Manager may be responsible for the hiring and firing of people on their team. The administration of that role, especially if the company is of sufficient size, is often handled by an administrative focused person in Human Resources. I.e. there is a policy or procedure that will be followed that instructs them how the company should operate when making these decisions.

As you can see administration is the establishment of procedures, policies, plans, objectives, goals and enforcing not only rules but also regulations. It comes up with an important organizational framework through which the organization management functions. And this is where the relationship between management and administration exists.

In fact, in some smaller organisations you can have a Manager who switches, albeit subconsciously from being a Manager i.e. leading and motivating their team, to an administrator, i.e. developing and then following the policies in place when hiring or firing staff.

To understand the differences between management and administration further we will now look at some of the key differences between the two.

 

Differences Between Management & Administration

 

The differences between management and administration can be very broad and hence one needs to pay close attention to details. Below are some of the differences you can expect:

·        Management consists of actions and plans whereby administration entails setting objectives and policies.

·        Management aims at managing not only people but also their work. Whereas Administration focuses on how best the resources of an organization can be utilized.

·        Administration typically has a role in all management decisions, whereas not all administrative decisions require the input of management.

·        Administration is focused on setting and creating policies and procedures. Management however is more likely to deal with the broader functions of an organisation and how tasks are executed.

·        Administrative functions typically are more defined, whereas how managers act and operate in an organisation can differ person to person.

·        The management style of an organisation can also change with the removal or installation of a new Manager/Leader. Administrative policies or procedures however are slower to change and may remain in place for many generations of management.

·        The administrative functions of a business can often be guided or influenced by legislation or law. Whereas how a manager chooses to guide or lead their team is often a function of their experience and the company culture.

These are some of the core differences between management and administration. It is however common to find examples in different roles and industries where the two are more likely to overlap or co-exist.

However by understanding the core differences and when you are expected to manage vs administer policies or procedures can help frame how you act and operate within your organisation

 

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Difference between Formative and Summative Evaluation

 

Formative Evaluation:

1. Formative evaluation is used during the teaching learning process to monitor the learning process.

2. Formative evaluation is developmental in nature. The aim of this evaluation is to improve student’s learning and teacher’s teaching.

3. Generally teacher made tests are used for this purpose.

4. The test items are prepared for limited content area.

5. It helps to know to what extent the instructional objectives has been achieved.

6. It provides feed-back to the teacher to modify the methods and to prescribe remedial works.

7. Only few skills can be tested in this evaluation.

8. It is a continuous and regular process.

9. It considers evaluation as a process.

10. It answers to the question, whether the progress of the pupils in a unit is successful?

Summative Evaluation:

 

Formative Evaluation:

1. Formative evaluation is used during the teaching learning process to monitor the learning process.

2. Formative evaluation is developmental in nature. The aim of this evaluation is to improve student’s learning and teacher’s teaching.

3. Generally teacher made tests are used for this purpose.

4. The test items are prepared for limited content area.

5. It helps to know to what extent the instructional objectives has been achieved.

6. It provides feed-back to the teacher to modify the methods and to prescribe remedial works.

7. Only few skills can be tested in this evaluation.

8. It is a continuous and regular process.

9. It considers evaluation as a process.

10. It answers to the question, whether the progress of the pupils in a unit is successful?

Summative Evaluation:

 

1. Summative evaluation is used after the course completion to assign the grades.

2. Summative evaluation is terminal in nature. Its purpose is to evaluate student’s achievement.

3. Generally standardized tests are used for the purpose.

4. The tests items are prepared from the whole content area.

5. It helps to judge the appropriateness of the instructional objectives.

6. It helps the teacher to know the effectiveness of the instructional procedure.

7. Large number of skills can be tested in this evaluation.

8. It is not regular and continuous process.

9. It considers evaluation as a product.

10. It answers to the question, the degree to which the students have mastered the course content.

 

 

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Differences B/w formative and summative assessment

 

Definition of formative and summative assessment

The first difference is of course their definition.

Formative assessment is used to monitor student’s learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors or teachers to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.

Summative assessment, however, is used to evaluate student’s learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

You can tell from their definitions that those two evaluation strategies are not meant to evaluate in the same way. So let’s take a look at the biggest differences between them.

Differences between formative and summative assessments

Difference 1

The first big difference is when the assessment takes place in a student’s learning process.

As the definition already gave away, formative assessment is an ongoing activity. The evaluation takes place during the learning process. Not just one time, but several times.

A summative evaluation takes place at a complete other time. Not during the process, but after it. The evaluation takes place after a course or unit’s completion.

Difference 2

There’s also a big difference between the assessment strategies in getting the right information of the student’s learning.

With formative assessments you try to figure out whether a student’s doing well or needs help by monitoring the learning process.

When you use summative assessments, you assign grades. The grades tell you whether the student achieved the learning goal or not.

Difference 3

The purposes of both assessments lie miles apart. For formative assessment, the purpose is to improve student’s learning. In order to do this you need to be able to give meaningful feedback. Check out this post about feedback.

For summative assessment, the purpose is to evaluate student’s achievements.

So do you want your students to be the best at something, or do you want your students to transcend themselves each time over and over again?

Difference 4

Remember when I said that with formative assessment the evaluation takes place several times during the learning process en with summative assessment at the end of a chapter or course? This explains also the size of the evaluation packages.

Formative assessment includes little content areas. For example: 3 formative evaluations of 1 chapter.

Summative assessment includes complete chapters or content areas. For example: just 1 evaluation at the end of a chapter. The lesson material package is much larger now.

Difference 5

The last difference you may already have guessed. Formative assessment considers evaluation as a process. This way, the teacher can see a student grow and steer the student in an upwards direction.

With summative assessment it’s harder for you to steer the student in the right direction. The evaluation is already done. That’s why summative assessments or evaluations are considered to be more of a “product”.

Examples of formative assessments

Formative assessments can be classroom polls, exit tickets, early feedback, and so on. But you can make them more fun too. Take a look at these three examples.

1.    In response to a question or topic inquiry, students write down 3 different summaries. 10-15 words long, 30-50 words long and 75-100 words long.

2.    The 3-2-1 countdown exercise: Give your students cards to write on, or they can respond orally. Students have to respond to three separate statements: 3 things you didn’t know before, 2 things that surprised you about this topic and 1 thing you want to start doing with what you’ve learned.

3.    One minute papers are usually done at the end of the lesson. Students answer a brief question in writing. The question typically centers around the main point of the course, most surprising concept, most confusing area of the topic and what question from the topic might appear on the next test.

Examples of summative assessments

Most of you have been using summative assessments whole their teaching careers. And that’s normal. Education is a slow learner and giving students grades is the easier thing to do.

Examples of summative assessments are midterm exams, end-of-unit or –chapter tests, final projects or papers, district benchmark and scores used for accountability for schools and students.

So, that was it for this post. I hope you now know the differences and know which assessment strategy you are going to use in your teaching. If you want to know more about implementing formative assessment you should really take a look at this interview of a school without grades and this post about the building blocks of formative assessment.

 

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What Is Social sciences research

Social  sciences research

Social  science  research  investigates  human  behavior.  This  lesson  defines  social  science  research, explains  the  methods  used and the  topics  studied within the  field. What is  Social  Science  Research Have  you  ever  wondered  why people  behave  in  certain  ways?  How  about  the  way  someone thinks  or  approaches  a  new  situation?  Well, social  science  research works  to  answer  many  of the  questions  we  have  about  human  behavior.  Through  scientific  study,  social  science  research seeks  to unde rstand the  hows  and whys  of human behavior. Social  Science  Research variety  of social , is  the  activity of gathering,  analysing  and interpreting  information for  a economic,  educational  and  political  purposes.  ... understanding of a  range  of social  research  methods and styles Researchers . Other  distinguishing characteristics  of social  science  research  include: ▪ ▪ Collaboration with  colleagues  to gather data  and publish research Reliance  upon raw  data  such as need  a  critical statistics, survey results, observations, and  interviews ▪ ▪ A  need  for  current  information  that  leads  to  heavy  use  of  journal  articles  and  conference papers, although booklength studies  are  also important  sources Findings  are  often  reported  in  the  popular  me scholarly  publications  and  generaldia,  so  it  is  vital  to  differentiate  between interest  or  popular  magazines  (i.e.,  Journal  of  Abnormal Psychology vs. Psychology Today)

Steps involved in the process of social science research  

 (1) Formulation of Research Problem, 

 (2) Review of Related Literature, 

 (3) Formulation of Hypotheses, 

 (4) Working out Research Design, 

 (5) Defining the Universe of Study,

 (6) Determining Sampling Design,

 (7) Administering the tools of Data Collection and Others. Step 

8# Analysis of Data

 Step 9# Testing of Hypotheses 

 Step 10# Generalization and Interpretation

 Step 11# Reporting the Research  

 Some emerging shifts in social science research

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