Psychological Perspectives - Evolutionary Psychology,

Psychological Perspectives - Evolutionary Psychology, Behaviorism, & Cognitive Psychology

Behaviorism

Followers of the school of behaviorism believe that a person's behavior could be explained scientifically through observation and reinforcement. This school differs significantly from other psychological schools of thought, as it is not based on a study of a person's inner mental state or psyche. JB Watson (Baum 2005), one of the earliest pioneers of behaviorism, lent credence to this theory by looking at how animals adjust their behavior according to stimuli from their environment. Watson believed that this method of adjustment occurs among humans as well.

Watson's approach is characterized by the stimulus-response approach to psychology. Behaviorists believe that learning is a result of building on this natural stimulus-response. For example, a when faced with the stimulus of a fluffy white mouse, a baby may have the natural response of curiosity. When faced with the stimulus of a hammer banging on his crib, a baby's response could be fear and crying. Behaviorists believe that if a baby's crib is banged and rattled while he is being shown the fluffy white mouse, the baby may develop a conditioned response to the mouse. Where the mouse was once associated with curiosity, it will now elicit a conditioned response of fear.

Evolutionary psychology

Evolutionary psychologists explain human behavior in terms of natural or sexual selection. This school of psychology believes that individuals who develop traits that help them adapt to and solve problems in their environment are more likely to survive and procreate. Over time, these evolutionary traits became ingrained, even when the need is no longer present. For example, millions of years ago, humans were also prey. Loud noises could signal the presence of predators, and humans therefore learned to be alert and ready to flee at sudden sounds. Today, though humans are at the top of the food chain, the adaptive trait of fear of loud noises still remains (Tavris and Wade 2000).

Evolutionary psychologists therefore explain current human behaviors, especially instinctive ones, in terms of adaptive successes. A baby would feel safer in the secure space of a crib rather than an expansive lawn. A small fluffy mouse initially presents no threat, as our human ancestors likely preyed on smaller animals. Loud noises, however, can mean danger, so a child instinctively cries in alarm.

Cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychologists look at the internal mental processes that enable humans to learn skills such as languages, memory and problem solving. Notive cognitive psychologist Jean Piaget believed that humans go through different stages of cognitive development, and each stage should be marked by the acquisition of certain skills. In the Sensorimotor stage, which last from birth through two years old, babies learn to move and master their different senses. At the preoperational stage, from ages two to seven, a child should master motor skills such as walking. From ages seven to 11, a child will begin to think logically at this concrete operational stage. Finally, from the age of 11 onwards, children should learn to develop abstract reasoning in the formal operational stage (Tavris and Wade 2000).