Schools of thoughts

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 the field of psychological science.

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.

The main schools of psychology are structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt,

behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanism, and cognitivism.

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.

This article discusses some of the major schools of thought that have
influenced our knowledge and understanding of psychology.

The Structuralist School of

Psychology
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.

The introspective experimental technique used by the structuralists involved

having trained observers examine their inner responses. Using this
approach, also known as experimental self-observation, experimenters like
Wundt trained people to analyze their thoughts as carefully and objectively
as possible.
While these methods were understandably not the most empirically rigorous,
the structuralist school of thought played an important role in the
development of experimental psychology.

The Functionalist School of

Psychology
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.

Instead of focusing on the mental processes themselves, functionalist

thinkers were interested in the role that these processes play.

In a functionalist approach, for example, instead of trying to understand the

underlying processes that cause mental states, the focus would be on
understanding the function that those states serve. Gaining a better
understanding of the purpose would allow psychologists to better understand
how the mind allows people to respond and adapt to their environments.

The functionalist school was interested in the purpose of thoughts and

behaviors, whereas structuralism was concerned with the elements that
make up consciousness. While functionalism largely disappeared as a school
of thought, its influence persisted in applied psychology, behaviorism, and
educational psychology.1

Unlike some of the other well-known schools of thought in psychology,

functionalism is not associated with a single dominant theorist. Instead, a
number of functionalist thinkers are associated with this outlook,
including John Dewey, James Rowland Angell, and Harvey Carr.2

Some historians have questioned whether functionalism should be

considered a formal school of psychology, given its lack of a central leader or
formalized ideas.3

The Gestalt School of Psychology

Gestalt psychology was a school of psychology based upon the idea that
people 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.
Some thinkers associated with the Gestalt school of thought included Max
Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka.

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 Gestalt thinkers, the whole is greater than the sum
of its parts, a philosophy known as holism.4

Some examples of Gestalt thinking include explanations for optical

phenomena, such as visual illusions. Wertheimer described the phi
phenomenon by observing how alternating railway lights created the illusion
of movement. The phenomenon suggests that a succession of images seen
in rapid sequence are perceived as moving.5

The Behaviorist School of

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,
and 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. Examples of behavioral theories that emerged during this time
include:

 Classical conditioning: This is a type of learning that involves

associating a previously neutral stimulus with a stimulus that naturally
and automatically triggers a response. For example, pairing the sound
of a bell with the presentation of food. After an association is formed,
the previously neutral stimulus will produce the same response as the
natural stimulus.
 Operant conditioning: This type of learning involves using rewards
and punishments to create an association between the behavior and
the consequences of that behavior.

The behavioral school of psychology significantly influenced the course of

psychology. Many ideas and techniques that emerged from this school of
thought are still widely used today. Behavioral training, token economies,
aversion therapy, and other methods are frequently used in psychotherapy
and behavior modification programs.
The Psychoanalytic School of
Psychology
Psychoanalysis is a school of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud. This
school of thought emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on
behavior. Other major psychoanalytic thinkers included Anna Freud and Otto
Rank and neo-Freudians such as Erik Erikson, Alfred Adler, and Karen
Horney.

Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements:
the id, ego, and superego.

 The id consists of primal urges.

 The ego is the component of personality charged with dealing with
reality.
 The superego is the part of the personality that holds all 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.

Other important theories within the psychoanalytic school included the idea
of the conscious and unconscious, Freud's psychosexual approach to
personality development, and the concept of life and death instincts.

Freud's work also played an important role in the development of talk

therapy as an approach to treating mental illness. Many traditional Freudian
approaches to treatment are no longer in favor, but modern psychoanalytic
therapy continues to play an important role in psychology today. Research
has shown that using self-examination can play an important role in
emotional growth.6

Recap

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.
The Humanistic School of
Psychology
Humanistic psychology developed as a response to psychoanalysis and
behaviorism. The development of this school of thought in psychology was
heavily influenced by the work of humanist thinkers such as Abraham
Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Clark Moustakas.

While early schools of thought were primarily centered on abnormal human

behavior, humanistic psychology differed considerably in its emphasis on
helping people achieve and fulfill their potential. Humanistic psychology
instead focused on topics such as:

 Becoming a fully functioning person: A person who is in touch with

their innermost desires and trusts their own instincts7
 Individual free will: The capacity that individuals have to make
choices, select courses of action, and control their own lives
 Hierarchy of needs: A theory introduced by Maslow suggesting that
people were motivated by a series of increasingly complex needs,
starting with their basic physiological needs up to the need to achieve
an individual's full potential
 Peak experiences: Moments of pure, transcendent joy that play an
important part in the reaching self-actualization8
 Self-actualization: A state of reaching one's full potential

Humanistic psychology remains quite popular today and has significantly

influenced other areas of psychology including positive psychology. This
particular branch of psychology is centered on helping people live happier,
more fulfilling lives.

The 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 such as neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.
Cognitive psychology emerged during the 1950s, partly as a response to
behaviorism. Critics of behaviorism noted that it failed to account for how
internal processes impacted behavior.

Examples of theories that grew out of the cognitive school of thought

include:

 Stages of cognitive development: A theory proposed by Jean

Piaget, which suggested that children go through a series of
progressive stages of intellectual development.
 Sociocultural theory: This theory, introduced by Lev Vygotsky,
looked at how the interaction of cultural and social factors contributed
to cognitive development.
 Informational processing theory: This theory suggests that the
mind functions much like a computer to process and interpret
information about the world.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) was also heavily influenced by this

psychological perspective. CBT is an approach to treatment that focuses on
how automatic negative thought patterns influence behavior and
psychological problems.9

This period is sometimes referred to as the "cognitive revolution" as a wealth

of research on information processing, language, memory, and perception
began to emerge.