Where biology and culture intersect lies psychology.

Kowalski and Westen, (2011)

psychology is the scientific investigation of mental processes (thinking, remembering, feeling,
etc.) and behavior (p. 3). At psychologys beginning there were only a few foundations of
psychology, but through further understanding and knowledge more foundations developed.
Through psychology, human behavior can be understood through the major schools of thought in
psychology. The primary biological foundations of psychology link behaviors.
Different schools of thought in psychology represent the major theories that lie within
psychology. Structuralism and functionalism were the first major schools of thought in
psychology followed by behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, Gestalt
psychology, and cognitive psychology. Edward Titchener, who was a student of Wilhelm Wundt,
developed structuralism. Wilhelm Wundt is often described as the father of psychology,
founded the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879 (Kowalski & Westen,
2011). Wundt was using a method called introspection, which he trained observers verbally to
report everything that went through their minds when they were presented with a stimulus or task
(Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Titchener was an advocate of introspection as used in experiments
to devising a periodic table of the elements of human consciousness, similar to the periodic table
in chemistry (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).
The interest Titchener had in the study of the structure of consciousness lead to his
development of the school of thought of structuralism (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Structuralism
attempted to uncover the basic elements of consciousness through introspection and analyze the
human minds inner processes (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). The assumption in structuralism is
that psychology is used to identify the basic elements of consciousness. Functionalism,
influenced by Charles Darwins evolutionary theory, emphasized the role or function of

psychological processes in helping individuals adapt to their environment (Kowalski & Westen,
2011). Instead of focusing on the mental processes, functionalism focuses on the role processes
play. The assumption in functionalism is that psychology is a means to investigate the purpose or
function of consciousness instead of its structure.
Behaviorism is the school of thought in psychology based on the work of John B.
Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner, is the belief that behaviors are explained through
environmental causes instead of than internal forces. Observable behavior is the focus of
behaviorism. It is the assumption of behaviorists that mental events do not play a causal role in
human affairs (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Psychoanalysis is the school of thought in
psychology founded by Sigmund Freud late in the nineteenth century, is a theory of mental life
and behavior and an approach to treating psychological disorders (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).
Psychoanalysis emphasizes the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior. Freuds belief
was that the id, the ego, and the superego were the three elements that composed the human
mind.
The id is composed of primal urges, the ego is a component of personality is charged with
dealing with reality, and the superego is a part of personality that holds the values and ideals one
internalizes from ones parents and culture (Cherry, 2012). Freuds belief was that the
interactions of the id, ego, and superego led to complex human behaviors (Cherry, 2012). The
assumption of psychoanalysis through Freud is that one is influenced by unconscious forces,
which include aggressive and innate sexual drives. In a response to behaviorism and
psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology was developed. Humanistic psychology is the school of
thought in psychology that was developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism. The
focus of humanistic psychology is individual free will, personal growth, and the concept of self-

actualization, therefore instead of focusing on abnormal human behavior it emphasize helping

one achieve and fulfill ones potential (Cherry, 2012). The underlying assumption of humanistic
psychology is that if one has the freedom to grow one can reach the highest level of achievement
in any aspects of functioning.
Gestalt psychology is the school of thought psychology that began late in the 19th
century in Austria and Germany and holds that perception is an active experience of imposing
order on an overwhelming panorama of details by seeing them as parts of larger wholes (or
gestalts) (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). This holds true as for the complex perceptual and cognitive
tasks that constitute scientific investigation (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). The underlying
assumption of Gestalt psychology is that the ones mind only functions by recognizing or
imposing structures when none are seen. Cognitive psychology is the school of thought in
psychology began in the 1950s, in response to behaviorism, which studies the mental processes
and how one thinks, learns, perceives, and remembers. Cognitive psychology focuses on how
one acquires, processes, and store information (Clark, 2012). The underlying assumption of
cognitive psychology are that human cognition can at least in principle be fully revealed by the
scientific method, that is, individual components of mental processes can be identified and
understood, and that internal mental processes can be described in terms of rules or algorithms in
information processing models (Lu, & Dosher, 2007).
The primary biological foundations of psychology linked to behavior are the
psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive, and evolutionary perspectives. The psychodynamic
perspective developed by Sigmund Freud, proposes that ones actions reflect the way thoughts,
feelings, and wishes are associated in ones mind; that many of these processes are unconscious,
and that mental processes can conflict with one another, leading to compromises among

competing motives (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). The behaviorist perspective, pioneered by John
Watston and B. F. Skinner, is a perspective that focus is on the relation between observable
behaviors and environmental events or stimuli (behaviorism) (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). The
belief of this perspective is that many reactions are learned, and that behavior is controlled
through learning.
The cognitive perspective focuses on how or the way one perceives, processes, and
retrieve information (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). This perspective is useful in understanding the
process behind decision making. The evolutionary perspective was built from Darwins principle
of natural selection (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). The argument is that human behavioral
proclivities must be understood in the context of their evolutionary and adaptive significance
(Kowalski & Westen, 2011). There is also the argument that many behavioral tendencies in
humans, from the need to eat to concern for their children, evolved because they helped their
ancestors survive and rear healthy offspring (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). It is the belief of
evolutionary psychologists that the most enduring human attributes during a certain point and
time served as a function for humans as biological organisms (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).
Influencing ones knowledge and understanding of psychology are the major schools of
thought, such as structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic
psychology, Gestalt psychology, and cognitive psychology. One can identify solely with one
school of thought or draw on the theories and ideas from several schools of thought. The four
perspectives of psychology, which are the psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive, and
evolutionary perspective link human behavior. These perspectives are used to study human
behavior and allow one to form a thesis about why behaviors occur.