what are the basic concepts of?

Question

psychodynamics, behaviorism (skinner), humanism (Maslow & Rogers), biopsychology, cognitive psychology, the evolutionary perspective and the sociocultural perspective?

Answer 1

Psychodynamics focuses on the aspects of the mind that are not exactly one way or the other but that change from person to person. That is to say that any one person's actions are based on his personal history - his thoughts and motivations. In the Freudian sense, your actions are all determined by how you handled major psychological issues as a child, such as going to the bathroom. There are other psychodynamic theories such as Jung's. Jung himself was very close in beliefs to Freud's however he eventually decided to go his own way on the "it's all about sex" side of things. He decided that the unconscious things we do are either personal or collective (that is they fit into certain archetypes - you can read more about this on the websites below). Though Jung believed that we all strived for individuation, Adler was a believer that we all began life with an inferiority complex and struggled to attain superiority, using what he called a fictional finalism as our ultimate goal. " 'It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them (Alfred Adler).' This statement sums up Alder's theory of personalty in a nutshell" ("Adler", see source website). Many other theorists are a part of the great branch of psychodynamics, but this should suffice for now.

Moving on to behaviorism:
Behaviorism is basically the belief that all our actions are governed by the outside world - our environment. This view was begun by B.F. Skinner, hence the central principle behind it, called operant conditioning, is sometimes called Skinnerian conditioning. Skinner believed that no matter what action we took in life it was somehow the result of our past experiences and that everything we did was a result of reinforcement we received in the past. He had a great following and eventually wrote a book, Walden II, about a community which followed behaviorist principles.

Maslow and Rogers:
Abraham Maslow's main element was the hierarchy of needs, which he stressed as the driver of our actions. At the bottom of the hierarchy, which he conceptualized in a pyramid, were physiological needs, which were the literal necessary tools for survival (food, water, etc.). Next was the need for safety which included everything from being healthy to having security within the family. Third was belonging, a sense of necessity to be included in the social world, from friendship to intimacy. Esteem was the highest level on the period that Maslow believed everybody would likely achieve. These were the needs to feel good about oneself, to have self-esteem. Here is an idea of what self-actualization needs refer to, since explaining it myself is a little difficult. "People on this level of need, work at something very precious. This is a vocation or a calling in the old priestly sense. These people are very fine, healthy, strong, sagacious (that is, very smart) and creative" ("Maslow", see source website).

Rogers
This man's theories can be broken down into one overarching idea: the actualizing tendency. Like Jung, Rogers believed that we all start low and try to "fix ourselves". Importantly, he had a very positive outlook on life. While Jung believed we had a complex that needed to be fixed, Rogers saw life as part of an ongoing process to make ourselves the best that we can be. He applied this not only to humans but to other animals as well, pointing out that many animals struggle to survive even under dire conditions due their actualizing tendency.

Biopsychology
There is not much to say about this topic. It is what it is. Basically biopsychlogy refers to the way that our brain and body work together to form psychological responses. If you take a look into the brain, you will see that plains an intensive role in all our psychlogical responses. Neurons send signals in various parts of the brain to control everything from our emotions (in the limbic system), to pain (in the periacueductal gray), to thought and problem solving (in the frontal lobe). These all connect in a convoluted way to produce the human mind.

Cognitive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_psychology
This oughta do for this one.

The Evolutionary Perspective
This is the view that everything evolved out of natural selection and anything viewed through this perspective is assessed to figure out how and why. For example, why is it that rats tend to be attracted to those rats whose scent is slightly different from their's? This is an evolutionary trick whereby rats are able to avoid inbreeding by being attracted to those outside their family. Those rats that liked their family in the past, caused mutated future generations that did not survive to this century. Pretty neath, huh?

Finally, the sociocultural perspective searches for the causes of human behavior through social interaction. You can find more information about this topic in a psychology textbook. There are lots to choose from.

Hope I've been helpful. Search the web for more info.

Answer 2

The interaction of various conscious and unconscious mental or emotional processes, especially as they influence personality, behavior, and attitudes.A school of psychology that confines itself to the study of observable and quantifiable aspects of behavior and excludes subjective phenomena, such as emotions or motives.A system of thought that rejects religious beliefs and centers on humans and their values, capacities, and worth.
Concern with the interests, needs, and welfare of humans: “the newest flower on the vine of corporate humanism” (Savvy).
Medicine. The concept that concern for human interests, values, and dignity is of the utmost importance to the care of the sick.
The study of the humanities; learning in the liberal arts.
Humanism A cultural and intellectual movement of the Renaissance that emphasized secular concerns as a result of the rediscovery and study of the literature, art, and civilization of ancient Greece and Rome.The branch of psychology that studies the biological foundations of behavior, emotions, and mental processes.

Answer 3

All have one common basis: bullship. But most especially Skinner. He should be displayed in a zoo cage without dignity or meaning, just because it would be so natural.

Answer 4

Try this website
www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/history/history_nonflash.html