SCHOOLS of PSYCHOLOGY : Major Schools DIscovered

schools of psychology
structuralism behaviourism functionalism cognitive psychology psychoanalysis

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ASSIGNMENT
PROGRAM: MASTER OF EDUCATION

FIRST SEMESTER
SESSION – 2023-25

COURSE CODE :FIPB103T
COURSE NAME :
PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING AND
DEVELOPMENT

NAME OF STUDENT: ALISHA SIDDIQUI
ENROLLMENT NO: 23GSOE2010002

SUBMITTED TO:
Ms. NEHA KUMARI

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TOPIC

SCHOOLS OF
PSYCHOLOGY

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ABSTRACT
School of Psychology publishes empirical studies and literature
reviews of the psychology of education and services for children in
school settings, encompassing a full range of methodologies and
orientations, including educational, cognitive, social, cognitive
behavioral, preventive, cross-cultural, and developmental
perspectives. In psychology, a school of thought is a group that has
similar opinions on philosophy, movements and intellect. It
unifies and identifies those with common beliefs, traditions, or
practices concerning a field of study or subject. The different
schools of psychology are structuralism, functionalism,
behaviorism, Gestaltism, and psychoanalysis.

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INTRODUCTION


Every academic field, from sociology and theology to
literature and history, includes rival ideas or schools of
thought that offer different viewpoints on the subject. The
argument over how to categorize and explain the human
mind and behavior started when psychology first emerged
as a science distinct from biology and philosophy. There are
many different themes in the large science of psychology.
It translates as the “study of the mind.” Although it
includes thousands of ideas and sub-theories, the six major
schools of thought are frequently the starting point for
people who are new to psychology. A school of thought is a
collection of individuals who share a common ideology,
movement, or intellectual perspective. It ties together and
distinguishes those who share a particular subject or field
of study’s traditions, customs, or practices The main
theories in psychology are represented by the several
schools of psychology. In psychology, a school of thought is
a group that has similar opinions on philosophy, movements
and intellect. It unifies and identifies those with common
beliefs, traditions, or practices concerning a field of study
or subject.

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MAJOR SCHOOLS OF
PSYCHOLOGY



❖ STRUCTURALISM
❖ BEHAVIOURISM
❖ FUNCTIONALISM
❖ GESTALTISM
❖ COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
❖ PSYCHOANALYSIS

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STRUCTURALISM

The first psychological school of thought was
structuralism. Wilhelm Wundt, a German
academic, philosopher, and physiologist,
established it. Although Wundt’s work laid the
groundwork for structuralism, Edward B.
Titchener, one of his students, founded the
school of thought in the 1890s.

The term “structuralism” refers to the study of
the structure of the mind, which is the goal of the
movement. Wundt used introspection as his main
method to try to comprehend the structure of the
mind. To examine events or experiences, the
smallest feasible components were dissected so
that the researcher could comprehend the contents
of consciousness.

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BEHAVIOURISM



John B. Watson founded behaviorism in 1924.
According to behaviorism, a subject’s
psychological makeup can be better predicted by
their behavior than by their unique ideas or
thoughts. It gives experience and one’s
surroundings priority over internal or
subconscious forces.

According to this school of thought, operant, and
classical conditioning are the two primary methods
used to teach behavior. In classical conditioning,
behavior is produced by pairing two stimuli—a
conditioned stimulus and an unrelated
unconditioned stimulus.

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FUNCTIONALISM

The dominant structuralism of late 19th-century
psychology was opposed by the concept of
functionalism. The primary structuralist Edward
Titchener provided psychology with its original
definition as a discipline that studies mental
experience and awareness through trained
introspection.

The concept of functional psychology is credited to
William James. But he would not identify as a
functionalist, nor did he genuinely approve of the
way science was organized into schools. The
prominent proponents of functionalism at the
University of Chicago were John Dewey, George
Herbert Mead, Harvey A. Carr, and particularly
James Rowland Angell.

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GESTALTISM

Gestalt psychology is a branch of psychology that is
predicated on the notion that humans perceive
things as cohesive wholes. In response to
structuralism’s molecular psychology, this method
of psychology emerged in Germany and Austria in
the late 19th century. Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang
Köhler, and Max Wertheimer were among the
thinkers affiliated with the Gestalt school of
thought.
Gestalt psychologists considered that you must
look at the entire experience rather than dissect
thoughts and actions into their tiniest components.
Understanding optical phenomena, such as optical
illusions, is an example of Gestalt thinking.

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COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
The branch of psychology known as cognitive
psychology focuses on the study of mental
processes, such as how people think, perceive,
remember, and learn. This area of psychology is
connected to other fields including neuroscience,
philosophy, and linguistics because it is a part of
the broader subject of cognitive science.

. Examples of notions that emerged from the
cognitive school of thinking include Jean Piaget’s
thesis of the “phases of cognitive
development,” which stated that children went
through a series of progressive stages of
intellectual development, Lev Vygotsky’s
sociocultural theory, which focuses on how social
and cultural influences interact to influence
cognitive development, and the information
processing theory, which contends that the mind
processes and interprets data about the outside
world similar to a computer.

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PSYCHOANALYSIS

Sigmund Freud established and developed
psychoanalysis with the help of evidence. S. Freud
believed that the causes of depression and tension
were the unconscious mind. And Freud told
different technologies and how one can be brought
from the unconscious mind to the conscious level.
We have tension due to unconscious things. But it
is very difficult to bring unconscious to conscious.
He criticized S-R connection. Freud divided the
personality structure into three parts. They are Id,
Ego, and Superego. And the ID is present from
birth. Carl Jung established analytical psychology.
And Alfred Adler established individual
psychology. Psychoanalysis is both theory and
therapy.The main objective of psychoanalysis is to
extract repressed emotions and experiences from
the unconscious mind.

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CONCLUSION

The field of psychology is rich and diverse,
encompassing various schools of thought that have
contributed to our understanding of human
behavior and the mind. While this conclusion
cannot cover all the nuances of each school, it is
essential to recognize the significance of these
perspectives in shaping the discipline of
psychology. Each school of psychology has
contributed valuable insights, methodologies, and
theories to the field. Moreover, contemporary
psychology often integrates multiple perspectives
to provide a more holistic understanding of human
behavior. The choice of which school or
combination of schools to follow may depend on
the research question, the context, and the goals of
the psychologist. the various schools of psychology
have greatly enriched our understanding of human
behavior and the mind.

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Reference


EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY AND
ELEMENTARY STATICS – Prof. Bihari Raman
and Prof. Joshi Suresh

https://bscholarly.com/major-schools-of-thought-
in-psychology/

https://www.socialworkin.com/2021/12/9-
important-school-of-psychology.html

https://psychologyeducational.com/important-
schools-of-psychology/blogs/