Subfield Humanistic Psychology
With each major perspective in psychology, there are many subfields, and no matter which branch you are looking into they all seem to go back and forth with one another. I find it interesting that each time I’m reading I will look up a term then be able to cross-reference it with another and so on and so forth until I have gone in a complete circle of terms. Psychology is its own language and just like every language known to man, the terminology can interchange frequently and if you misuse a word or place one incorrectly, it can throw off the entire meaning and leave cause for miscommunication. That being said, when we look at neuroscience, which according to the table is said to be hereditary in nature, we can then move down to the subfield
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of behavioral neuroscience which you can then follow by seeing cognitive neuroscience. Firstly however, behavioral neuroscience examines the biological basis of behavior and it is the scientific study of the nervous system which then branches out into many other subfields including neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neurology, neurophysiology, and neuropharmacology, and it’s applications in psychology and psychiatry. Neuroscience is an unconscious, hereditary determinant of behavior which, according to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, “in philosophy, the position that all events, physical or mental, including human behavior, are the necessary results of antecedent causes or other entities or forces. Determinism requires that both past and the future are fixed. In psychology, the position that all human behaviors result from specific efficient casual antecedents such as biological structures or processes environmental conditions, or past experiences. The relationships between these antecedents and the behaviors they produce can be describes by generalizations much like the laws that describe regularities in nature.” Neuroscience focuses on an internal mental process or internalization which, according to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, is “the unconscious mental process by which the characteristics, beliefs, feelings, or attitudes of other individuals or groups are assimilated into the self and adopted one’s own.” Lastly, neuroscience has a universal emphasis or universalism, according to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, is “the position that certain aspects of the human mind, human behavior, and human morality are universal and essential and are therefore to be found in all cultures and historical periods. A form of essentialism. Universality is the tendency to assume that one’s personal qualities and characteristics, including attitudes and values, are common in the general social group or culture.”
Now we can then move onto cognitive psychology which is both a hereditary and environmental branch of psychology that, defined by the textbook, explores the operation of “higher mental processes related to perceiving, attending, thinking, language, and memory, mainly through inferences from behavior.” Cognitive psychology focuses on the study of higher mental processes, both conscious and unconscious determinants of behavior, and an internal emphasis of observable behavior. In contrast to determinism, cognitive psychology emphasizes free will which, according to APA Dictionary of Psychology under determinism, “implies that individuals can choose to act in some ways independent of antecedent events and conditions. Advocates adopt a position of soft determinism- free will and responsibilities are compatible with determinism.” Only two of the major fields in psychology involve the use of individual difference which in the APA Dictionary of Psychology is “a trait or other characteristic by which one individual may be distinguished from others.” The APA Dictionary of Psychology states that “more recently, cognitive psychology has been influenced by approaches to information processing and information theory developed in computer science and artificial intelligence. See cognitive science.”
Behavioral psychology is the third and next major field that is brought on by environmental influences, is a conscious determinant of behavior, and is an observable behavior. It is the only field of the five major perspectives that can be characterized by both individual difference and universal principles. There are many subcategories to this field including, from the text, “behavioral genetics which studies the inheritance of traits related to behavior, behavioral neuroscience, behavioral psychology which is an approach to understanding psychological phenomena that focuses on observable aspects of behavior and makes use of behavior theory for explanation, behavioral science or the study of the actions and reactions of human beings and animals using observational and experimental methods. Behavioral sciences comprise psychology, psychiatry, sociology, psychopharmacology, anthropology, and other differences.”
Humanistic psychology is an environmental focus studied on conscious subjects; the study of human beings and human experiences.
Humanistic psychologies seek to uphold values and resist demoralization in beings and behaviors pertaining to a human conscience that is guided by individual standards and not by fear of external authority. Humanistic psychology also uses an internal emphasis in determining behavior and relies on the free will of a human being because it implies they have a choice with morals to guide them to making the right one. Free will, in the APA Dictionary of Psychology, “is the power of capacity of a human being for self-direction. The function of the will is to be inclined or disposed toward an idea or action. The concept of free will thus suggests that inclinations, dispositions, thoughts, and actions are not determined entirely by forces over which people have no independent directing influence. Free will is generally seen as necessary for moral action and responsibility and is implied by much of our everyday experience, in which we are conscious of having the power to forbear (see paradox freedom). However, it has often been dismissed as illusory by advocates of determinism, who hold that all occurrences, including human actions, are predetermined.” Humanistic therapy is a subfield of humanistic psychology and defined by the APA Dictionary of Psychology is “any variety of psychotherapeutic approaches that reject psychoanalytic behavioral approaches; seek to foster personal growth through direct experience and focus on development of human potential, the here and now, concrete personality change, and the responsibility for oneself, and trust in natural process and spontaneous feeling. Examples of are client centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, essential psychotherapy, and experiential
psychotherapy.”
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is the fifth major perspective in the field of psychology. It is hereditary and part of the unconscious that the text states, according to Freudian Theory, “we have little or no awareness or control” and internal mental processes that impacts behavior that results from biological influences, or processes environmental circumstances, or past experiences. Also, psychodynamics takes a universal approach and the APA Dictionary of Psychology describes it as “any system of perspective emphasizing the development, changes, and interaction of mental and emotional processes, motivation, and drives. 2. The pattern of motivational forces, conscious and unconscious, that gives rise to a particular psychological event of state, such as an attitude, action, symptom, or mental disorder. Forces include drives, wishes, emotions, and defense mechanisms, as well as biological needs e.g. (hunger and sex).” Most psychodynamic approaches deal with unconscious treatment such as analyzing transference and also in dream analysis for interpretation as well as depth therapy.
of behavioral neuroscience which you can then follow by seeing cognitive neuroscience. Firstly however, behavioral neuroscience examines the biological basis of behavior and it is the scientific study of the nervous system which then branches out into many other subfields including neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neurology, neurophysiology, and neuropharmacology, and it’s applications in psychology and psychiatry. Neuroscience is an unconscious, hereditary determinant of behavior which, according to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, “in philosophy, the position that all events, physical or mental, including human behavior, are the necessary results of antecedent causes or other entities or forces. Determinism requires that both past and the future are fixed. In psychology, the position that all human behaviors result from specific efficient casual antecedents such as biological structures or processes environmental conditions, or past experiences. The relationships between these antecedents and the behaviors they produce can be describes by generalizations much like the laws that describe regularities in nature.” Neuroscience focuses on an internal mental process or internalization which, according to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, is “the unconscious mental process by which the characteristics, beliefs, feelings, or attitudes of other individuals or groups are assimilated into the self and adopted one’s own.” Lastly, neuroscience has a universal emphasis or universalism, according to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, is “the position that certain aspects of the human mind, human behavior, and human morality are universal and essential and are therefore to be found in all cultures and historical periods. A form of essentialism. Universality is the tendency to assume that one’s personal qualities and characteristics, including attitudes and values, are common in the general social group or culture.”
Now we can then move onto cognitive psychology which is both a hereditary and environmental branch of psychology that, defined by the textbook, explores the operation of “higher mental processes related to perceiving, attending, thinking, language, and memory, mainly through inferences from behavior.” Cognitive psychology focuses on the study of higher mental processes, both conscious and unconscious determinants of behavior, and an internal emphasis of observable behavior. In contrast to determinism, cognitive psychology emphasizes free will which, according to APA Dictionary of Psychology under determinism, “implies that individuals can choose to act in some ways independent of antecedent events and conditions. Advocates adopt a position of soft determinism- free will and responsibilities are compatible with determinism.” Only two of the major fields in psychology involve the use of individual difference which in the APA Dictionary of Psychology is “a trait or other characteristic by which one individual may be distinguished from others.” The APA Dictionary of Psychology states that “more recently, cognitive psychology has been influenced by approaches to information processing and information theory developed in computer science and artificial intelligence. See cognitive science.”
Behavioral psychology is the third and next major field that is brought on by environmental influences, is a conscious determinant of behavior, and is an observable behavior. It is the only field of the five major perspectives that can be characterized by both individual difference and universal principles. There are many subcategories to this field including, from the text, “behavioral genetics which studies the inheritance of traits related to behavior, behavioral neuroscience, behavioral psychology which is an approach to understanding psychological phenomena that focuses on observable aspects of behavior and makes use of behavior theory for explanation, behavioral science or the study of the actions and reactions of human beings and animals using observational and experimental methods. Behavioral sciences comprise psychology, psychiatry, sociology, psychopharmacology, anthropology, and other differences.”
Humanistic psychology is an environmental focus studied on conscious subjects; the study of human beings and human experiences.
Humanistic psychologies seek to uphold values and resist demoralization in beings and behaviors pertaining to a human conscience that is guided by individual standards and not by fear of external authority. Humanistic psychology also uses an internal emphasis in determining behavior and relies on the free will of a human being because it implies they have a choice with morals to guide them to making the right one. Free will, in the APA Dictionary of Psychology, “is the power of capacity of a human being for self-direction. The function of the will is to be inclined or disposed toward an idea or action. The concept of free will thus suggests that inclinations, dispositions, thoughts, and actions are not determined entirely by forces over which people have no independent directing influence. Free will is generally seen as necessary for moral action and responsibility and is implied by much of our everyday experience, in which we are conscious of having the power to forbear (see paradox freedom). However, it has often been dismissed as illusory by advocates of determinism, who hold that all occurrences, including human actions, are predetermined.” Humanistic therapy is a subfield of humanistic psychology and defined by the APA Dictionary of Psychology is “any variety of psychotherapeutic approaches that reject psychoanalytic behavioral approaches; seek to foster personal growth through direct experience and focus on development of human potential, the here and now, concrete personality change, and the responsibility for oneself, and trust in natural process and spontaneous feeling. Examples of are client centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, essential psychotherapy, and experiential
psychotherapy.”
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is the fifth major perspective in the field of psychology. It is hereditary and part of the unconscious that the text states, according to Freudian Theory, “we have little or no awareness or control” and internal mental processes that impacts behavior that results from biological influences, or processes environmental circumstances, or past experiences. Also, psychodynamics takes a universal approach and the APA Dictionary of Psychology describes it as “any system of perspective emphasizing the development, changes, and interaction of mental and emotional processes, motivation, and drives. 2. The pattern of motivational forces, conscious and unconscious, that gives rise to a particular psychological event of state, such as an attitude, action, symptom, or mental disorder. Forces include drives, wishes, emotions, and defense mechanisms, as well as biological needs e.g. (hunger and sex).” Most psychodynamic approaches deal with unconscious treatment such as analyzing transference and also in dream analysis for interpretation as well as depth therapy.