History of Theories in Psychology (PSYC 493)

This has really been the blog post and part of the year that I’ve been looking forward to all semester after first looking over the syllabus. Humanistic Psychology is the branch of psychology that I have been most interested in learning about. Carl Rogers’ Client Centered Therapy approach was completely unheard of at the time, and his approach even became its own school of thought. Maslow and Rogers work has greatly contributed to the Psychology field and their humanistic view of therapy puts more emphasis on the fact that the client knows themselves best, and they are capable of revealing their problems themselves if in the right environment. With the switched emphasis on the individual (self-actualization, creativity, individuality), third force psychology offers a more optimistic outlook regarding the client and their personal, mental and psychological growth throughout therapy. As for me, someone who has experienced being in therapy first hand, the client-therapist relationship is very important as well as the environment that is formed. When I first read about humanistic psychology I could relate to it because I felt as if that was the type of therapy that I experienced and received much help from. I am an advocate of this style of therapy, and I believe that it is directly on point with its style and direction throughout the course of therapy.

The development of Third World (Humanistic) Psychology occurred in the early 1960s by Abraham Maslow. Rather than having a focus on behavior and mentally disturbed people, Third World Psychology focuses on the individual achieving their full potential and emphasizing their uniqueness. A person is seen as having complete freedom in their thoughts and behavior. As a result, human behavior is always good because it is simply an act of human nature. However, if bad actions occur, it is seen as a result of the person’s behavior being interfered with by society.

With that being said, I immediately think of Abraham Lincoln as being a good example of someone who represents Third World Psychology. There were many things about Abraham Lincoln that made him unique from the average person. He had a successful wrestling career, wore a top hat and kept notes in it, and most importantly went on to become President. When Lincoln wanted to do something, there was little that could deter him from achieving his goals. Most notably was his role as President during the Civil War. While half of the country that he led opposed slavery, the other half was passionately in favor of it. With opinions and suggestions constantly being given to him, he acted in a way that HE believed to be right and abolished slavery. He behaved in a way that he wanted to despite the strong opposition facing him, and ultimately brought the war to an end.

I greatly admire Not only third Force Psychology’s humanistic views and it’s perspectives on our futures but it’s catchy name as well. The third Force psychology’s perspectives on humanistic development is completely right in my opinion, and their view on human desires are accurate as well. When I first became a Psychology major I was attracted to Howard’s theory of Unconditional Positive regard as not only a proper parenting technique, but as the attitude which a therapist must have with a client, not a cold detached analyzation. By giving others the benefit of the doubt we open the doors of the heart that might close defensively in fear of others. However I feel that for all its perks, Humanistic Psychology lacks decisive and effective techniques to complement its bold and enlightening views.

Third Force Psychology encourages individualism and creativity. This psychology movement can be easily seen in North American media. From television shows featuring a wide range of programs from showcasing musical or dancing abilities to pregnant and drug addicted adolescents, to entertainment sensations such as Justin Bieber and Carrie Underwood. Another prominent entertainment figure is Rihanna. In her songs and music videos Rihanna puts passion and personality into each one, leaving the newest addition to her legacy more astounding than the last. In her song “S&M,” the artist claims to be talking about her relationship with the paparazzi, yet popular culture took an entirely different view on the subject matter. In her music video, “We Found Love” ft. Calvin Harris,” Rihanna shows off the many aspects of her personality making the video as unique as her. The audience sees a romantic couple, yet the constant costume and wardrobe changes, along with the borderline explicit behavior show that Rihanna is not ashamed or embarrassed about romantic behavior.

I believe it is models like this that have lead to the desensitization of America’s youth. Growing up, media was much more censored than it is today; material that was once on during the dark hours of evening is now readily available for children during the dinner hours. Not to mention the ease at which production companies prey on the general population. In the wake of “reality T.V.” it seems that any yahoo with a knack for getting into trouble or making people laugh can get an hour segment on a network. Examples such as “Teen Mom,” “Jersey Shore,” “The Bachelor,” and “Big Brother” quickly come to mind. Today’s reality television has replaced the cartoons and scripted family values shows (such as “Rugrats” and “Full House”) that used to predominate television. The lower standard of television has lead to America’s youth believing that it is normal or okay to  engage and delinquent behavior and be satisfied with a life that is drastically altered by consequences they do not fully comprehend.

In my opinion, i believe that psychanalytical thinking, or psychoanalysis is used in every day life. When we interact with people, we sometimes question their motives and wonder why they did a certain thing, or why they didn’t do a certain thing. I think we sometimes even psychoanalyze people in our heads, without consciously realizing it/thinking about it. We could possibly be using the defense mechanism of projection when we judge someone. For example, say someone is really self conscious about a certain thing they do, to the point where they hate doing it- they could be using projection and automatically judge anyone who also does that certain thing even without getting to know them first. Because we have been using psychoanalysis for so long, i don’t think it would be possibly for someone to go throughout their day without encountering it, one way or another.

Psychoanalytic thinking is most prevalent, at least in my opinion, in the fact that almost everyone is aware now of subconscious tendencies to act upon desires and impulses. Before psychoanalytic thought, little thought or respect was given to ideas dealing with the subconscious, and now, in my own life and in daily encounters with others, i hear attributions towards subconscious tendencies. So much of what we know about our functioning and decisions is attributed to automated thoughts and subconscious ideas, which would never have been considered before Freud and his contemporaries.

Psychoanalysis is a huge part of modern psychological thinking. In fact, whenever I mention to someone that i am studying psychology, the first thing they think of is me sitting next to a person laying in a chair, asking them about their childhood and stuff. To the popular media (aka movies tv shows, anywhere u see a “psychologist”) this psychoanalysis style psychology is to many average people the only form of psychology that exists. We are always looking for deeper meaning behind almost every form of expression. Just look at http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Psychoanalysis-CINEMA-AND-THE-UNCONSCIOUS.html  This article is about the relationship between movies and media and freudian psychology. We are just about always exploring into the forces behind everything. This sort of thinking has shown to be extremely popular in all sections of society and the media for a long time and will continue to be for a long time to come.

I find psychoanalytical thinking to be very prevalent within modern thinking through almost every modern movie. With examples like the new star trek with its’ good versus evil stance and a hero who’s life is extremely evident of a fatherless childhood. It is interesting to notice how so many movies and general media use examples from these classic archetypes of psychological disturbance in order to garner a greater reaction from their audiences. Psychoanalytical thought can even been seen in something as abstract as movie critiques, as many critics tend to comment on movies based on their ability to address issues of the psyche that all humans can relate with. I personally find it interesting how humans seem to naturally find great interest in such issues, especially since the induction of modern media. It would be interesting to study how influential such thoughts were before television and radio came about.

The psychoanalytic school of thought has always perplexed me. I’m not sure if I entirely understand where Freud and Jung were coming from with many of their ideas. However, it gained so much popularity through the years and is still a highly talked about approach. While many of their ideas have been discredited, it is refreshing to hear of an approach that allows the general public to be able to distinguish the entire field of Psychology from the hard sciences. As we have discussed in class, I believe the beauty of psychology is that it attempts to delve into things unknown that most scientist would never even imagine attempting to discover.

Lucy Psychoanalyzes Charlie Brown

One of the earliest exposures I have ever had to psychoanalysis was when the ever-popular Charlie Brown get analyzed by Lucy. The clip attached I a little lengthy, but it was classic psychoanalytic therapy. Lucy attempts to help Charlie come out of his depression by first showing slides of his facial expressions to detect underlying emotions, and then having him project his frustrations about life onto a football. Lucy even claimed, much like Freud did, that she was the best person to help him because her therapy for the best for him. Maybe Sigmund Freud could learn a thing or two from Lucy and Charlie Brown.

I posted on psychoanalytic theory last time so its time for a blast from the past with a post on our favorite subject, behaviorism.

Behaviorism is concerned with the observable behaviors and actions of an individual. I found a cartoon with the picture of a rat with a sign that reads “Will press lever for food.” This obviously is a play on the homeless population and the signs they often hold with messages like “Will work for food” but the reference to the homeless population is not what I want to focus on. This is a great mention of behaviorism because it is completely about the observable behavior that the rat takes place in. If this were in reference to psychoanalytic theory it would say something like “Will release id for food” but instead it is completely focused on the behavior that the rat is displaying. BF Skinner was completely focused on training organisms to follow his will whether they be doves, rats, or humans.