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Behaviourist Vs Psychodynamic Research

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Psychology is the study of mind and behaviour of an individual or a group. Atkinon et al (1991) defined technology as following: “The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes”. Psychologist have utilised various views (perspectives) that involved certain beliefs (assumption)to approach the study of human behaviour, in order to understand and explain it. These perspectives form the different approaches in contemporary psychology each with different research methods and theories. These approaches are …show more content…
Sigmund Freud launched the psychodynamic approach after becoming interested in the manifestation of physical symptoms without the visible physical causes and was convinced that the unconscious mind was the cause for much disorders and influences in behaviour. Another assumption is that parts of the mind are constantly struggling with each other and it is the consequences of these struggles that explain behaviour. He believed that behaviour is motivated by an aggressive and sexual drive which when builds up creates tension and anxiety if not properly released. Relationship, experience and conflicts particularly in childhood shape personalities. In contrast the behaviourist approach completely overlooks the unconscious mind believing that behaviour is a product of environment since all humans are a blank state at birth they learn through conditioning: classical conditioning which is learning through association between a natural and environmental stimuli, the other is operant conditioning which explains that behaviour is learnt through the process of either reinforcement or …show more content…
The fact that people have or think they have self determination has immense implication on behaviour. Rotter (1966), explains that people who feel that outside factors control their life (external locus of control) feel the effect of stress more than the ones who feel in control of their life (internal locus of control). Evidence of the existence of freewill is largely subjective and it i not compatible with causal laws of science. Determinism approach proposes that all physical events is caused (including human behaviour) by a factor which lead to the ability to predict future events. However determinism cannot always lead to complete prediction as there are many complex influences on behaviour, and assumes that a cause must exist even if one has not been found yet. According to the psychodynamic approach theories, the principle determinant factors of behaviour are caused by the unconscious mind, biological drive and early childhood experiences which affirm determinism. Moreover the idea of free will is completely shattered by mental disorders, for example the loss of thoughts and action control in obsessive compulsive disorder. Behaviourist states that human behaviour is caused by environment as a result of

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