Summary of Theorists and Their Theories

Paige Miele

Psychology 123

Professor J. Capella

February 10, 2012

Summary of Theorists and Their Theories

Psychology is the mental and behavioral characteristics or attitude of a person or group. Many people will try to understand the vastness that is psychology but there are so many if's, and's, and but's to the subject it would be impossible to know and understand it all, if you even agree with one of the many augment that make up psychology. Studies of psychology include human interaction, thought process, behavioral action, developmental growth, and the list goes on and on. Many people do studies to try and prove the depth that is and make up human life. The real question is will anyone really know why, why being the only question necessary in psychology. Psychology would be no where without its founding fathers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and the people who took their work further.

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856 and died on September 23, 1939, who founded psychoanalysis. Freud discovered new approaches to analysis and the treatment to abnormal adult behavior. One of Freud's approaches evaluated behavior and concluded that it is not random or meaningless but goal directed. Freud searched for the purpose and meaning behind behavioral patterns. The goal of Freudian therapy was to bring repressed thoughts and feelings into consciousness in order to free a person from suffering from distorted emotions. Freud preached that everything you become is determined by how your childhood is. Freud believed that childhood experiences are the gateway to the adult you become. Freud viewed development as a timeline of how to handle anti-social impulses in socially acceptable ways.

Erik Erikson was born June 15, 1902 and died May12, 1994, who is best known for adding to Freud's theories. Erikson's theory encompasses the entire life cycle and recognizes the impact of society, history, and culture on ones personality. Erikson's psychosocial theory on social development is an approach to the personality that adds to Freudian psychosexual theory. Erikson's 8 stages are Oral Sensor, Muscular-Anal, Locomotor, Latency, Adolescence, Young Adulthood, Middle Adulthood, and Maturity. Erikson wrote a book call "the life cycle Completed", which explains Erikson's belief that every human from birth to death goes though 8 stages though out life for full development.

Ivan Pavlov was born on September 26, 1849 and died on February 27, 1936, who was known for classical conditioning, behavior modification, and is most known for "Pavlov's dogs". Ivan Pavlov first experimented on the gastric functions of dogs by conveying their saliva glands, by measuring, collecting, and analyzing the saliva of his dogs, to create the conditioned reflexes. Conditioned Reflexes were to help explain the behaviors of mentally damaged people. Pavlov ran experiments on how animals and humans could be trained to act a certain way. Pavlov also studied why reflexes make us act a certain way like when a doctor goes to check your reflexes by hitting the knee in a specific spot, our leg will jump. The phrase "Pavlov's dog" is often used to describe someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than using critical thinking.

Burrhus Skinner was born on March 20, 1904 and died on August 18, 1990, whose particular brand of behaviorism was "Radical" behaviorism. Skinner promoted for the immediate praise, feedback, or reward to seeking the change of a troublesome person, or to encourage the correct behavior in a classroom. Skinner focused on what occurred after a behavior, the effects or repercussions of an action and how it can influence the learning process. The root to all of behaviorism is the assumption that human and animal behaviors are determined by learning and reinforcement for growth with knowledge. Skinner claimed that there were four general types of speech echoic behavior, demand, tact, interverbals and autoclitic.

Jean Piaget was born on August 9, 1896 and died on September 9, 1980, was a developmental psychologist that was known for his studies with children. Piaget was the first psychologist to bring about the study of cognitive development. Piaget proposed that children's thinking does not develop entirely. Piaget believed that children's mind would fly off into new "worlds" and moves into completely refreshing areas and capabilities, that only children can get to. Piaget has four stages on cognitive development they are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal. Piaget believed the way you adapt to the world is through assimilation and accommodation.

Lev Vygotsky was born on November 17, 1896 and died on June 11, 1934, who was known for developmental psychology, and child development. Vygotsky introduced the zone of proximal development which looks at the potential of human cognitive development. Social development theory argues that social interaction precedes development, consciousness, and cognition is the end product of socialization and social behavior.

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