Psychology Perspectives
neuroscience
Evolutionary
researchers in this perspective study how biology affects learning and performance, perceptions of reality, the experience of emotion, and vulnerability to emotional disorder. they study how the mind and body interact in illness and health. they investigate the contributions of genes in the development of abilities and personality traits. evolutionary psychology follows in the footsteps of functionalism by focusing on how genetically influenced behavior that was functional or adaptive during our evolutionary past may be reflected in many of our present behaviors, mental processes, and traits.
behavior genetics
psychodynamics
psychodynamic psychologists try to dig below the surface of a person's behavior to get to its unconscious roots; they think of themselves as archeologists of the mind. psychodynamic psychology is the thumb on the hand of psychology. It is connected to the other fingers, but it is also set apart from them because it differs radically from the other approaches In its language, methods, and standards of acceptable evidence. although some psychological scientists are doing empirical studies of psychodynamic concepts, many others believe that psychodynamic approaches belong in philosophy or literature rather than in academic psychology.
behavioral
Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to environmental stimuli shape our behaviors. Before you can change your behavior, it helps to identify the reinforcers that are supporting your unwanted habits: attention from others, temporary relief from tension or unhappiness, or tangible rewards such as money or a good meal.
cognitive
Cognitive psychology focuses on the way humans process information, looking at how we treat information that comes in to the person (what behaviorists would call stimuli), and how this treatment leads to responses. In other words, they are interested in the variables that mediate between stimulus/input and response/output. Cognitive psychologists study internal processes including perception, attention, language, memory and thinking.