Psychodynamic, Humanistic, and Cognitive Theories
The Purpose of this article is to compare and contrast two of the more popular theories and one that is still prevalent but no longer as widely accepted. The two popular theories that will be discussed are Psychodynamic Perspective and Cognitive the Perspective. The other Theory will be Humanist Psychology. In order for us to understand there similarities we must first determine there differences, the first half of this article will attempt to do just that.
Psychodynamic Perspective is defined as a “Psychological approach that emphasizes unconscious dynamics within the individual such as inner forces, conflict, or the movement of instinctual energy” (Wade & Tavris, 2006). Psychodynamic perspective is mostly centered on inner conflicts and how such conflicts affect human development. Sigmund Freud originated the general basis of this belief by saying that “inner conflicts normally arise from childhood and often can lead to mental illness” (Encarta.msn, 2005). This is done by impeding the balanced development of the three systems that constitute the human Psyche. These three systems are the ID, which is innate sexual and aggressive drives; the ego, which is the conscious part of the brain that mediates between reality and unconscious, and finally the super ego, this controls the primitive impulses of the Id and often represents moral ideals.
Many psychologists believe that mental disorders are the direct result of psychodynamic conflicts that cannot be dealt with appropriately by the defense mechanism. This basically means the defense mechanism usually provide us with ways to settle conflicts in a way that will satisfy both the superego and the ID unfortunately for some people these defense mechanisms are insufficient or dysfunctions which in turn often leads to maladaptive behavior.
Humanist Psychology is an “approach that emphasizes free will, personal growth resilience, and the achievement of human potential.”(Wade & Tavris, 2006). One main theory of humanist psychology is that deep down inside people are fundamentally good as opposed to other theories like Psychodynamic Perspective that suggest that people are fundamentally bad. Humanist generally believes that abnormal behavior is a result of failure of a person to find meaning of their life and fulfill his or her own potential.
Humanist normally view mental and personal growth as natural conditions of human life, basically every person possesses a drive toward self actualization and the ultimate fulfillment of ones greatest dreams desires and potential. They believe that mental illness occurs when circumstances stop or hinder a person and force them to loose this drive. Humanist Psychology differs from Psychodynamic and Coactive theories because it places more emphasis on subjective mental growth rather than determination and pathology. Many psychologist view humanism as more a way to live rather than a actual science, however man humanist theories are still considered relevant to the healing of mind, body and soul.
Cognitive Perspective is a psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception memory, language, problem solving, and behaviors. The process studies coactive perspective cannot be studied directly because they are not directly observable however, coactive psychologist can draw inference by observing visible behavior.
Computers have strongly aided in the advancement of the theory of coactive perspective. This is done by focusing on how process it before acting on it. Computers have helped reinforce the belief that human beings think in terms of schemes or symbolic information. Cognitive perspective has shown us the similarities between human and artificial thought, in that both processes involve storing information and retrieving it when needed. Combining it with other information and using it when appropriate. Humans of course have the added dimensions of emotion, selective perception, stubbornness, and many other common human emotions. One major theory of cognitive perspective is the component process theory which basically states the cognitive development requires five mental processes conclusion, memory, evaluation, hypothesis formation and deductive, and motivation.
Some of the main differences between the three perspectives are the approach in which each theory takes in determining the cause of mental illness, or mal-adjusted behavior. For example, Psychodynamic perspective focuses more so on unconscious process while cognitive perspective focuses more so on mental processes and humanist focus more on the individual.
Although all three of these theories differ greatly in there approach, theories and beliefs they all share some major commonalties of the main ones is that each theory is used to define the mentality of men, explain mental illness, predict when it can manage and determine a way to control it if necessary. Each theory in its own way focuses on the human mind and its reaction to its environment. Then general idea of psychology is to study the mind and determine the best way to fix problems that cannot be solved with traditional methods.
