The following is my summary of the ten early perspectives of psychology.

Essay by lolliegagindeUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, September 2004

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In psychology there are ten early perspectives. These perspectives are structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, psychodynamic, humanistic, physiological, evolutionary, cognitive, and cultural and diversity. The different perspectives in early psychology have had a tremendous influence on modern psychology, and the way it has progressed. Each perspective has its own unique way of explaining the human behavior. The following is my summary of the ten early perspectives of psychology.

Structuralism, as defined by our textbook, is "the earliest approach in modern psychology, founded by Wilhelm Wundt; its goal was to evaluate the basic elements of a cognizant experience." Davis and Palladino (Page 25 Para. 1) . Wilhelm's student, whose name was Edward Tichener, brought Wundt's ideas of structuralism and psychology to the United States. "Tichener's research depended upon a method called introspection, in which participants gave verbal reports of their conscious experiences." Davis and Palladino (Page 25 Para. 2 ) This method was soon replaced by other approaches only to be later rediscovered and investigated.

Functionalism is one of the major proposals that have been offered as solutions to the mind/body problem. This approach was developed in the United States around the 1800s. "It was an approach to psychology that focused on the purpose of consciousness." Davis and Palladino ( Page 25 Para. 5) Basically they wanted to see how people use certain information to adapt to their environment. Functionalism and functionalist reached their peak around 1906.

Max Wertheimer soon introduced a new approach. Gestalt psychology was "an approach to psychology most noted for emphasizing that our perception of a whole is different from our perception of the individual stimuli." Davis and Palladino (Page 26 Para. 1 )This approach to psychology was introduced in Germany around 1912 and was founded on the principals known as "apparent motion, in which a...