Approaches to Psychology

  • Structuralism

    Structuralism
    William Wundt believed in the basic elements of human experience.
  • Inheritable Traits

    Inheritable Traits
    Francis Galton wanted to understand how heredity and biological traits passed from parents to children.
  • Functionalism

    Functionalism
    William James believed in the study of how animals and people adapt to their environments
  • Gestalt

    Gestalt
    Kurt Koffka studied percieving things as a whole.
  • Psychoanalysis

    Psychoanalysis
    Sigmund Freud studied the unconscious mind.
  • Behaviorism

    Behaviorism
    John B. Watson believed that psychology should be about observable facts of behavior
  • Cognitive

    Cognitive
    Jean Piaget focuses on how the brain processes information.
  • Humanistic psychology

    Humanistic psychology
    Abraham Maslow emphasizes personal growth and achievement of maximum potential.
  • Psychobiology

    Psychobiology
    Neurologists study behavioral neuroscience, the relationship between the brain and the mind.
  • Sociocultural

    Sociocultural
    Leonard Doob believed in studying the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences in behavior and social functioning.