Understanding Psychology

Understanding Psychology


In psychology, there are many different types of theories that can be explored.   One type of psychology that could be discussed is behaviorism.   Also, functionalism is a type of psychology that can be found interesting.   Third, humanistic psychology is also another theory.   These are three different types of psychology, out of many, that can be explained.
To begin with, behaviorism is pretty much defined at attitude.   This type of psychology is not a science of the mind but a science of behavior (Grahm, 2010).   Behavior can be explained without referencing mental events or internal psychological process (Grahm, 2010).   If a food deprived rat is put in an experimental chamber and is presented with food after pressing a lever when a certain light is on, the rat will be more likely to press that lever when that certain light is on, the next time it is hungry (Grahm,2010).   This is an example of how behaviorism works.   Today, behavior influences psychology by appealing to theorist who deny that there are innate rules by which an organism learns (Grahm, 2010).   They believe that an organism learns by its influences in a situation rather than the mental state of the organism (Grahm, 2010).  
Secondly, there is functionalism.   This can be described as a theory that was developed as an alternative to both behaviorism and the identity theory of mind (Mahammad, 2009).   The main idea of functionalism is that mental states are used solely by their functional role (Mahammad, 2010).   Functionalism is the belief that the mind has a functioning way of helping us adapt to our environment (Mahammad, 2009).   An example of functionalism would be putting children into a classroom and teaching them something but in different ways.   Some children may respond to different techniques used in the classroom better than others (Mahammad, 2009).   They are adapting to what works best for them.   Functionalism influences psychology today by teaching us, at a...