Schools of Thought

What is a School of Thought?

In psychology, a school of thought is a group that has similar opinions on philosophy, movements and intellect. It unifies and identifies those with common beliefs, traditions, or practices concerning a field of study or subject.

The Five Major Schools of Thought in Psychology

Let's dive straight into these.

Structuralism

Structuralism was the first school of thought in psychology. It was founded by Wilhelm Wundt, a German professor, philosopher, and physiologist. Although it was Wundt's work that built the foundation of structuralism, the school of thought was formally established by his student, Edward B. Titchener in the 1890s.

Structuralism gets its name from its objective, which is to explore the structure of the mind. Wundt sought to understand the structure of the mind by using introspection as his primary tool. Events or experiences were broken down into the smallest possible elements to be assessed, so the researcher could better understand the contents of consciousness.

Though this school of thought pushed the field of psychology forward during its time, it was ultimately critiqued for the subjective nature of introspection. Stimulus is rarely perceived the same way from one person to the next.

Functionalism

The American psychologist, historian, and philosopher William James developed the school of functionalism in the late 19th/early 20th century, after strong criticism of the structuralist approach. Unlike structuralism, which broke experiences down into small elements, the functionalist approach focused on the whole of an experience. Functionalists define a mental state not by what it is made of, but by what it does. A particular mental state depends on its function to be understood.

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Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis was founded by the Austrian scholar Sigmund Freud. It focused on the workings of the unconscious mind to explain human behavior. This school of thought holds that all people have unconscious desires, memories, and thoughts, resulting in repressed emotions. Psychoanalysis aims to make these unconscious elements conscious to find catharsis.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism was founded by John B. Watson in 1924. It emphasizes experience and one's environment over internal or subconscious forces. Behaviorism believes that human psychology is better understood through a subject's behavior, rather than their personal beliefs or thoughts.

According to this school of thought, behavior is learned through two types of conditioning, classical and operant. In classical conditioning, an association is forged between two stimuli; a conditioned stimulus, and an unrelated unconditioned stimulus, to create a behavior. A classic (and famous) example of this is Pavlov's dog.

Gestalt Psychology

While some schools of thought emphasized the structure of the mind or the expression of behavior to understand our world and human nature, Gestalt psychology believed it took both of these things to gain a true understanding of the whole of our world. Indeed, a central tenet of Gestalt psychology is holism, which emphasizes the whole over the sum of its parts. The term Gestalt itself is a German word loosely meaning "configuration". It is the configuration of multiple things that give us true meaning, and this true meaning sits apart from its parts.

Think of your experience of a song. Our minds perceive a song as a meaningful whole. Every song is made up of individual notes; however, it is the configuration of the notes that creates a meaningful experience. Upsetting or altering one small component can result in a completely different experience.

Why are Schools of Thought in Psychology Less Important Today?

In the past, it was more common for psychologists to house their practice and treatment under one particular school of thought. Today, this has changed considerably and psychologists are much less likely to align themselves with one exclusive school of thought.

Our understanding of personality and behavior is much more nuanced. Professionals will utilize elements and ideas from multiple theories and schools.