Psychology

Psychology developed in the U.S. from several different perspectives; the first was the acquisition of viewpoints from European perspectives. Gestalt psychology is based on understanding the whole behavioral phenomenon instead of analyzing the individual components of behavior. Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory initially developed by Sigmund Freud through inductive reasoning and qualitative analysis of case studies. Quantitative scientific support for psychoanalysis is lacking. Sigmund Freud spent much of his life developing a viewpoint of consciousness through his work in treating individuals with mental illness. American views of psychology emerged as a unique viewpoint; people like William James, John Dewey and James Cattell provided their own perspectives on psychology. Humanistic psychology also emerged as a school of psychology in part as a reaction to psychoanalysis and Behaviorism (we will cover in Week 5).