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Four Theoretical Forces Of Psychology

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2. Four Theoretical Forces of Psychology ‘A theory is a general explanation of a set of observations or facts. Explanations for behaviour is a very important step in the process of forming theories of behaviour. The goal of description provides the observation, and the goal of explanation helps to build the theory (Saundra et al, 2014.p18).’ 2.1 The Behavioural Theory ‘The behavioural Theory can be defined as a theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behaviour (Weiten, 2014, p6)’. The Ivan Pavlov’s experiment of the dog that salivated at the sound of a tone because the food would follow, showed that a reflex which is an involuntary reaction, such as salivation, which normally happens when there is actual food in the mouth, could be caused by a totally unrelated stimulus, the ringing of a bell (Saudra et al, 2014, p27). John B. Watson in 1913 argued that psychology should redefine itself as the science of behaviour (Weiten, 2014,p6)’. B.F.Skinner bragged that he could teach a child from any type of background to be someone else when he was supporting his theory that it is not heredity but the environment which determines who people become. 2.2 Psychoanalytic Psychoanalytic theory is a theory which was developed by Sigmund Freud which explored personality, motivation, mental disorder by focusing on unconsciousness and determining behaviour. ‘Freud’s work is concerned with documenting and explaining the regulation
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