The Important Effects of Theories, Systems, and Paradigms...

Psychology is the study of the way people think and behave. The field of psychology has a number of subdisciplines devoted to the study of the different levels and contexts of human thought and behavior that includes theories, systems, and paradigms. Theories, systems, and paradigms have had an important effect on psychology. A theory is a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena. A theory can also be explained as an abstract thought or speculation. There are many different theories of abnormality and treatment. These approaches include the psychoanalytic, neo-Freudian, gestalt, cognitive behavior therapy, humanistic psychology, and transactional analysis. Theories†¦show more content†¦The approach of intellectual history describes the sociocultural context of theoretical systems and the future of idea-systems on the works of subsequent theorists. The schools of social thought approach organizes the stud y of theory in terms of groups of theorists who share similar assumptions and approaches to the study of human behavior. In American psychology, systems and theories historically have been very closely associated. A system of psychology may be defined as an interpretation of data and theories with special assumptions (postulates), definitions, and methodological biases (Marx and Hillix, 1979, p. 490). The key word in this definition is the last one, biases, because in essence a system represents a predisposition toward the selection of problems, methods, observations, and interpretations. The systems that have been most influential in American psychology are generally agreed to be structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, and psychoanalysis. Sets of interacting units with relationships among them form these systems. For example, structuralism has no concrete mental process, no idea of feeling that we actually experience as part of a consciousness, is a simple process, but that all alike are made up of a number of simple processes blended together. These simple processes are calledShow MoreRelatedScience Is The Term For A Unique Means Of Understanding The World1469 Words   |  6 Pagesthey will express their explanations. Scientific theories are logically created and dependant on empirical evidence. Scientific theorising is self-correcting, as when a theory is wrong it will eventually be proved to be so by the findings that are acquired. 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