Dave Makes the Claim That Every Single Theory in Psychology Is Basically the Same: the Brain Controls Our Behavior.

Brianna Garner

AP psychology summer assignments assignment #4

Dave makes the claim that every single theory in psychology is basically the same: the brain controls our behavior. However, the history of psychology shows that there are many theories that support his claim, however, there are also theories that do not support his claim. Among the theories in psychology that support his claim are Introspection, Psychoanalytic theory, Humanistic psychology, cognitive revolution, and cognitive dissonance. However, there are several theories that do not support his claim and they are Behaviorism, conformity, and social-cultural perspective.

Introspection supports Dave’s claim because Introspection is the examination of one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings. This means that Dave’s claim would be supported by this because the brain controls conscious thoughts and feelings. Wilhelm Wundt was the first to adopt introspection. Wundt wanted to quantitatively measure the whole conscious experience, while his student Titchener was extremely interested in the individual components of the conscious experience. Wundt did not see a purpose in this.

Humanistic psychology supports Dave’s claim because Humanistic psychology is an approach that emphasizes an individual’s inherent drive towards self-actualization, the process of realizing and expressing one’s own capabilities and creativity. This supports Dave’s claim because our brains control our capabilities and creativity. Carl Rogers was one of the founders of Humanistic psychology. Roger’s focus was to ensure that the developmental processes lead to a more creative and healthier functioning personality. Again the focus is on the internal brain function of the person. Roger’s concept led Abraham Maslow to study self-actualization as one of the basic needs for all humans.

Cognitive revolution supports Dave’s claim because Cognitive revolution was an intellectual movement in the 1950’s that had a main idea that by studying artificial intelligent, it would be possible to understand human brain function and mental processes. This supports his claim because Cognitive revolution focuses on the brain itself and its functions. Ivan Pavlov heavily influenced behaviorism.

Cognitive dissonance supports Dave’s claim because Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time and this supports his claim because stress and discomfort is an internal conflict inside the brain. The theory of cognitive dissonance created by Leon Festinger focuses on how humans achieve human consistency.