Gestalt Psychology
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Representative Figures: Wertheimer, Köhler, Kafka
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Research Object: Consciousness, Cognitive Phenomena (Perception, Learning, Thinking, etc.)
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Research Method: Experimental Method
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Main Viewpoints
Oppose dividing consciousness into elements and emphasize the meaning of psychology as a whole, as an organized entity.
"Gestalt" is the German translation of "wholeness," and every psychological phenomenon is a gestalt. The whole is not composed of several elements; on the contrary, the whole exists prior to the parts and constrains their nature and meaning. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
This school of thought proposes many organizational principles in perception, attempting to address the physiological basis of gestalt.
This school of thought strongly opposes the analysis of any psychological phenomenon into elements and refers to Wundt's structural psychology as "psychology of bricks and mortar."
Zhao's mnemonic: Whole precedes and is greater than parts.
- Historical Evaluation
Gestalt psychology emphasizes that the whole is not simply the sum of its parts, and the theory that the whole exists prior to the parts and constrains their nature and meaning is correct.
Furthermore, the organizational principles of perception proposed by gestalt psychologists and their research findings in learning and thinking are still reflected in psychology textbooks to this day.
Zhao's mnemonic: Viewpoints are correct and still reflected.
Psychoanalysis
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Representative Figures: Freud, Jung, Adler
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Research Object: Unconscious, Subconscious
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Research Method: Hypnotherapy, Dream Interpretation, Free Association, Life History Method
Zhao's mnemonic: Giving birth to dreams.
- Main Viewpoints
All human individual and social behaviors originate from certain desires or motivations deep within the mind, especially sexual impulses. Desires dominate individuals in an unconscious form and manifest in both normal and abnormal behaviors. Its theory mainly stems from clinical practices in the treatment of mental disorders.
Zhao's rap: Behavior originates from desires, especially sexual desires; the unconscious dominates individuals in both normal and abnormal ways.
- Historical Evaluation
(1) Contributions: Freud's influence on psychiatry and clinical psychology is profound and has significant implications for scientific psychology. Some concepts in Freud's theory, such as unconscious motives and defense mechanisms, have been adopted by mainstream psychology. It has not only had a tremendous impact on psychology but also on human culture.
Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams" is considered a classic work that, along with Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" and Copernicus's "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres," has led to three major intellectual revolutions in human history.
(2) Limitations: The research methods lack scientific rigor, and its excessive emphasis on the unconscious, setting it in opposition to consciousness, and the exaggeration of the role of sexual desires have been criticized by scientific psychologists.
Zhao's analysis: Object, method, viewpoints