Cognitive

The cognitive approach began to revolutionise psychology in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, to become the dominant approach (i.e. perspective) in psychology by the late 1970s. Interest in mental processes had been gradually restored through the work of Piaget and Tolman. Other factors were important in the early development of the cognitive approach. For example, dissatisfaction with the behaviourist approach in its simple emphasis on behaviour rather than internal processes and the development of better experimental methods. But it was the arrival of the computer that gave cognitive psychology the terminology and metaphor it needed to investigate the human mind. The start of the use of computers allowed psychologists to try to understand the complexities of human cognition by comparing it with something simpler and better understood i.e. an artificial system such as a computer.
Cognitive psychology became of great importance in the mid-1950s. Several factors were important in this: -

o Dissatisfaction with the behaviourist approach in its simple emphasis on external behaviour rather than internal processes

o The development of better experimental methods

o The start of the use of computers allowed psychologists to try to understand the complexities of human cognition by comparing it with something simpler and better understood i.e. an artificial system such as a computer.
They focus on the way humans process information, looking at how we treat information that comes in to the person (what behaviourists would call stimuli) and how this treatment leads to responses. In other words, they are interested in the variables that mediate between stimulus/input and response/output. Cognitive psychology assumes our behaviour is an internal process including perception, attention, language, memory and thought
The cognitive approach applies a nomothetic approach to discover human cognitive processes, but have also adopted idiographic techniques through using case studies

Psychodynamic Approach

In deliberate contrast to behavioural psychology, psychodynamic psychology ignores the trappings of science and instead focuses on trying to get 'inside the head' of individuals in order to make sense of their relationships, experiences and how they see the world.

The psychodynamic perspective includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious between the different structures of the personality.

 Assumption * Our behaviour and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious motives.
* Our behaviour and feelings as adults (including psychological problems) are rooted in our childhood experiences.
* All behaviour has a cause (usually unconscious), even slips of the tongue. Therefore all behaviour is determined.
* Personality is made up of three parts (i.e. tripartite). The id, ego and super-ego.
* Behaviour is motivated by two instinctual drives: Eros (the sex drive & life instinct) and Thanatos (the aggressive drive & death instinct). Both these drives come from the “id”.
* Parts of the unconscious mind (the id and superego) are in constant conflict with the conscious part of the mind (the ego).
* Personality is shaped as the drives are modified by different conflicts at different times in childhood (during psychosexual development).

behaviorist approach

According to the behaviorists, learning can be defined as the relatively permanent change in behavior brought about as a result of experience or practice

In fact, the term "learning theory" is often associated with the behavioral view. Researchers who affiliate with this position do not generally look with favor on the term "behavior potential" (i.e., may be capable of performing but did not for some reason such as illness, situation, etc.) that was included in a definition accepted by those with a cognitive or humanistic viewpoint.

Psychology

 Psychology is the science of  human behavior, the  mind, and  mental processes in  humans and  animals as they interact with each other and the environment. As a practice, psychologists focus on diagnosing, assessing, and delivering preventive and therapeutic services directly to individuals.

In academic settings, psychology has grown to be one of the most widely chosen areas of undergraduate study. Areas of specialty include personality, group interaction, physiology and behavior, intelligence and memory, emotion, sensation and perception, genetics, and states of consciousness and the abnormal development and treatment of these processes. 



Approaches of Psychology
*Biological approach
*Behavioral approach
*Cognitive approach
*humanistic approach
*psychodynamic approach
*perspective approach



The human brain is the center of the human nervous system. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.^[1] Most of the expansion comes from the cerebral cortex, a convoluted layer of neural tissue that covers the surface of the forebrain. Especially expanded are the frontal lobes, which are associated with executive functions such as self-control, planning, reasoning, and abstract thought. The portion of the brain devoted to vision is also greatly enlarged in human beings. 




Spinal Cord is the official journal of the International Spinal Cord Society. It provides complete coverage of all aspects of spinal injury and disease.