Psychology Themes & Theories of Psyc Week 3 Assignment

Psychology Perspectives

Behaviorist Perspective

The psychology perspective of interest is the behaviorist perspective. As the name suggests, this is a psychological perspective concerned with behavior. Humans and other animals respond differently when exposed to different environments. Therefore, behavioral psychologists manipulate the environment (stimuli) and observe how animals or humans react (response) (Mcleod, 2023). This is an exciting psychology perspective because it involves experimenting and implies that something new is always learned. Constant experimenting also enables psychologists to get a lot of experience in their fields, allowing them to be more knowledgeable as they will make better decisions.

Nature and Nurture

From a psychological point of view, nature significantly refers to innate biological factors or genetics. These are characteristics that people and animals are born with; they do not need to be taught. For instance, a child will cry when they feel pain or discomfort; this is a natural behavior. On the other hand, nurture is concerned with acquired behaviors that are influenced by the environment. For instance, children raised in different environments will react differently to the same situation. Nature and nurture are significant to the behavioral perspective of psychology because they directly impact behavior.

Interplay Between Biology and Environment

Biology and environment significantly impact behavior; they are core factors in behavioral psychology (Eccleston, 2018). Biological factors determine how animals or people behave naturally without being manipulated. On the contrary, the environment presents situations that affect how people behave. Different backgrounds result in other behaviors. Biological factors are inbuilt behaviors that people are born with. Environmental factors enable animals to acquire new behaviors depending on what they are exposed to. Behavioral psychologists consider biological and environmental factors as they study the behavior of animals.

References

Mcleod, S. (2023). Perspectives in Modern Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/perspective.html#:~:text=The%20five%20major%20perspectives%20in,%2C%20behavioral%2C%20cognitive%20and%20humanistic .

Eccleston, T. (2018). Behavioral Psychology: Understanding Human Behavior. New York: Clanrye International Publishers.