Abstract
This paper details the psychological theory of Abraham Maslow. The paper discusses his hierarchy of needs, listing each need and providing examples, as well as showing how the hierarchy is built. There is an expanded section detailing what is meant by self-actualization as well as what Maslow called "peak experiences." A full listing of the B-values are given, as well as numerous other traits and characteristics of self-actualized people. Also explained are Maslow's other hypothesized needs, such as the cognitive, aesthetic, and neurotic needs, and how these all interact with his hierarchy of needs. The paper introduces Maslow as a visionary and pioneer of humanistic psychology who came from a world dominated by psychoanalysis and behaviorism and emerged to provide the world with a more positive, instructional, and human view of mankind and his place in nature.

From the Paper
"These theories shared in common an approach to understanding human nature and behavior that were based directly outside the subjective needs, beliefs, and values of the individual. In grossly simplified terms, the individual was viewed either as a locus in the environment where current stimuli reacted with past reinforced behavior patterns to produce a response or as an almost helpless entity, where deep in the primitive recesses of the human brain a battle was fought for psychological control. Where forces of the good "superego" were beating back the evil armies of the "id" (sex and aggression) and whichever side was winning the battle at any given time would manifest itself in the person's overt behavior. Abraham Maslow was a visionary who pioneered the field of "humanistic" psychology. Aptly named because its primary goal was to center the field of psychology around the individual person to treat them as wanting, feeling, needing, spiritual, and unique beings and to guise psychological theory in terms that took this into account."

Tags:clinical, gestalt, personality, rogers, theorist, therapy, values

Abstract
The Rorschach or ink-blot test is the second-most used personality test. This paper examines the history of the test, its validity and reliability, and how it is scored. The paper expresses a fairly critical view of the test, while providing a number of sources to back it up.

From the Paper
"The Rorschach Inkblot Test was introduced in 1921 by the Swiss Psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. It uses the phenomena of pareidolia to examine the intricacies of the human mind, with a set of primary foci on the expressive capacities and potential mental disorders of its subjects. While initially disregarded as a serious instrument of evaluation, by 1947 it was ranked fourth out of twenty procedures in a study of instruments used by clinical psychologists (Louttit and Brown, 1947) and more recent studies show that it is second only to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory in regularity of use."

Tags:historical, measures, personality, psychology

Abstract
During the early part of the 20th century, the distinction between learned and inherited behavior seemed much clearer than it does today. The view that any type of behavior was either learned or simply developed without learning seemed straightforward. This paper explains that studies based on these expectations led investigators to conclude that rat-killing behavior among cats is learned rather than instinctive, that human fears are all acquired, or that intelligence is completely the result of experience. Learning theorists were maintaining, at this point, that most behavior is learned and that biological factors are of little or no importance. The behaviorist position that human behavior could be explained entirely in terms of reflexes, stimulus-response associations, and the effects of reinforcers upon them, entirely excluding ?mental? terms such as desires, goals and so forth, was advanced by J. B. Watson in his 1914 book, "Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology." This paper provides a discussion of Watson?s life, followed by an examination of behavioral psychology and an assessment of its impact on modern psychoanalysis in the conclusion. Also includes a graphic.

From the Paper
"John B. Watson was an American psychologist who was responsible for codifying and publicizing behaviorism. From Watson's perspective, behaviorism was an approach to psychology that was restricted to the objective, experimental study of the relations between environmental events and human behavior. Watsonian behaviorism became the dominant psychology in the United States during the 1920s and '30s. Watson received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago (1903), where he then taught. In 1908 he became professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., and immediately established a laboratory for research in comparative, or animal, psychology. About this time he articulated his first statements on behaviorist psychology, and in the epoch-making article "Psychology as a Behaviorist Views It" (1913) he asserted that psychology is the science of human behavior, which, like animal behavior, should be studied under exacting laboratory conditions."

Tags:conditioning, erikson, operant, response, skinner, stimulus

Abstract
This paper is an exploration of personality psychology, and the various methods different theorists have to approach it. Freud, a psychoanalyst, believes that all personality is based upon the mind, while Skinner, a behaviorist, believes that all personality is based upon behavior. As the paper addresses these psychologists, it also attempts to address the personality of the writer.

From the Paper
"Personality psychology is as broad in nature and approach as it is in the emotions which we typically use to describe it. It can focus completely on the mind (as with psychoanalysis) or on the body and behavior (as with behaviorism). Through these separate approaches to personality, one can analyze themselves, their emotions, and their actions in entirely diverse methods of scrutiny. The following will discuss the central theories of Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner to evaluate the personality and motivations of the author. One important personality theorist whom even those who are unacquainted with psychology are familiar with is Sigmund Freud, who lived from 1856 to 1939. Freud published extensively during his life."

Tags:personality, freud, skinner

Abstract
This paper explains that the nature-nurture controversy is the continuing debate over whether the individual's various traits and characteristics are influenced more by inborn factors, or nature, or by cultural influences and other aspects of experience, or nurture. The author points out that, today, scientists view human development as a combination of nature and nurture, while the British philosopher, John Locke, in the 1690s, suggested that the human infant is like a blank slate, or "tabula rasa", on which experience in the form of human learning writes messages on the infant's unformed mind. The paper relates that Sigmund Freud's theory of development states that human development is the product of both internal urges and external conditions, particularly children's sexual and aggressive urges, and how parents handle them.

From the Paper
"Many professions have solicited the assistance of psychologists in trying to predetermine the psyche of potential persons for areas such as employment and placement. The legal profession has sought out psychologists on both sides to prove their theories of the mental abilities, behavior explanations or predictions of behavior of a defendant or plaintiff. "Society has let the pendulum swing wildly back from nurture to nature, leaving behind a number of bewildered social scientist. Yet we still love to phrase everything in terms of one influence or the other, rather than both." In the educational profession, understanding the balance or affect of both nature and nurture is essential to designing an effective plan for each pupil's advancement."

Tags:Piaget, freud, locke, erickson, watson

Abstract
This paper shows the emergence of psychoanalysis as a major school of thought in psychology. It also outlines the major theorists involved in this process; including but not limited to Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Carl Jung. A comparison of the three psychoanalyst's theories is also provided, followed by a general conclusion on psychoanalysis as a whole.

From the Paper
"Psychoanalysis is an approach to the understanding of human behaviour by Freud and other prominent psychologists. It is a method of treating mental and emotional disorders by discussion and analysis of one's thoughts and feelings. It relies on the therapist's ability to make the unconscious conscious and to help guide the patients to resolve their underlying conflicts. It is based on past experiences, but there is limited empirical evidence that supports this theory as it deals with the emotional side of psychology and lacks scientific rigor, partly because there are too many variables involved to enable it to be a controlled study. But that doesn't mean to say that it is not true, it is just extremely difficult to confirm."

Tags:psychoanalysis, psychology, emergence, sigmund, freud, mental

Abstract
A discussion of Danzigner's study on the history of experimental psychology. This paper basically traces the importance of learning about past experimental methods. It explains that the goal of Danziger's article is to offer those involved in the field of psychological research a chance to understand the history of experimentation. The paper presents an summary of Danziger's article, followed by an analysis and reactive interpretation.

From the Paper
"The understanding of the history of psychology is not only pertinent to our advancement within the academic and applied areas, but provides us with the framework upon which psychology was established, popularized and became functional. Danziger (1985) discusses the significance of the history and development of experimental practices in the field of psychology within a social framework. In The Origins of the Psychological Experiment as a Social Institution, Danziger presents us with a description of models of psychological experimentation derived from the social structure of science within the relevant time period."

Tags:experiment, hall, history, paris, psychology, stanley, subject, wundt

Abstract
This paper examines the history of electroconvulsive therapy. The paper discusses the original favor it enjoyed within the psychiatric community and explores the eventual stigma it experienced as the result of unethical practices. The paper discusses its replacement with pharmaceuticals. The paper outlines the renewed interest in the practice and describes the developments that have made it safer and more ethical.

From the Paper
"So the main problems were that the practice represented risk to physical health due to the violent nature of the spasms, and the fact that these risks were often accepted by doctors and professionals without the consent of mental patients. The ethical implications for this are evident, as those who were suffering from mental illness were denied the same rights that would be afforded any other citizen in such a situation. They did not choose whether or not they accepted the side effect of memory loss, or the risk of breaking a limb or experiencing an aftershock. These choices were made for them by doctors who today would be unable in our society to administer such risky techniques to anyone without their consent or the consent of their legal caregivers."

Tags:psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy

Abstract
This paper explains that Rene Descartes, a 17th century Renaissance philosopher and scientist, was considered a rationalist. The author points out that he derived scientific methods using specific rules about the study of knowledge instead of trusting human senses as being capable of determining truth alone. The paper contends that, although Descartes is credited as being the father of psychology among many other sciences, he would not have viewed psychology as a true science because of its reliance on human senses for observation and its attempts to study the mind, an object that is not tangible according to Descartes.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Descartes History
Descartes' Beliefs
Descartes' Education
Descartes' View on Science and Psychology
Descartes' Methods of Science
Descartes and Psychology
Psychology is not a Science for Descartes

From the Paper
"It is easy to see how Descartes methods apply well to sciences such as Physics or Chemistry, but it is much more difficult to apply such methods to the science of Psychology. Descartes believed in the separation of the mind from the body, and he believed that the possession of a mind is what set humans apart from all other animals. It is his work on the mind and the central nervous system that usually gives him credit as being the father of Psychology, but Psychology is the study of the mind and of behaviour, and Descartes would not agree with the former."

Tags:mind, scientific methods, jesuits steps, central nervous system

Abstract
The paper looks closely at Max Wertheimer's 1924 paper on Gestalt Theory. The writer summarizes the theory of Gestalt Psychology and discusses its strengths and weaknesses. The paper shows how this theory differs from other psychological theories, concentrating on its non-emphasis on breaking down its subjects.

From the Paper
"Many theories of psychology seek to simplify concepts and occurrences. Behavioral theories break activity down into its basic elements and sequences of events. Cognitive theories examine mental processes by trying to reduce complex processes into stages and computer like transactions. Even Freudian theories attempt to break down mental processes and behavior into simpler life events and mental structures such as the id, ego and superego. Psychology is not the only science whose goal is to simplify events and examine any end result as a function of its components. Max Wertheimer argues for a different approach to the science of Psychology, and in fact, to any science. Wertheimer presents Gestalt Theory as a solution to many of the problems faced by science."

Tags:whole, science, brain, empirical, study