The document presents an overview of various schools of psychology, including behaviorism, gestalt psychology, humanistic psychology, cognitive psychology, and constructivism, highlighting their foundational theories, key contributors, and applications in education. Behaviorism emphasizes observable behavior and environmental influences, while gestalt psychology focuses on holistic perception and learning through insight. The humanistic approach centers on self-actualization and personal growth, cognitive psychology examines mental processes, and constructivism advocates for learner-centered education where individuals construct their own understanding of the world.

1. SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY
Dr. Manju N. D
Assistant Professor
SVK National College of Education,
Balarajurs Road, NES Campus,
Shivamogga - 577201.

2. Behaviorism school of Psychology

3. Behaviorism
• proposed by : John Watson and B.F. Skinner.
• Behaviorism is a systematic approach to the
understanding of human and animal behavior.
• Behaviorism as a method of studying
behaviour focused its attention totally on the
overt or observable behaviour.

4. • Environment is more important than heredity
in the determination of behaviour.
• According to watson conditioning was the key
to the understanding of behaviour.
• The subject matter of psychology is human
and animal activity, which can be observed
and measured in an objective way.
• The purpose of psychology is to predict the
response and to control the behaviour of
human beings and animals.

5. • The unit of behaviour is stimuli- response
connection.
• Behaviour is composed for response elements
and can be successfully analyzed by objective
scientific method.
• There is an immediate response to every
effective stimulus. Every response has some
kind of stimulus. Hence there is a strict cause
and effect determinism in behaviour.

6. Finally behaviorism is a method of studying
behaviour.
Emphasis on environment
Conditioning
Subject matter
Purpose
The unit of behaviour
Cause and effect relationship in behaviour.
Watson behaviourism has been modified and
refined in a number of ways by contemparary
psychologists like pavlov, Tolman, Hall,
Guthrie and B F Skinner.

7. • It is rooted in Thorndike’s theory of trial and
error learning.
• which stress that behaviours formed through
association between stimulus and response
that are stamped into the behaviours of the
organism through the 3 basic laws of
frequency, recurancy, and law of effect.
• Later Pavlov postulated that through associate
a previous neural stimulus could be condition
to elicit a response. Classical conditioning
stands as one of the most important paradigm
of learning.

8. • Skinner’s theory of instrumental or operant
conditioning stresses that the rate of an
organism responses(increase or decreases) is
directly influenced by the subsequence
delivery of a re- enforcer or a punisher.
• The behaviour according to behaviourists
whether adaptive or in adaptive is learned
and psychology should concern itself only that
which objectively observable and measurable.

9. Ideas and contribution of behaviourism to
Education
• Behaviourism highlighted the role of
motivation and contributed greatly to the
psychology of learning.
• Behaviourists highlighted the role of
environment in shaping and modifying the
behaviour of children.
• Behaviourism has introduced scientific and
objective measures for studying the
behaviour.

10. • Behaviourists advocated techniques of shaping
behaviour and behaviour modification programmes
to deal with abnormal, maladjusted and problematic
children.
• Behaviourism advocated the use of reinforcement
and rewards as inducement for the acquisition of
desirable behaviour and for giving up the
undesirable.
• Behaviourism has given new ideas and innovations
in the field of learning and instruction such as
programmed learning, individualized instruction
methods involving teaching machines and computer
assisted instruction.

11. • a change in external behavior achieved through a
large amount of repetition of desired actions, the
reward of good habits and the discouragement of
bad habits
• the "teacher" is the dominant person in the
classroom ○ the “learner” does not have any
opportunity for evaluation or reflection within
the learning process.
• Schools are experiencing constant and increasing
pressure to become more socially and financially
efficient, and efficiency of the training, social
efficiency has become a major contribution of
behaviourism to our education system.

12. Gestalt School of Psychology

13. Gestalt School of Psychology
• It has started as a movement against the theory
of behaviourism.
• Wertheimer was founder- In 1912
• Gestalt is a German word. It means form, shape,
configuration, organic whole and organization.
• Kurt Kafka, wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Lewin are
important Gestaltist.
• This group made their greatest contribution and
perception and learning theory from which
cognitive theory was eventually evolved.

14. Basic tenets of Gestalt Psychology
• The whole is more than meare sum of the parts.
• It means that it is the whole that determines the
behaviour of its parts.
• The gestalt approach is phenomenological and is
anti-positivistic.
• Gestalt approach is against the quantification of
human behaviour. They emphasize the
importance of qualitative assessment of
behaviour.

15. • The following principles of perceptions have
been developed by gestalt psychology.
– Pragnanz- our perceptual organization will always
be good as the prevailing conditions all.-it plays an
important role in motivation.
– Similarity – it states that objects observed in like
forms or colour will be perceived as assuming a
grouped formation.
– Proximity- the objects are perceived as a unity
when they are observed in close proximity.
– Closure- mind has a tendency to complete
imperfect wholes into perfect and closed forms.
• These principles operate in perception,
thought, action and memories.

16. • Measuring tools unrealistic- they have no faith in
the reliability and validity of measuring tools.
• They were against the behaviorist approach to
human behaviour on the basis of stimulus –
response connections.
• Gestalt is both physical and mental.
• Gestaltists developed the theory of learning by
insight.
• The productive thinking emphasized the
importance of perceiving meaningful wholes,
grasping relations and finally acquisition of
insight in solving problem.

17. • They will concentrate on
– Whole is important
– Phenomenological approach
– Opposition to quantification
– Principles of perception- pragnanz, similarity,
proximity, closure.
– Measuring tools unrealistic.
– Learning by insight.

18. Contribution of gestalt psychology to education
• The whole is greater than parts.
• Interdisciplinary approach in education is the
contribution of gestaltists.
• Environment plays an important role in the
development of personality.
• New approaches to problem solving and learning
have been provided.
• The teacher should try to know the students from
their own point of views. He should start where
the student’s perception are and not where his
won happens to be.
• They emphasized research in the field of
organizational climate, institutional planning,
group dynamics etc.

19. HUMANISTIC SCHOOL

20. HUMANISTIC SCHOOL
• Karl Roger is the proponent of this school.
• Abraham Maslow, Arthur Combs and Gorden Allport
are also supported humanistic psychology.
• They believe that man is essentially good and rational
with I-me- myself as the centre of experience.
• The most important determined is self – actualization.
• People react to way, consistent to their perceptions of
world.
• Perceived that threats is followed by defense, rigidity,
narrowing at perception and defense mechanisms.
• this approach has gained wide support among academic
Psychologists, practicing therapists, counselors and
others concerned with human behaviour.

21. Basic Principles of Humanistic approach
• An individual is free to choose and to
determine his actions.
• Emphasis on human qualities.
• Concept of man.
• Self actualization
• Subjective experience.
• Concept of self.

22. Contribution of humanistic approach to education
• Humanists believe that individuals have free will and
choice for growth. He is capable of becoming what he is
endowed with. Education should help him to bring out
the best in him by giving him freedom.
• Humanists focus their theories on the concept of self.
Self as a process and a product. That is self awareness
and adjustment to the environment. It highlights the
role of emotions in the psychological well being of the
individuals.
• Humanists are concerned with changing society’s
priorities to place more emphasis on improving
interpersonal relationships and providing conditions
that promote the development of man’s potential for
constructive and co-operative factors.

23. Cognitive schools of psychology

24. Cognitive schools of psychology
• Cognitivism, which emerged between 1950s and
1970s.
• Piaget, Tolman, Bruner, Ausubel, Atkinson and
Shiffrin are the supporter of cognitive school of
psychology.
• Cognitive psychology studies man’s thinking,
memory, language development, perception,
imagery and other mental processes in order to
peep into the higher human mental functions
like insight, creativity and problem solving.
• Cognitive psychologists are totally opposed to
the stimulus response of the behaviorists.

25. • They maintain that there is more to learning
and behaving than just single response to
stimuli.
• The human mind does not accept an
information from its environment in exactly
the form and style it is conveyed to him.

26. Principles of cognitivist school of psychology.
• Learner is active
• Learning as cognition
• Information processing approach
• Change in cognitive structure
• Emphasis on problem solving.

27. Contributions of cognitivism to education
• Learner is an active participant in the learning
process. Activities should be provided which
enable the learner to participate actively in
the learning process.
• Cognitivism focuses on higher mental abilities.
• Education should focus on creative and critical
learning strategies to develop higher thinking
skills such as decision making, critical thinking
and problem solving.

28. • Cognitivism emphasizes information processing
approach in learning.
• Inquiry based and information processing models
make learning more meaningful and helps to
retain things in long term memory.
• Cognitivism views learning as a change in
cognitive structure.
• Cognitivistic approach to learning ensures the
learner to create his own schemas so as to
accommodate more and more knowledge in the
existing schema, making learning more effective
and efficient.

29. Constructivism school of Psychology

30. Constructivism
• The “revolution” which began with humanistic
approach and was followed by cognitive theory
was brought to a stage that is current nowadays
– constructivism.
• According to constructivists, learners create
their own individual representations of the
world.
• constructivism is the most supported approach
to learning and its main contribution to
educational psychology is the learner-centered
approach, which emphasizes the autonomy of
learners in the process of their education.

31. • Constructivism is a philosophy of learning
founded on the premise that, by reflecting on
our experiences, we construct our own
understanding of the world we live in. each of us
generates our own ‘rules’ and ‘mental models’,
which we use to make sense of our experiences.
• The essential core of constructivism is that
learners actively construct their own knowledge
and meaning from their experiences

32. Basic tenets/principles of constructivism
• Learner construct their own knowledge.
– Learning is construction of knowledge.
• Learning in a socio-cultural context.
– Involves modification of thoughts.
– Ideas and understandings
– Experience with in socio cultural context.
• Learner autonomy
– Learners are active participants.
• Holistic perspective
– Knowledge is the result of active cognizing by the
individual.
– It makes sense of one’s experiences.

33. Contribution of constructivism to education
• Learning is a search for meaning. Learning must
start with the issues around which students are
actively trying to construct meaning.
• Meaning requires understanding wholes as well
as parts, and parts must be understood in the
context of wholes.
• In order to teach well, we must understand the
mental models that students use to perceive the
world and the assumptions they make to
support those models.

34. • The purpose of learning is for an individual to
construct his or her own meaning, not just
memories the right answers and regurgitate
someone else’s meaning.
• Constructivism calls for the elimination of a
standardized curriculum.
– It emphasizes hands on problem solving.
• Education and educators should focus on making
connections between facts and fostering new
understanding in students.
• constructivism eliminate grades and
standardized testing.
• Constructivism initiated learner centered
approach in education.