| CODE | PSY1610 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Major Paradigms in Psychology: The Psychoanalytic and Humanistic Paradigms, and Behaviourism | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Psychology | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit aims to introduce students to three major paradigms of Psychology - Psychoanalysis, The Humanistic Existential Perspective, and Behaviourism. By introducing the major theoretical tenets pertaining to these different paradigms, this study-unit provides the foundation of psychological knowledge required for subsequent courses in psychology. An important objective is that students are exposed to the underlying principles, values and attitudes that are typically associated with the major proponents of these different theories of psychology. Tentative Study-unit Outline: Part 1: Psychoanalysis: This component of the study-unit addresses the study of personality from a classical psychoanalytic perspective. It pays particular attention to the notions of structure, dynamics and development of personality. Topics covered: - Introduction - what is a paradigm? - What is personality? Why do we study personality? The main domains of personality and the relationship between them. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: - The three structures of personality: Id, ego and superego. - The topographical theory of personality: Conscious, pre-conscious, unconscious; The unconscious and its manifestations; Repression and accessing repressed material: Introspection, free association, dreams, resistances, parapraxes, projection. - Defense mechanisms of the ego. - Stages of personality development. - Developmental factors in personality. Jung’s Analytical Psychology: - Structure of personality: Systems: The Ego; the personal unconscious and its complexes; the collective unconscious and its archetypes; the persona; the anima and the animus; the shadow; Attitudes: introversion and extraversion; Functions; The self. - Dynamics of personality: The principles of opposites, equivalence and entropy. - Development of personality: Expansion of the ego and individuation. Adler’s Individual Psychology: - View of the unconscious, the creative self, motivation. - Composition and characteristics of the personality. - Core concepts: Social interest, striving for superiority, compensation and over-compensation; Family constellation; Lifestyle and private logic. - Feeling of inferiority, compensation, family constellation. Psychoanalysis after Freud, Jung and Adler: - The ego psychologists, object relations theorists and psychologists of the self. Learning Outcomes: Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain the key concepts in classical psychoanalytic theory put forward by the major theorists considered, namely Freud, Jung and Adler. - Explain how these concepts operate, how they are inter-related and how they developed over time. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Apply the above concepts to various life situations. - Reflect on themselves and on the persons they meet through the psychoanalytic paradigm. Part 2: The Humanistic-Existential Paradigm This part of the study-unit is concerned with the basic tenets of the Humanistic-Existential Approaches. Major theorists in this field and basic related concepts will be explored. Key areas covered will include: - The philosophical underpinnings and development of the humanistic-existential paradigms - Maslow: Holistic approach, Motivation, Hierarchy of needs, B- and D- states, Qualities of self-actualisation.- Rogers: Person-centred theory, the self-concept, conditions of worth, necessary and sufficient conditions, stages of therapeutic change. - Existential Psychology: Freedom, Being-in-the-world, anxiety and guilt; - Basic therapeutic applications of the approaches covered. Learning Outcomes: Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify the differences and similarities between the key theorists in the humanistic-existential school; - Be aware of how personality development and distress is conceptualised across the main theories in this school. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Consider, at a basic level, how these theories can be integrated in therapeutic practice; - Apply, at a basic level, these theories to the understanding of human development and nature. Part 3: Behaviourism This part of the study-unit aims at introducing students to Behaviourism as a major paradigm as well as discuss the place that behaviourism has in the discipline of psychology and how this evolved across time. It will introduce the major theorists and their contributions to the development of this school of thought. It will address the reasons why although Behaviourism lost its allure through time it is still very much alive in the form of Skinner's behaviour modification approach . Learning Outcomes: Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify the key theorists and key concepts that led to the development of Behaviourism as a major paradigm in psychology; - Explain how the early schools of psychology contributed to the development of the behaviourist movement. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will: - Be able to apply, at a basic level, classical and operant conditioning to the understanding of the development and maintenance of behavioral difficulties. Required Text/s: Part 1: Psychoanalysis and Part 2: The Humanistic Existential Approaches -Feist, J., Feist, G.J., & Roberts, T.A. (2013). Theories of personality. (8th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill. Part 3: Behaviourism - Watson JB. (1919) Psychology: From the standpoint of a behaviorist. Lippincott. Philadelphia. Reading List: - Brenner, C. (1974). An elementary textbook of psychoanalysis. Anchor Books. - Hall, C.S., Lindsey, G., & Campbell, J.B. (1998). Theories of personality (4th ed.). New York: J.Wiley & Sons. - Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. Standard Edition, 19, 3-59. - Freud, S. & Breuer, J. (1893). Studies on hysteria. Standard Edition (2) 1-253. - Axline, Virginia (1986). Dibs in search of self. NY: Ballantine Books. - Frankl, Viktor (1997). Man's search for meaning. NY: Pocket Books. - Schreiber, Flora (1973). Sybil. NY: Warner Books. - West, Morris (1983).: The world is made of glass. William Morrowold. - Yalom, Irving (2000). Love's executioner. NY: Perennial Classics. - Stone Irving (1971). The passions of the mind. Doubleday Books. And other material uploaded on VLE. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | This study-unit is only offered to BPsy students and students with Psychology as an area of study . |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Roberta Farrugia Debono Mary Rose Gauci Marta Sant |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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