PSYC 308 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Gestalt Psychology, Determinism, Existentialism

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 308
• Professor: Jack Martin

Document Summary

Exam 3 questions and answers: discuss (include specific historical & argumentative details) and evaluate two criticisms made by humanistic psych"s (during the second half of the 20th century) of mainstream experimental psych (behavioural & cognitive). (1950-2000) Emphasis on the uniqueness of each human individual that characterizes humanistic psych. Experience is what matters -> understanding what matters to people will help us understand them -> things matter to us, so they should also matter to psych"s. Emphasizes human strengths & positive tendencies toward personal growth, uniqueness, self-awareness, free will, fulfilment of potential (maslow & rogers) Roots in phenomenology (human experience & subjectivity) & existentialism (free, responsible, self-determining people, define yourself, etc. ) Thought that mainstream psychology was too deterministic & objective. Believed that mainstream psychology was too deterministic, specifically behaviourism, because it reduced human experience to nothing more than involuntary responses to stimuli.