By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to:
- enumerate the salient approaches in psychology; and
- distinguish the approaches from the ‘waves’ or schools of psychology.
Please note that most textbooks in psychology use the terms approach, schools, divisions and waves in a fluid manner. However, for the sake of clarity I am using ‘waves’ to mean the classical ‘schools’ of psychology – I have identified four of them: psychoanalysis which includes also psychodynamic approach, behaviorism, humanism and positive psychology.
Whereas I am using the term, ‘approach’ to include certain focus in psychology out which you could have a whole ranges of sub-disciplines or divisions (a term used by APA) or approach.
There are many grey areas in this distinction. For instance, cognitive psychology could be a school or a classical wave, or an approach.
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