Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

FIGURE 1 
Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to 
the fi ve major perspectives of psychology
Issue
Neuroscience
Psychodynamic
Behavioral
Cognitive 
Humanistic
N
a
tu
r
e (he
r
edity) vs. 
n
u
r
tu
r
e 
Nat
u
re
Nat
u
re
N
u
rt
u
re
Both 
N
u
rt
u
re
(e
n
vi
r
o
nm
e
n
t)
(heredity) 
(heredity)
(e
n
viro
nm
e
n
t)
(e
n
viro
nm
e
n
t)
C
o
n
s
c
ious vs. u
nc
o
n
s
c
ious 
U
n
co
n
scio
u
s
U
n
co
n
scio
u
s
Co
n
scio
u
s
Both 
Co
n
scio
u
s
ca
uses of beh
a
vio
r
Obse
r
v
a
ble beh
a
vio
r
 vs. i
n
te
rna
l 
I
n
ter
n
al
I
n
ter
n
al
Observable
I
n
ter
n
al I
n
ter
n
al
m
e
n
t
a
l p
r
o
c
esses 
e
mp
hasis
e
mp
hasis
e
mp
hasis
e
mp
hasis
e
mp
hasis
F
r
ee will vs. dete
rm
i
n
is
m
Deter
m
i
n
is
m
Deter
m
i
n
is
m
Deter
m
i
n
is
m
Free will
Free will
I
n
dividu
a
l diffe
r
e
nc
es vs. u
n
ive
r
s
a
l 
U
n
iversal
U
n
iversal
Both
I
n
divid
u
al I
n
divid
u
al 
p
r
i
nc
iples
e
mp
hasis
e
mp
hasis
e
mp
hasis
e
mp
hasis 
FINISH
Study Alert
Use Figure 1 to learn the key 
issues that underlie every 
subfi eld of psychology.
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nature (heredity), and how much is due to nurture, the infl uences of the physical 
and social environment in which a child is raised? Furthermore, what is the interplay 
between heredity and environment? These questions have deep philosophical and 
historical roots, and they are involved in many topics in psychology. 
A psychologist’s take on this issue depends partly on which major perspective 
he or she subscribes to. For example, developmental psychologists whose focus is on 
how people grow and change throughout the course of their lives, may be most 
interested in learning more about hereditary infl uences if they follow a neuroscience 
perspective. In contrast, developmental psychologists who are proponents of the 
behavioral perspective would be more likely to focus on environment (Rutter, 2002, 
2006). 
However, every psychologist would agree that neither nature nor nurture alone 
is the sole determinant of behavior; rather, it is a combination of the two. In a sense, 
then, the real controversy involves how much of our behavior is caused by heredity 
and how much is caused by environmental infl uences. 
A second major question addressed by psychologists concerns conscious versus 
unconscious causes of behavior . How much of our behavior is produced by forces of 
which we are fully aware, and how much is due to unconscious activity—mental 
processes that are not accessible to the conscious mind? This question represents one 
of the great controversies in the fi eld of psychology. For example, clinical psycholo-
gists adopting a psychodynamic perspective argue that psychological disorders are 
brought about by unconscious factors, whereas psychologists employing the cogni-
tive perspective suggest that psychological disorders largely are the result of faulty 
thinking processes. 
The next issue is observable behavior versus internal mental processes . Should psy-
chology concentrate solely on behavior that can be seen by outside observers, or 
should it focus on unseen thinking processes? Some psychologists, particularly those 
relying on the behavioral perspective, contend that the only legitimate source of 
information for psychologists is behavior that can be observed directly. Other psy-
chologists, building on the cognitive perspective, argue that what goes on inside a 
person’s mind is critical to understanding behavior, and so we must concern our-
selves with mental processes. 
Free will versus determinism is another key issue. How much of our behavior is 
a matter of