Trident University

Sean Frederick

Module 1: Case Assignment

PSY101: Introduction to Psychology

November 29, 2020

Psychology is a branch of science that deals with the study of behavior and the mind. It is

a compelling field brought together by psychologists from different parts of the world. Albert

Bandura, B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, Ivan Pavlov, Jean Piaget, Alfred Binet,

and William James are some of the most notable psychologists of all time. Their contributions

continue to shape and influence the discipline of psychology until today.

Albert Bandura

Albert Bandura was born December 4, 1925, in Alberta, Canada. He is a psychologist

who specialized in social cognitive theory and self-efficacy. His most notable contribution to the

field is his social learning theory (Cherry, 2019).

In the beginning, Robert Bandura was influenced by Robert Sears’ research on social

behavior and identificatory learning. Bandura focuses on the role of social modeling in human

thought, motivation, and action for his initial research. During his collaboration with his first

doctoral student, Richard Walters, he investigated the concepts of aggression and social learning.

Through their work, Bandura and Walters were able to elucidate the critical role of modeling in

human behavior. Their research then progressed into a study of the mechanisms and

determinants of observational learning (Cherry, 2019).

Social learning theory states that individuals acquire new behavior through direct

reinforcement or punishment. In other words, people can learn new behavior through observation

of the social factors in their environment. People are more likely to adopt or imitate behavior that

results in positive, desired outcomes based on their observation. In this theory, Bandura identifies

three requirements for people to learn and model behavior. These three requirements are
retention, reproduction, and motivation. Retention refers to the ability of an individual to

remember an observed behavior, reproduction is the ability to imitate or reproduce the behavior,

and motivation refers to a good reason for an individual to want to learn the behavior.

Burrhus Frederic Skinner

Burrhus Frederic Skinner, also known as B.F. Skinner was an American psychologist

born in Pennsylvania on March 20, 1904. He was recognized as the Edgar Pierce Professor of

Psychology at Harvard University during his career until his retirement. Notably, he pushed

forward the idea that human free will is an illusion and that actions are the result of the

consequences of the same action. Skinner is most famous for his work on Operant Conditioning

(Cherry, 2019).

The operant condition describes that process by which the consequences of an action

determine the likelihood of the action occurring again. In other words, an individual’s behavior is

governed by the consequences of his or her behavior. Consequences of behavior can either be

more likely to occur in the future through reinforcement or less likely through punishment

(Cherry, 2020).

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia. He was a physiologist,

psychologist, and medical doctor but he is most recognized as the father of psychoanalysis.

Many of his ideas were inspired by his own life experiences (Cherry, 2019).

Freud put forward that the human mind is divided into three main regions or layers:

conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. A person’s current feelings, thoughts, and focus

reside in the conscious region. Meanwhile, the preconscious region is home to all memories a
person can recall. Lastly, the unconscious is the deepest layer of the human mind because it

contains primitive and instinctual desires that drive behavior.

One of his most intriguing works is his five psychosexual stages of development. In this

concept, Freud states that children develop in five stages and these stages are determined by a

different source of pleasure (Cherry, 2020).

Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson’s most well-known work is his theory of psychosocial development. Similar

to Freud, Erikson believed that personality development occurs in a series of stages. However,

although Erikson was influenced by Freud, Erikson’s ideas differed from Freud’s in two main

aspects. First, his theory heavily emphasized the role of society and culture and the conflicts that

occur in the ego, whereas Freud highlighted the conflict between the id and the superego. In

Erikson’s theory, he states that conflicts and crises are social. Successfully resolving these crises

governs the development of the ego. Moreover, Erikson viewed children as active individuals

who seek to explore and adapt to their environment, rather than passive creatures dictated by

their biological urges. Second, unlike Freud’s concepts, Erikson’s theory placed much less

emphasis on sexual development and instead focused on how socialization and cultural

influences affect a child’s sense of self (Cherry, 2020).

The theory of psychosocial development states that people encounter eight major crises in

their lifetime, and these crises divide the psychosocial stages of development. Each crisis arises

at a distinct period in their life based on biological maturation and social demands that

individuals experience during distinct points in life. In each, an individual must resolve the crisis

to complete the stage. Successful resolution of each crisis results in a healthy personality and
acquisition of basic virtues that are used to resolve future crises. Failure to resolve a crisis can

reduce an individual’s ability to complete further stages, which can hinder healthy personal

growth and development (Cherry, 2020).

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov was a Russian researcher and physiologist. In 1904, he won the Nobel Prize

for Physiology. He is famously known for his theory of classical conditioning (Cherry, 2020).

Classical conditioning states that the process of learning is governed by associations

between a naturally occurring stimulus and an environmental stimulus. In this process, a

previously autonomic or subconscious behavior can become associated with a stimulus.

Specifically, learning involves an unconditioned stimulus, a conditioned stimulus, an

unconditioned response, and a conditioned response (Cherry, 2020).

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist and genetic epistemologist. He was born on August

9, 1896, in Switzerland. As a child, he showed an inclination towards as demonstrated by his

short paper on an albino sparrow. He received a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of

Neuchatel in 1918. His best-known work is his theory of cognitive development (Cherry, 2020).

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development outlines four stages of an individual’s

intellectual development from infancy to adulthood. Specifically, these stages are sensorimotor

(18-24 months), pre-operational (18-24 months to age 7), concrete operational (ages 7 to 11), and

formal operational (adolescence through adulthood). In the sensorimotor stage, children interact

with the world through motor movements and their senses alone. In the pre-operational stage,

children learn language and symbolic play. Logical thought arises during the concrete
operational stage, but children’s abstract and theoretical skills are not yet fully developed. Lastly,

individuals become more skilled at abstract and deducting reasoning in the formal operation

stage (Cherry, 2019).

Alfred Binet

Alfred Binet was born Alfredo Binetti on July 11, 1857, in Nice, France. His mother was

an artist and his father was a physician. When his parents divorced, Binet moved to Paris with

his mother. Exposed to the works of Charles Darwin, Alexander Bain, and many others, Binet

became interested in psychology at an early age (Cherry, 2020).

Binet is famously known for developing the first widely used intelligence test. Together

with Theodore Simon, Binet invented the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale to determine the

mental abilities of individuals. The intelligence scale created by Binet remains as one of the

foundations of modern intelligence tests. However, Binet believes that the test is not a complete

indicator of a person’s permanent or inborn degree of intelligence. This is because test scores can

be influenced by several other variables such as motivation (Cherry, 2020).

William James

William James was an American psychologist and philosopher who was born on January

11, 1842. He is referred to as the father of American psychology because he was the first to teach

a psychology course in the United States (Cherry, 2020). Among his many accomplishments, his

most notable contribution to psychology is his work on functionalism and his book The

Principles of Psychology (Cherry, 2020).

James believed that the purpose of psychology was to study the function of behavior and

how it relates to the world. This notion became known as functionalism. Functionalism
highlighted how mental processes and activities shape how individuals interact and adapt to their

environment (Cherry, 2020).

References:
Cherry, K. (2019a). How Does Observational Learning Actually Work?. Retrieved 18 September

2020, from [Link]

Cherry, K. (2019b). Sigmund Freud's Remarkable Life and Legacy in Psychology. Retrieved 18

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theories-2795860#freuds-major-theories

Cherry, K. (2019c). How Classical Conditioning Works: An Overview With Examples.

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Cherry, K. (2020a). B. F. Skinner: The Life of Psychology's Radical Behaviorist. Retrieved 18

September 2020, from [Link]

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Cherry, K. (2020b). What Is Operant Conditioning and How Does It Work?. Retrieved 18

September 2020, from [Link]

Cherry, K. (2020c). How Psychoanalysis Influenced the Field of Psychology. Retrieved 18

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%20and%20memories.

Cherry, K. (2020d). How Erik Erikson's Own Identity Crisis Shaped His Theories. Retrieved 18

September 2020, from [Link]

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Cherry, K. (2020e). Understanding Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved 18

September 2020, from [Link]

development-2795740

Cherry, K. (2020f). Why Ivan Pavlov Was So Influential in the field of Psychology. Retrieved 18

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Cherry, K. (2020g). Jean Piaget's Life and Contributions to Psychology. Retrieved 18 September

2020, from [Link]

Cherry, K. (2020h). What Are Piaget's Four Stages of Development?. Retrieved 18 September

2020, from [Link]

Cherry, K. (2020i). How Alfred Binet Helped Develop Modern Intelligence Tests. Retrieved 18

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Cherry, K. (2020j). The Life and Theories of Psychologist William James. Retrieved 18

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Cherry, K. (2020k). How Structuralism and Functionalism Influenced Early Psychology.

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