Humanistic Psychology

It is a psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of the whole person and the
uniqueness of each individual.
Humanistic psychology begins with the existential assumptions that people have free will and are
motivated to achieve their potential and self-actualize.
It was developed in the 1960s and 70s in the United States as a response to the continual struggle
between behavioral theorists and cognitive psychologists. It is human-centered approach.
Humanistic Psychologists
1. Carl Roger
2. Abraham Maslow
1. Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow was born on April 1, 1908, in New York. Abraham Maslow is considered to
be the Father of Humanistic Psychology.
Maslow was an optimist, maintaining an extremely positive view of people and valuing man’s
goodness, dignity, and intelligence. As a firm believer in the free will and power of man, he
stressed the ideas of choice, values, creativity, and self-realization.
His theories including the hierarchy of needs, and self-actualization, became fundamental
subjects in the humanist movement.
1. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some
needs take precedence over others.
i. Physiological needs - these are biological requirements for human survival, e.g. air,
food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
ii. Safety needs - once an individual’s physiological needs are satisfied, the needs for
security and safety become salient. People want to experience order, predictability, and
control in their lives. These needs can be fulfilled by the family and society (e.g. police,
schools, business and medical care).
iii. Love and belongingness needs - after physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled,
the third level of human needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness.
Belongingness refers to a human emotional need for interpersonal relationships,
affiliating, connectedness, and being part of a group.
iv. Esteem needs are the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy and include self-worth,
accomplishment, and respect. Maslow classified esteem needs into two categories: (i)
esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the desire for
reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige).
 v. Self-actualization needs are the highest level in Maslow's hierarchy, and refer to the
realization of a person's potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak
experiences. Maslow (1943) describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything
that one can, to become the most that one can be.

2. Self-Actualization
The process of self-actualization played a critical role in Maslow's theory.
In other words, people are constantly in the process of striving to reach their full potential.

2.Carl Roger
Carl Rogers was born in 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He developed Person-
Centered Psychology/Therapy in 1940s and 1950s.
Person-centered therapy is a therapy that emphasizes understanding and caring rather than
diagnosis, advice, and persuasion. He was the first who used the word Client instead of Patient.
Within each person, Rogers believed, is the capacity for self-understanding and constructive
change.
Basic Concepts
i. Congruence- sometimes called genuineness, is a characteristic of being transparent, real,
and honest in a helping relationship.
ii. Empathy- Capacity to recognize or understand another’s state of mind or emotion, a
deep form of understanding of the meanings as well as feelings of the learner. Being
concerned for the individual.
iii. Unconditional Positive Regard - This is a non-judgmental warmth or acceptance.
iv. Self-Actualization -Rogers believed humans are primarily driven by the motivation
to self-actualize or achieve their full potential. However, people are constrained by their
environments so they will only be able to self-actualize if their environment supports
them.
The Fully Functioning Person
According to Rogers, fully functioning people exhibit seven traits:
1. Openness to experience
2. Living in the moment
3. Trust in one’s feelings and instincts.
4. Self-direction and the ability to make independent choices.
 5. Creativity
6. Reliability
7. Feeling fulfilled and satisfied by life

Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on the way people process
information.
In other words, cognitive psychology is interested in what is happening within our minds that
links stimulus (input) and response (output).
Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of the mind as an information processor.
Cognitive psychology includes such topics as memory, concept formation, attention, reasoning,
problem solving, mental imagery, judgment, and language.
History
In the 1800s, Paul Broca discovered the area of the brain where language is produced, and Carl
Wernicke discovered the area of the brain where language is comprehended. With these
introductions of thought into the scientific realm, cognitive psychology made sense as a new
form of scientific study.
Cognitive psychology is goal-oriented and problem-focused from the beginning.
Cognitive Psychologists:
1. Aaron Beck, considered to be the father of cognitive psychology, wrote extensively on
this branch of study. From there, the field has grown, with entire research centers of
research devoted to cognitive psychology studies.
2. Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist and genetic epistemologist. He is most famously known
for his theory of cognitive development that looked at how children develop intellectually
throughout the course of childhood.
Schemas
Piaget suggested that children sort the knowledge they acquire through their experiences and
interactions into groupings known as schemas. When new information is acquired, it can either
be assimilated into existing schemas or accommodated through revising an existing schema or
creating an entirely new category of information.
Stages of Cognitive Development
Today, Piaget is best known for his research on children's cognitive development. Piaget studied
the intellectual development of his own three children and created a theory that described the
stages that children pass through in the development of intelligence and formal thought
processes. Piaget's theory identifies four stages.4

i. Sensorimotor stage: The first stage of development lasts from birth to approximately
age 2. At this point in development, children know the world primarily through their
senses and movements.
ii. Preoperational stage: The second stage of development lasts from the ages of 2 to 7 and
is characterized by the development of language and the emergence of symbolic play.
iii. Concrete operational stage: The third stage of cognitive development lasts from the age
of 7 to approximately age 11. At this point, logical thought emerges, but children still
struggle with abstract and theoretical thinking.
iv. Formal operational stage: In the fourth and final stage of cognitive development,
lasting from age 12 and into adulthood, children become much more adept at abstract
thought and deductive reasoning.