{"id":1400,"date":"2014-05-02T20:24:42","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T20:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/introductiontopsychology\/?post_type=chapter&p=1400"},"modified":"2018-03-20T18:58:29","modified_gmt":"2018-03-20T18:58:29","slug":"2-4-humanist-cognitive-and-evolutionary-psychology","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/introductiontopsychology\/chapter\/2-4-humanist-cognitive-and-evolutionary-psychology\/","title":{"raw":"2.4 Humanist, Cognitive, and Evolutionary Psychology","rendered":"2.4 Humanist, Cognitive, and Evolutionary Psychology"},"content":{"raw":"
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Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n
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  1. Understand the key principles of humanistic psychology.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Differentiate humanistic psychology from biological, psychodynamic, and behaviourist psychology.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Critically discuss and differentiate between key humanistic concepts such as motivation, need, adaptation, and perception.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Identify how humanistic psychology, and its related streams of cognitive and evolutionary psychology, have influenced aspects of daily life and work.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\nHumanistic psychology emerged as the third force<\/strong> in psychology after psychodynamic and behaviourist psychology. Humanistic psychology<\/strong> holds a hopeful, constructive view of human beings and of their substantial capacity to be self-determining<\/em>. This wave of psychology is guided by a conviction that intentionality and ethical values are the key psychological forces determining human behaviour. Humanistic psychologists strive to enhance the human qualities of choice, creativity, the interaction of the body, mind, and spirit, and the capacity to become more aware, free, responsible, life-affirming, and trustworthy.\r\n\r\nEmerging in the late 1950s, humanistic psychology began as a reaction against the two schools of thought then dominating American psychology. Behaviourism's insistence on applying the methods of physical science to human behaviour caused adherents to neglect crucial subjective data, humanists believed. Similarly, psychoanalysis's emphasis on unconscious drives relegated the conscious mind to relative unimportance.\r\n\r\nThe early humanistic psychologists sought to restore the importance of consciousness and offer a more holistic view of human life. Humanistic psychology acknowledges that the mind is strongly influenced by determining forces in society and the unconscious, and emphasizes the conscious capacity of individuals to develop personal competence and self-respect. The humanistic orientation has led to the development of therapies to facilitate personal and interpersonal skills and to enhance the quality of life. During the 1950s and 1960s, Carl Rogers, for instance, introduced what he called person <\/strong>or client-centred therapy<\/strong>, which relies on clients\u2019 capacity for self-direction, empathy, and acceptance to promote clients\u2019 development<\/em>. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) developed a hierarchy of motivation<\/em>\u00a0or hierarchy of needs<\/em> culminating in self-actualization<\/em>. Rollo May (1909 - 1994) brought European existential psychotherapy<\/em> and phenomenology into the field by acknowledging human choice and the tragic aspects of human existence, and Fritz Perls developed gestalt therapy<\/em> in his workshops and training programs at the Esalan Institute and elsewhere.\r\n\r\nDuring the 1970s and 1980s, the ideas and values of humanistic psychology spread into many areas of society. As a result, humanistic psychology has many branches and extensions, as outlined in Table 2.2.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
    Table 2.2 Humanistic Therapies and their Theorists.[footnote] Adapted by J. Walinga.[\/footnote]<\/caption>\r\n
    [Skip Table]<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Humanistic Therapies<\/th>\r\nTheorists<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n
    Analytical and Archetypal Psychology<\/td>\r\nC.G. Jung, James Hillman<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Authentic Movement<\/td>\r\nMary Whitehouse<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Encounter<\/td>\r\nCarl Rogers, Will Schultz<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Existential Analysis<\/td>\r\nRollo May, James F.T Bugental<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Focusing<\/td>\r\nEugene Gendin<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Gestalt Art Therapy<\/td>\r\nJanie Rhyne<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Logotherapy<\/td>\r\nViktor Frankl<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Neuro-Linguistic Programming<\/td>\r\nRichard Bandler, John Grinder<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Psychosynthesis<\/td>\r\nRoberto Assagioli<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Rational-Emotive Therapy<\/td>\r\nAlbert Ellis<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Reality Therapy<\/td>\r\nWilliam Glasser<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Self-Disclosure<\/td>\r\nSidney Jourard<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Sensory Awareness though Movement<\/td>\r\nMoshe Feldenkreis<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

    Client-centred therapy<\/strong> provides a supportive environment in which clients can re-establish their true identity<\/em>. Central to this thinking is the idea that the world is judgmental, and many people\u00a0fear that if they\u00a0share with the world their\u00a0true identity, it would judge them\u00a0relentlessly. People tend to suppress their beliefs, values, or opinions because they are not supported, not socially acceptable, or negatively judged. To re-establish a client's\u00a0true identity, the therapist relies on the techniques of unconditional positive regard and empathy. These two techniques are central to client-centred therapy because they build trust between the client and therapist by creating a nonjudgmental and supportive environment for the client.<\/p>\r\nExistential therapy<\/strong> contrasts the psychoanalysts\u2019 focus on the self and focuses instead on \"man in the world.\"<\/em> The counsellor and the client may reflect on how the client has answered life's questions in the past, but attention ultimately emphasizes the choices to be made in the present and future and enabling a new freedom and responsibility to act. By accepting limitations and mortality, a client\u00a0can overcome anxieties and instead view life as moments in which he or she is\u00a0fundamentally free.\r\n\r\nGestalt therapy<\/strong> focuses on the skills and techniques that permit an individual to be more aware of their feelings<\/em>. According to this approach, it is much more important to understand what patients are feeling and how they are feeling rather than to identify what is causing their feelings. Supporters of gestalt therapy argued that earlier\u00a0theories spent an unnecessary amount of time making assumptions about what causes behaviour. Instead, gestalt therapy focuses on the here and now.\r\n

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    Research Focus<\/h3>\r\nIn his\u00a0seminal work \"Significant Aspects of Client-Centered Therapy,\" Rogers described the discovery of the \"capacity of the client\" (1946):\r\n\r\nNaturally the question is raised, what is the reason for this predictability in a type of therapeutic procedure in which the therapist serves only a catalytic function? Basically the reason for the predictability [page 418] of the therapeutic process lies in the discovery -- and I use that word intentionally -- that within the client reside constructive forces whose strength and uniformity have been either entirely unrecognized or grossly underestimated. It is the clearcut and disciplined reliance by the therapist upon those forces within the client, which seems to account for the orderliness of the therapeutic process, and its consistency from one client to the next.\r\n\r\nI mentioned that I regarded this as a discovery. I would like to amplify that statement. We have known for centuries that catharsis and emotional release were helpful. Many new methods have been and are being developed to bring about release, but the principle is not new. Likewise, we have known since Freud's time that insight, if it is accepted and assimilated by the client, is therapeutic. The principle is not new. Likewise we have realized that revised action patterns, new ways of behaving, may come about as a result of insight. The principle is not new.\r\n\r\nBut we have not known or recognized that in most if not all individuals there exist growth forces, tendencies toward self-actualization, which may act as the sole motivation for therapy. We have not realized that under suitable psychological conditions these forces bring about emotional release in those areas and at those rates which are most beneficial to the individual. These forces drive the individual to explore his own attitudes and his relationship to reality, and to explore these areas effectively.\r\n\r\nWe have not realized that the individual is capable of exploring his attitudes and feelings, including those which have been denied to consciousness, at a rate which does not cause panic, and to the depth required for comfortable adjustment. The individual is capable of discovering and perceiving, truly and spontaneously, the interrelationships between his own attitudes, and the relationship of himself to reality. The individual has the capacity and the strength to devise, quite unguided, the steps which will lead him to a more mature and more comfortable relationship to his reality. It is the gradual and increasing recognition of these capacities within the individual by the client-centered therapist that rates, I believe, the term discovery. All of these capacities I have described are released in the individual if a suitable psychological atmosphere is provided.\r\n\r\nRogers identified five characteristics of the fully functioning person:\r\n
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    1. Open to experience: Both positive and negative emotions are accepted. Negative feelings are not denied, but worked through (rather than resort to ego defence mechanisms).<\/li>\r\n \t
    2. Existential living: Being in touch with different experiences as they occur in life, avoiding prejudging and preconceptions. Being able to live in and fully appreciate the present, not always looking back to the past or forward to the future (i.e., living for the moment).<\/li>\r\n \t
    3. Trust feelings: Feelings, instincts, and gut-reactions are paid attention to and trusted. A person's\u00a0own decisions are the right ones and we should trust ourselves to make the right choices.<\/li>\r\n \t
    4. Creativity: Creative thinking and risk taking are features of a person\u2019s life. A person does not play it safe all the time. This involves the ability to adjust and change and seek new experiences.<\/li>\r\n \t
    5. Fulfilled life: A person is happy and satisfied with life, and always looking for new challenges and experiences.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\nHumanistic psychology recognizes that human existence consists of multiple layers of reality: the physical, the organic, and the symbolic. It contests the idea \u2014 traditionally held by the behavioural sciences \u2014 that the only legitimate research method is an experimental test using quantitative data. It argues for the use of additional methods specifically designed to study qualitative factors such as subjective experience, emotion, perception, memory, values, and beliefs. Whereas other approaches take an objective view of people \u2014 in essence asking, What is this person like? \u2014 humanistic psychologists give priority to\u00a0understanding people\u2019s subjectivity, asking, What is it like to be this person? (Clay, 2002).\r\n\r\nHumanistic psychology has, of course, quietly influenced North American psychology and culture over many decades by informing the civil rights debate and the women's rights movement, for example. In the academic world, however, humanistic psychology's rejection of quantitative research in favour of qualitative methods caused its reputation to suffer and its adherents to be marginalized. But in recent years, there's mounting evidence of renewal in the field itself.\r\n\r\nAbraham Maslow\u2019s view of human needs was more complex than Rogers\u2019s. While Rogers believed that people needed unconditional positive regard, Maslow acknowledged that people have a variety of needs that differ in timing and priority (Figure 2.15).\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1414\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"]\"Hierarchy<\/a> Figure 2.15 Maslow\u2019s Hierarchy of Needs. [Long Description]<\/a>[\/caption]Maslow called the bottom four levels of the pyramid deficiency needs<\/strong> because a person does not feel anything if they are met, but becomes anxious if they are not<\/em>. Thus, physiological needs such as eating, drinking, and sleeping are deficiency needs, as are safety needs, social needs such as friendship and sexual intimacy, and ego needs such as self-esteem and recognition. In contrast, Maslow called the fifth level of the pyramid a growth need<\/strong>[footnote]A growth need allows one to reach full potential as a human being.[\/footnote] because it enables a person to self-actualize<\/strong> or reach his or her fullest potential as a human being<\/em>. Once a person has met the\u00a0deficiency needs, he or she can attend to\u00a0self-actualization; however, only a small minority of people are able to self-actualize because self-actualization requires uncommon qualities such as honesty, independence, awareness, objectivity, creativity, and originality.\r\n\r\nFrederick Taylor\u2019s scientific management<\/strong> principles of the early 1900s,\u00a0born of\u00a0<\/span>the industrial revolution and\u00a0focused on scientific study of productivity in the workplace,\u00a0fostered the development of\u00a0motivation theory<\/strong>, which held that all work consisted largely of simple, uninteresting tasks, and that the only viable method to get people to undertake these tasks was to provide incentives and monitor them carefully<\/em>. In order to get as much productivity out of workers as possible, it was believed that a person\u00a0must reward the desired behaviour and punish the rejected behaviour \u2014 otherwise known as the\u00a0\"carrot-and-stick\" approach.\r\n\r\nDuring this time, scientists believed in two main drives powering human behaviour:\u00a0the biological drive<\/strong>, including hunger, thirst, and intimacy; and the reward-punishment drive<\/strong>. However, scientists began to encounter situations during their experiments where the reward-punishment drive wasn\u2019t producing the expected performance results. In 1949, Harry F. Harlow, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin, began to argue for a third drive:\u00a0intrinsic motivation<\/strong> \u2014 the joy of the task itself<\/em>.\r\n\r\nHarlow's\u00a0theory (1950) was based on studies of primate behaviour when solving puzzles. He\u00a0found that when presented with a puzzle, monkeys seemed to enjoy solving the puzzles without the presence or expectation of rewards. He found these monkeys, driven by intrinsic motivation, solved the puzzles quicker and more accurately than monkeys that\u00a0received food rewards.\r\n\r\nEdward Deci and Richard Ryan\u00a0(1985)\u00a0went on to explore and replicate these findings with humans many times over in their studies of\u00a0families, classrooms, teams, organizations, clinics, and cultures. They concluded that conditions supporting the individual\u2019s experience of\u00a0autonomy, competence,\u00a0and\u00a0relatedness\u00a0foster the greatest motivation for and engagement in activities while enhancing performance, persistence, and creativity.\r\n\r\nDan Pink (2010) provides ample evidence to support the notion that a traditional carrot-and-stick approach can result in:\r\n