Week 2 - Schools of thought

Question 1

What is a theory?
What are schools of thought?

Answer 1

• A principle/ idea + explain/ solve a problem
• Scientific theories
  + Ideas
  + Synthesise a collection of laws and (empirical) research
  >< Which can’t be tested robustly = Concepts
• Different scholars had different ways of understanding and conceptualising human mind and behaviour –> They developed different frameworks and models to explain
  –> Different foundational premises of viewpoints = differing ways of understanding or conceptualising of different scholars = different (theoretical) perspectives and paradigms = different schools of thought
• Different school of thought provides a different filter to understand mind and behaviour = Different psychological perspectives provide differing theories and ideas

Question 2

Why have to know different schools of thought?

Answer 2

• Different schools contribute to + our fuller understanding of how and why + humans think, feel and act as we do
• Different schools inform + different approaches to + assessment and treatment + in health