Psychological Perspectives

The question posed pertains to the psychological perspectives on human nature and the

strategies that can be leveraged to best change them. According to research, an approach is

synonymous with a perspective integrating assumptions on human behaviour, the way they

function and the aspects that are inherently worth studying and researching. There are a variety

of psychological perspectives on human nature, including psychodynamic, behavioural,

cognitive, humanistic and biological. It is necessary to understand that all these perspectives

provide explanations of human nature and behaviour, providing insight and information on the

functioning, responses and operations of humans. In this paper, I will provide a personal

psychological perspective on human nature, primarily drawing from two perspectives presented

in class, including behavioural and cognitive.

My personal perspective on human nature is largely founded on two psychological

perspectives, including the behaviourist and cognitive perspectives. The Behaviorist perspective

is different from most other approaches in that it takes into consideration how externalities, the

environment, affects people’s behaviours and responses. According to this perspective, people

are inherently controlled by the environment, with their behaviours being directly attributed to

what they have learned and observed. The behaviourist perspective proposes two primary

processes in which people learn from the environment, including classical and operant

conditioning (Huitt & Hummel, 2006). In classical conditioning, learning occurs by association,

while in operant conditioning, learning is largely influenced by the consequences of behaviour.

My personal perspective of behaviour largely draws from both classical and operant

conditioning. For instance, classical conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes