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A Foundation Course Essay Maslow suggested heredity played a strong role in personality development. The essence of the kind of person was established in the genetic structure, and the environment determined which part to unfold or become actualized. The issue of nature versus nurture was considered in his theory. Maslow adopted a growth-directions theory in that a person grew gradually from one kind of individual toward being a different kind. Another prominent figure is Carl Rogers. Both Maslow and Rogers believed human nature was intrinsically good and embraced self-actualization as the empirical principle. Rogers introduced the person-centred therapy. Therapist offered personal congruence, unconditional positive regard and accurate empathic understanding in a therapeutic relationship. Research methodologies employed by humanistic psychologists were mainly introspection investigative techniques. Individuals were analysed from the inside. Humanistic psychologists were of the view that the perfect example of an individuals personal experience was found in ones thoughts and feelings. They did not claim to be objective. Instead, they were intent on this subjective interchange of a relationship that uncovered the personal knowledge of another individual. Strengths of humanistic psychology were that the theorists proposed a positive, optimistic picture of humans. This was in contrast to behaviorism which was accused of reducing individuals to a system of observable acts, thereby missing the human aspects, and was in contrast to Freuds psychoanalysis SS101-TMA05 Marisa Lee 93512450 11 September 2000 Pg 11/12 which was accused of adopting a negative model of humanity, emphasizing on neurotic behaviour. The humanistic approach was notable for its concern for the individuals hopes and plans for the future, which was being neglected in many other theories. One other major strength of humanistic theory was its insistence on the importance of unique personal experiences. The insistence on the importance of unique personal experiences mentioned above had also become one of humanistic theorys weaknesses in that the unique experience made it imprecise when communicating the essence of one persons experience to another. The theory is lack of falsifiability as instrospection was the principal investigate technique. Humanistic psychologists were subjective in validating their theory. They trusted their own feelings and logic more than objective data. By concentrating on the self, other parts of an individual like bio-electrochemical nature, analytical abilities, memory systems were left untouched. Conclusions Psychologists while attempting to explain behaviour of individuals, adopted a varied basis of assumptions, and different images of mankind evolved. The concept that man acts like a machine and reacts to outside forces gives rise to the mechanistic view of mankind. Another concept that mans behaviour can be explained via bringing out their memories in the unconscious renders the psychoanalytic image of mankind. An alternative view that man seeks to aspire oneself by fulfilling the hierarchy of needs gives rise to the SS101-TMA05 Marisa Lee 93512450 11 September 2000 Pg 12/12 humanistic image of mankind. Man can be viewed differently but there is not a theory that explains all. To have a more comprehensive understanding of mans behaviour, a combined study of all the different images of mankind would be helpful. References : 1. Swales, C. (1991). Social Sciences : A Foundation Course, Psychology 2, Units 17 18. The Open University of Hong Kong. 2. Faw, T. and Belkin, G. S. (1989). Child Psychology. McGraw-Hill, Inc. P. 12-31. 3. Thomas, R. Murray. (2000). Comparing Theories of Child Development. 5th Edition. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Chapter 5. 4. Berk, Laura E. (1998). Development through the Lifespan. Allyn Bacon. P. 15-18. 5. Woolf. Theoretical Perspectives Relevant to Developmental Psychology  http://www.webster.edu