Humanistic Psychology

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about the origin of the humanistic approach, focusing in particular on: (i) the three ‘waves’ in psychology as behaviourist, psychoanalytic and humanistic psychology; (ii) the tendency for humanistic psychology to focus on the positive aspects of the individual and their behaviour; (iii) the paradigm model of science, which states that a current, potentially imperfect, theory is superseded by a new paradigm which is created by a splintered group of researchers; (iv) Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers as key figures in the emergence of the humanistic approach; (v) the key differences between the humanistic approach and the first two ‘waves’, including the focus on neuroses and negative events by the previous approaches, as well as the nature of the previous approaches to present people as passive in their environment.

About the lecturer

Dr Cathal O’Siochru is a senior lecturer in education studies at Liverpool Hope University and has a background in psychology, research methods and education. Dr O’Siochru’s research interests include the psychology of education, epistemological and pedagogical beliefs, and assessment practices. Some of Dr O’Siochru’s recent publications include 'Action learning: how can it contribute to a collaborative process of pedagogical action research?' (2020) and 'Academic perspectives of metrics: Procedural justice as a key factor in evaluations of fairness' (2019).