The Gestalt Revolution was the result of rejecting previous “elementistic” views of psychology. Gestalt psychologists believe that the study of consciousness is valuable, and amounts to more than a mere joining of atoms or “elements.” They believe that perception is not based on a set of separate sensory elements. Rather, the whole is different from its parts just as a melody is different than a group of individual musical notes. When sensory elements are combined, new patterns or configurations may emerge.    

Phenomenology is the unbiased description of immediate experiences just as they occur. The view is the opposite of breaking down perception or experience into elements which, according to this doctrine, would be considered artificial, unnatural and abstract. It is also based on the notion that the primary data for psychology should be phenomena.  

Proximity is an organizing principle of perception within Gestalt psychology that refers to our tendency to perceive parts that are close together in time or space as belonging together. This is evidenced by experiments in which shapes are organized in columns with varying degrees of spacing in between them. Perceptually, we tend to group the shapes nearest each other into a combined object.

According to the Gestalt principle of “Figure/Ground,” our tendency for perceptual organization leads us to view objects in relation to their background. Depending on how an individual’s perception is organized, he or she is more likely to see the figure or the ground. When looking at this famous image, most people will gravitate toward a view of faces or vase; however, they are reversible and when called into attention both can be seen.

The humanistic model supports the belief that people are innately good and can exercise free will and creativity. This paradigm was proposed by Maslow in opposition to Freud's mechanistic and sexual ideas which are consistent with his psychoanalytic model. The humanistic model also emphasizes the power of the individual promotes the maintenance of a coherent, unified sense of self.

Karen experiences fear every time she sees a cat, which now occurs when she sees small dogs. Her fear is the result of classical conditioning, where a neutral stimulus (cat) becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus (animal bite). Her fear has therefore generalized to other stimuli (small dogs), indicating that she has experienced stimulus generalization. Stimulus discrimination would have occurred if she was able to discern between similar but different stimuli. For example, it would be stimulus discrimination if she only feared the exact breed of cat that bit her. Operant conditioning involves increasing or decreasing behaviors by providing reinforcement or punishment. Shaping is a form of operant conditioning where reinforcement is provided to guide a person toward performing a desirable behavior. Chaining is similar to shaping, but reinforcers are only given if the behaviors are performed in a specific order. 

Ariana is looking at how an intervention affects children's behaviors by providing reinforcement and punishment. She is therefore using operant conditioning, which is a behavioral approach. Humanism views human nature positively, emphasizes free will, and seeks to increase awareness of one's self-concept. Cognitive psychology looks at thought processes, not necessarily behaviors. Psychoanalysis is a form of treatment that uses free association, catharsis, and dream interpretation to reveal the unconscious. Gestalt psychology stems from philosophy and looks at the human mind as a whole.

The school teacher rewards her students after a set number of behaviors. This is called a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement. In a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement, a teacher would reward her students after a random number of passing grades. A fixed interval schedule of reinforcement would be based on time elapsed. The teacher might reward her students every fifteen days if they received a passing grade in that time period. In a variable interval schedule, the amount of time elapsed would vary. 

Maslow structured his hierarchy of needs in the following order: physiological needs, need for safety, need for love, need for esteem, and then the need for self-actualization. Ideally, people reach this last step in order to completely fulfill their potential.

Carl Rogers pioneered the humanistic psychology movement. Freud was known for the psychoanalytic approach to psychology, Skinner and Pavlov for the behavioral approach, and Bandura for the social learning approach.