Psychological Theories and Theorists
             In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt started the first laboratory for studying humans. This is the reason he is called the "father of Psychology" (F. McMahon, J. McMahon, and Romano 12). Since Wundt first started his laboratory there have been great strides made in the field of Psychology. Many theories about what the human is and how we develop have arisen. Some theories have come and gone, but four approaches have survived up to the present. I will discuss three of the four that have been of interest to me, in further detail.
             The Behavioral Model dates back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. One of the first psychologists to lay the foundation for behaviorism was Edward Thorndike. He conducted different experiments on animal learning. In 1898 Thorndike conducted an experiment using cats. In this study he put cats in a cage, put food outside the cage, and timed how long it took the cats to learn how to unlock the door to get to the food. Continuing this over and over again, Thorndike found that the cats would repeat behaviors that worked successfully escaping more quickly each time. Soon thereafter he proposed the law of effect:
             Of several responses made to the same situation, those which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction to the animal will, other things being equal, be firmly connected with the situation, so that, when it recurs, they will be more likely to recur; those which are accompanied or closely followed by discomfort to
             the animal will, other things being equal, have their connections with that situation weakened, so that, when it recurs, they will be less likely to recur. The greater the satisfaction or discomfort, the greater the strengthening or weakening of the bond (Robinson 115-116).
             What Thorndike didn't know was he was just starting to scrape the surface of behaviorism. Psychologists were starting to turn away from the resea...