Date of Award

1981

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

College

School of Education

Program

Educational Psychology MA

First Advisor

Ruth R. Murdoch

Abstract

Problem Each psychological theory o f behavior is based on a s p e c ific model o f man. The models o f man in tu rn , are b u ilt on p a rtic u la r presuppositions concerning the nature o f man. To f u l l y understand the im p lica tio n s and lim ita tio n s o f the d iffe r e n t models and th e orie s i t is necessary to examine the presuppositions upon which each model and theory is b u ilt . The purpose o f th is study is to examine and c ritiq u e the presuppositions o f three models o f man as presented in three psychological th e orie s o f behavior. Method The method o f th is study consisted o f a search o f lite r a tu r e using as prim ary sources the w ritin g s o f the authors o f the th e orie s and as secondary sources commentaries on the th e o rie s . On the basis o f the statements found in the prim ary sources, each th e o ry 's model o f man was re stru ctu re d and the underlying presuppositions c ritiq u e d . Conclusions The models and presuppositions o f the three psychological th eories o f behavior underestimate the uniqueness and com plexity o f human nature. This leads to a th e o re tic a l dehumanization o f man and to a psychological dilemma o f meaninglessness in existence. A C h ristia n model o f man may provide a more complete, meaningful and coherent view o f man and should be fu rth e r studied in more detail.

Subject Area

Behaviorism (Psychology), Human behavior., Psychology, Comparative.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

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