Friendship Quality and Social Development - Research Paper Example

? Psychology: Annotated Bibliography Psychology: Annotated Bibliography Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 7-10. The author pointed out the importance of being outgoing in terms of friendship quality as it is affected by positive social behavior and less of negative features such as conflicts and misunderstandings. Various studies had been conducted to determine the importance of quality friendship and its impacts on the social development of children. Self-esteem and social adjustment had been proven to be affected by friendship whether it is positive or negative friendship. Other studies also proved that success in society earned by the children as they grow old is determined by friendship quality. Some indirect effects were also identified such as increasing or decreasing influence of peers upon the behavior of each other. Research had proven that high-quality friendships reduce the low self-esteem of children, thus, shyness is not exhibited. On the other hand, further studies can be done to check the influence of high-quality friendships in increasing the effects of peers. Berndt, T. J. (1981b). Effects of friendship on pro-social intentions and behavior. Child Development, 52, 636-643. The author made use of sociometric measures to study the behavior and pro-social intentions of children under the following categories: kindergarten, second graders and fourth graders. The participants were paired with a friend or an acquaintance. Through interviews, the author was able to know the response of the participants with their partner in certain circumstances like in helping each other. For every situation, the children said what they plan to do, the expectation of their partner and what both of them must do. Female participants in general would like to help their friends instead of their acquaintances. On the other hand, male participants looked at their partners equally whether as friends or acquaintances. The results showed that the claim of the participants as the right thing to do was the same as what they want to do though do not correlate with the expectation of their partner. Another experiment was conducted and the participants, still in pairs, were put under observation while doing two tasks. The data gathered and analyzed showed that partner-helping led to fewer incentives for a participant (child). Friendship did not affect the performance of helping task. The practice of sharing a coloring material showed sex influence. The study concluded that boys tend to treat their friends less socially than acquaintances since they are inclined to competition while it is not significant for girls. Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., Harlow, T., & Bach, J. S. (1993). The importance of psychological studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1190- 1204. The scientists of the study focused on the relevance of psychological research. They found out the effects of self-esteem on responses to other people. For people with high self-esteem, psychological instability was observed in situations like accepting with positive emotions led to positive response while rejection happened with negative response. On the other hand, people with low self-esteem instability occurred when they receive enormous negative feedback. Another experiment conducted by the group tested the effects of self-reflections with status of self-esteem. Deeper understanding was later achieved as the results led to the effects of level and balance of self-esteem in relation in instability. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Springfield, MA: Harper Collins. The author and psychologist focused on the topic of personal fulfillment. Based on the study, the so-called optimal experience occurred when the consciousness was captured within the state of flow which allowed people to be captivated and released their inner potential and creativity while they achieved a state of enjoyment. The book focused on how to control the consciousness and create the state of flow. Through control, it can allow people to maximize the quality of their lives. The topic flow was related to motivation wherein the focus of people was intense to achieve the state that makes them happy. Eysenck, W. M. & Keane, M. T. (2010). Cognitive Psychology: A student’s handbook. New York: Psychology Press. The fifth edition of the book regarding cognitive psychology contained updates on developments on the said field of study. It presented the topics in easy-to-understand format that is good for college students. Some of the major topics covered by the book are cognitive science and modeling, cognitive neuropsychology, and new sections such as brain scanning, developments in consciousness study, and brain functioning. Traditional presentations were also used for easier understanding of the concepts related to attention, memory, language and problem solving. Multimedia supplementary materials were also present to boost the learning experience assisted by the online learning program. Myers, D.G. (2003). Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers. The author wrote the psychology books in a very detailed matter as it can be both helpful and unhelpful since readers can learn much from detailed explanations together with the danger of boredom. Many analogies had been used in the book to explain the concepts. The detailed explanations were very effective as the ideas were arranged in a very organized manner. On top of that, diagrams, figures, questions and quotes add up to the spicing of basic psychology topics. Sullivan, H. S. (1953). Conceptions of modern psychiatry. New York: Norton The author was able to publish the book based on his lifetime works. His five lectures were compiled and released in the market in book form. His focus was on the interpersonal theory. In chapter one of the book, Sullivan commented on the claims of Freud regarding human motivation. Sullivan stated that the id is not controlled by sexual desire alone as social view affects it. The existence of psychopathic or psychological disease was the taboo consideration of sexual desire and the response of the id. Once anxiety and fear surfaced, they would lead to serious psychological problems. Smith, E., Nolen-Hoeksema, S. & Loftus, G. (2002). Atkinson and Hilgard’s introduction to psychology. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Recent developments in psychology have been thoroughly discussed in the book as the basic concepts were also explained. The fundamental concepts of psychology have been presented in a detailed manner. Psychology research has also been pointed out as important in studying deeply into the conceptual field behind the processes of the brain. Figures, charts and diagrams were included to explain the topics further. Recent psychological issues were also included. Read More