Major Perspectives in Psychology - Essay Example

?6 Essay Questions Major Perspectives in Psychology Three of the seven major perspectives in psychology are behavioral, psychodynamic, and humanisticperspectives. The behavioral perspective emphasizes the observable behavior and its role in learning. The behavioral perspective uses the systematic approach of applying learning principles that are grounded on the behaviorist tradition of Watson and Skinner. The main target of behavioral perspective is acquisition of adaptive behaviors necessary to overcome fears and social inhibitions. Psychodynamic perspective emphasizes self-awareness, self-direction, and conscious choice. It focused on one’s inner lives such as fantasies, wishes, dreams, and hidden motives. The most famous approach in psychodynamic perspective is the psychoanalysis – the method which identified unconscious childhood experiences as the root cause of psychological problems. Humanistic perspective emphasizes personal freedom and responsibility of one’s action and the value of self-awareness and acceptance of true selves (Nevid, 10). In humanistic perspective, the approach is using even the subjective experiences of the individual that cannot be directly observed nor scientifically measured. Viewing and Understanding Everyday Behavior. The most apt example of behavioral perspective applied in everyday life is trying to overcome my fear from dogs. The observable behavior is fear and the goal is to overcome this fear. Through behavioral perspective, one can understand that fear rooted from a negative experience (stimulus) with dogs. The behavior is thus, learned. If behavior can be learned, the behavioral perspective also stated that it can also be unlearned. This can be done through continuous exposure with the stimulus (dogs). I began to expose myself little by little with dogs, beginning with just seeing the dog, then touching them, listening to their barks, and so forth. Until one day, I am no longer afraid of seeing or touching them. The personal experience that relates to psychodynamic perspectives and applied in everyday lives is a dream. In the psychodynamic perspective, a dream may represent one’s fantasies, wishes, and hidden motives. I’ve always dreamed of a child crying in the park and calling for her mama. I relayed it to my mother and said that what I dreamed of was probably me. My mother had lost me in the park and when they found me, I was crying a lot. Through psychodynamic theory, I learned that the unconscious thoughts represented through a dream rooted from a childhood memory. Meanwhile, humanistic perspective applied in everyday lives was reflected on every decision that I made. Through humanistic perspective, I learned that every decision matters a lot as it will give meaning and purpose in my life. Back then also, I always compare myself to a superior but through humanistic perspective, I came to view myself as a unique individual with unique traits and abilities. Astrology is not a Science: Features of Science vs. Pseudoscience. Astrology is based on the notion that the position of the sun, moon, and stars affect human temperament and affairs. Psychologists consider astrology as a pseudoscience and a special form of art. It lacks scientific evidence and relies only on persuasive arguments and reference to authority figures thus, astrology is not a science. In 1962, Popper drew out differences of science over pseudoscience, among of which are: falsifiability, refutability, and testability. Enriched Versus an Impoverished Environment: Effects on Rats Brain Dr. Marian Diamond conducted experiments on rats using a group of rats under an enriched environment and the other group in impoverished environment. Rats in the enriched environment had lots of toys, spin wheels, balls, levers, sound effects, and food rewards; in contrast with rats in impoverished environment with only a maze of walls. Rats in the enriched environment found their way through the maze much faster, had thicker and dense dendrites in the brain, and mentally healthier and more fit than the impoverished rats. Rats have dendrites as well as humans and this evidence links the result of the experiment that a mentally-stimulating environment promotes enrichment, activity, and well-being unlike impoverished environment which leads to withdrawal, senility, and depression. For instance, I always think of a reward for myself whenever I was studying for examinations. Gestalt psychology: Contributions to Visual Perception and Motion Perception Gestalt psychology focuses on the principle that the human brain organizes information as a whole and not as individual bits or pieces joined together. The brain interprets what the eyes see and created perception of movement. For example, when you draw dots out of a flower’s image, the human perceived it as a flower rather than a group of dots. This is because of the human brain’s organization and perception of visual information as a whole. Effects of Addictive Drugs in the Brain Addictive drugs such as ecstasy, amphetamines, and cocaine alter the chemical activity of the brain and the neurotransmitters that carry messages to the cells. Addictive drugs can slow or enhance release of neurotransmitters; others directly mimic the action of neurotransmitters. These explain the variety of effects an addictive drug could have. Nearly all addictive drugs stimulate the brain and create a feeling of pleasure and release of dopamine increases. As the reward circuitry of the brain detect it as a pleasurable experience, a compulsion to repeat the drug experience occurs until the same consumed amount doesn’t produce the desired effect leading to drug tolerance (increase in the amount of addictive substances in order to produce the same effect). As the brain gets used to addictive substances and physical dependence develops, withdrawing from addictive substance will produce undesirable symptoms opposite from the sense of euphoria one feels in addictive substances. Craving is also a problem during withdrawal from addictive substances where one psychologically feels the need for addictive substances upon seeing moments or experiences related to the abused drugs. Criteria in Imitating Observed Behaviors Observed behaviors are likely to be imitated and applied if the demonstrator is similar to the observer, coping rather than perfect, receive reward for the behavior, behavior is in manageable and short components, the participant immediately imitate the behavior after watching it, feedback is immediately provided, and praise is provided for good performance(Jarvis, Putwain& Dwyerv, 60). These criteria depict the risk of violence in U.S. TV programs to be imitated by children and adolescents, most especially if parental guidance were not observed. For instance, consider a group of adolescents watching a movie about rape. If the person in the movie is in the same age as the viewers and if his peers will influence him toward the represented behavior, it is likely that an adolescent will imitate that kind of violence, most especially if positive feedbacks and praise were provided by his peers. Thus, violence in U.S. TV programs is likely to be imitated and apply. Prospective Memory Failures Prospective memory failures occur more frequently in older adults and younger ones and happen when modern working and learning environment involves high level multi-tasking activities, resulting to difficulty in tracking relative priorities between tasks. As a student, I’ve always experienced prospective memory failures. To minimize the incidence of prospective memory failures, I always made a reminder on the calendar of the tasks that should be accomplished. I also make alarms on my mobile phone and note cues that could remind me of the task. I prioritized things to do by posting sticker notes indicating the task to be done and the time of the tasks. References Jarvis, Matt., Putwain, Dave. & Dwyerv, Diana. Angles on Atypical Psychology. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd, 2002. p. 44-63. Nevid, Jeffrey S. Psychology: Concepts and Applications. 3rd ed. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009. p. 2-39. Read More