Understading Power - Term Paper Example

? Understanding Power Psychology Psychology is a discipline from the Social Sciences which deals with observing, estimating and analyzing human attitudes and behaviour. Behavioural psychology specifically follows the idea that human and animals can be psychologically studied and their behaviour can be measured, altered and analyzed. This field of psychology, also widely-known as behaviourism, is, primarily, called Behavioural psychology among many other disciplines such as Cognitive psychology, Developmental psychology, Gestalt psychology, Functional psychology and Abnormal psychology. Behaviour in psychology is one of various approaches towards studying human behaviour and mental processes. Out of all these approaches, Behavioural psychology is, perhaps, one of the more distinct approaches used by psychologists. While it is a quite a comprehensive approach in the field of psychology, it carries an exclusive ideological distinction in contrast with the other approaches. One of the most acknowledged pioneer of behaviourism is John B. Watson (1878-1958), who published "Psychology as Behaviour," (Cooper). This paradigm states that behaviour can be studied via observation and measurement and it further claims that psychological phenomena should be studied, recorded and analysed by means of observation on empirical grounds. This approach, however, fails to acknowledge the post-positivist stance that observation and sensory calculations carry observer bias and that there are ‘social complexities’ that might be over-looked during the process of analyzing. As a result, results and findings could be weak and/or inaccurate (Hinde, n.p). A parallel discussion worth mentioning is the nature-nurture debate. It is interesting to ponder whether behaviour is something which is innate and originated through genetic determinants, or behaviour is learned or nurtured by humans and animals through their peers in the society, their environments, cultural setting and overall societal accepted-behaviours. The following disciplines also touch upon this debate and help discover where behaviour is more bent towards – nature or nurture. To appropriately comprehend behaviour, it is imperative to have an in-depth look at the very core of what behaviour really is and, equally importantly, shed light on explanations of behaviour through the various paradigms of psychology i.e. biological, cognitive and through behaviourism itself (learning/conditioning). One of the most important and distinctive attributes of behaviourism is learning. Learning can be defined as an adaptive change in behaviour resulting from past experience and/or by processes of conditioning – classical conditional and operant. Classical conditioning is a method of learning behaviour by associating irrelevant stimuli to a chain of relevant stimuli. As a result the subject responds to the newly associated stimuli and displays the desired behaviour. One of the most widely known examples is that of Pavlov’s dog. In the experiment, Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), a Russian physiologist, discovered that his dog was conditioned to salivate (expect food) every time Pavlov rang a bell. The bell, by nature, is irrelevant to food; however, Pavlov noticed the formation of association after repetition of the process. Initially, he termed this behaviour of his dog as psychic reflex (Malone, 1990). His experiment proved that behaviour can be learned by association of external stimuli. The second class of conditioning is operant conditioning, also called instrumental conditioning, whereby, reinforcements, such as rewards or punishments, are used to induce learning of behaviour. An example can be reinforcing a child’s behaviour of good academic performance by a rewarding him/her with a gift. This example comes under the realm of positive reinforcement. There is a flip side to the coin; negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is done by subtracting something from the behaviour system to discourage the principle behaviour. For instance, the same child’s gaming console is confiscated to discourage his/her bad academic performance. A third classification is called punishment. Punishment carries a tendency of violence or rough penalty. Through punishment, an undesired behaviour, such as bad academic performance, can be minimized by simply by adding ‘punishment’ to the system. Learned behaviour is therefore acquired during the life –time of an individual as a result of experience. Some types of learning is species-specific and once, established, do not change. Other types are characterized by flexibility: what is learned may vary from individual to another and the resulting behaviour can be modified if the environment changes. Clearly a learned behaviour pattern cannot be inherited, even though the ability to learn is almost certainly inherited. It is absolutely necessary to discuss Sigmund Freud’s view of explaining behaviour. His ideology, the psychodynamic approach, suggests that behaviour is merely a result of human’s instincts and powers, which which humans cannot control or shun. He theorized the id, ego and super ego; all part of the unconscious mind. The id is regarded as primitive, stubborn who wants desires to be fulfilled, it follows the pleasure principle. Super ego is the whip lasher, the punisher/ it maintains decorum and promotes civilized behaviour. Ego, however, creates a balance between the two extremes; id wants desires fulfilled while super ego maintains civil behaviour. Ego’s job is to create a common ground and act as the referee for the two extremes. If Ego does not exist, then the unconscious will malfunction or self-destruct; hence, the existence of a mediator, in this case ego, is quite necessary as socially undesirable wants. On the other end, guilt and remorse caused by super ego, can be toned down and maintained for the unconscious to keep existing and, much more importantly, not cause conscious to shut down into unconscious (Freud, n.p). This approach of psychology, in the context of behaviour, is important as it tries to tap the unobservable aspect of the cause of behaviour. Since id, ego and super ego are all theorized concepts put forward by Sigmund Freud, it is perhaps the most arguable explanations for behaviour under the umbrella of psychology. A completely different, yet much more testable and empirical sphere for discussing psychological phenomenon, such as behaviour, is the biological approach. Through the eyes of the biological paradigm of psychology, behaviour can be predicted by the nervous system or the endocrine system. For example, the Autonomous Nervous System is usually responsible for the flight, or fight response. The different chemicals produced in the body are designed to regulate the behaviour of the individual organism. The chemicals, called hormones, with their varying amounts help to determine the health of the body. To cite an example, the increase or decrease in the thyroid hormones which are secreted by the thyroid gland (located on either side of the larynx) may actually be the cause of symptoms like lethargy, increased or decreased appetite and irritability. Therefore, the body’s balances of the hormones greatly determine the health. The much talked about, adrenaline, is secreted by the adrenal gland (located just above the kidneys), in response to any emergency. Its constant numbers may be actually a cause of anxiety and confusion (Guyton, n.p). Human habits have a far reaching effect on the body and soul than is expected. In the hustle and bustle of modern life, Stress is a primary cause of many diseases, ranging from headache to cancer, just to name a few. According to Cawson, it is noted that a multitude of diseases arise due to unhealthy habits and practices. The habit of Betel nut chewing, smoking and other substances’ abuses have given rise to new diseases. The seemingly harmless habits have deep rooted ills and even far penetrating harms to the body. Moreover, stress-induced behaviour also includes alcohol and soft drink users, who have eroded teeth to boast of their drinks. Other than the endocrine and exocrine glands, the pheromones have fascinated the scientists for a number of years. Pheromones are the volatile hormones secreted by some animals in small quantities. One of the major uses of these hormones lie in the unsaid behavioural responses in the animals, like the spraying as a means to mark territories, sexual stimulation among others. Some insects send off signals in the form of waves, inaudible to the human ear ,that contribute to the communication between them as in search of food or of emergency. It has been reported that before any natural disaster the animals have premonition behaviour like restlessness and anxiety even before the actual event occurs. Also, researchers have noted that dogs are able to sense danger or uneasiness behaviour thorough special means. Thereby, the dogs are employed in catching narcotics and criminals. The animal world is replete with examples where the animals prove to be more humane than the humans, themselves. Behaviour is also held into account from different social norms, cultures and religions. The study of body language delivers good insight into the mind and culture of the individual. The constant eye contact as well as a firm hand-shake are said to be one of the determiners of confidence in the western world. Bowing or prostration, in the far-eastern cultures is one of the civilized actions showing respect and veneration. However, in the Muslim cultures such act may not be allowed in the human interactions, prostration being reserved only for Allah. All these social norms and cultural specifics come under the behaviour classifications of social-desirability and fabricating behaviour. An extension to these ideas would be the fact that humans tend to evaluate the desirability and affordability of the environment to decide if behaviour will be accepted or rejected by the recipients (Fisher, 303). There have been numerous studies performed on determining behaviour among animals. In describing an animal’s behaviour one must be as objective and accurate as possible. The can be recorded through various recording techniques like video recordings , kymographs, slow motion films and time lapse photography, and multiple flash photography may be also be used. The animals must be held in much as natural conditions as possible. Behaviour may be divided into that which is shown by all members of a species (species characteristic behaviour) and that which varies from one individual to another (individual –characteristic behaviour). The former includes the stereotype behaviour patterns distinctive of particular species, for example, courtship and copulation of many animals. The latter include the behaviour learned by an animal during its lifetime, for example the “tricks” performed by individual dog. This does not mean however that all learned behaviour is individual characteristic, or that all so called instinctive behaviour is species characteristic. It must be made clear, however, that at the outset, rigid classifications have no place in behaviour. An act of behaviour, however simple or complex, must be seen as the result of an interaction between an individual’s genetic constitution and its environment. We take it for granted that structure development results from these dual forces, the same is no less true of the development of behaviour. One of the increasingly prominent regions of psychological study is organizations and corporate culture. Organizational psychology has gained much recognition as a separate field of study as a branch of psychology and many modern psychologists tend to focus their efforts and research motives based on organizational psychology. The need to study organizational behaviour stems from the desire to maximize corporate performance and enhance business efficiency. To achieve these goals, the organizational aspects, ranging from the culture to the employees, need to be evaluated and aligned with the best suitability of resources and nature of the specific goals and targets aimed for by the organization. Here too, behaviour is shaped by the cultural norms and acceptability of the corporate environment, and hence, it reinforces the idea that social behaviour is, predominantly nurtured rather than natured. It is a matter of sheer curiosity to ponder over the strength and weaknesses of behaviour and behaviourism. Indeed, behaviour is only a way of gathering psychological information, in the wider genre of social sciences. However, it is important to note that behaviour is only one of the qualitative ways towards studying psychological phenomenon. Whatever discussed so far though revolves around the sphere of behaviour, explained through different approaches and disciplines. Indeed, behaviour is one of the tools to conduct psychology; it is not superior to any other method nor it is inferior; it rather holds its own unique position to explain general aspects of behaviour of humans and animals. Works Cited Top of Form Guyton, Arthur C, and John E. Hall. Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2000. Print.Bottom of Form Top of Form Cawson, R A, and E W. Odell. Cawson's Essentials of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2008. Print.Bottom of Form Top of Form Roberts, M B. V. Biology: A Functional Approach. Walton-on-Thames, Surrey: Nelson, 1982. Print.Bottom of Form Top of Form Fisher, Robert J. "Social Desirability Bias and the Validity of Indirect Questioning."Journal of Consumer Research. 20.2 (1993). Print. Top of Form Hinde, Robert A. "Developmental Psychology in the Context of Other Behavioral Sciences." Developmental Psychology. 28.6 (1992): 1018-29. Print. Top of Form Freud, Sigmund, and Wilhelm Fliess. The Origins of Psychoanalysis: Letters, Drafts and Notes to Wilhelm Fliess, 1887-1902. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1954. Print. Top of Form Malone, John C. Theories of Learning: A Historical Approach. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Pub. Co, 1990. 58. Print. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More