Psychology - Scholarship Essay Example

 Psychology 1. Describe how social factors such as obedience, conformity, group thinking, compliance, and prejudice/stereotyping influence individual behavior and cognition. All these factors influence our behavior as we try to act and react like the rest of the social setting we are in. We obey and conform to act in a way that is acceptable or to eliminate negative consequences. We follow the actions of the group we are with to maintain acceptance or to not be an outcast. While these social influences help to create an orderly society and dictate good behavior, they can also have negative effects. Groupthink can result in a diminished belief in one's own opinions and evaluations. A group may take action that no single member would approve of. Prejudice and stereotyping are the mind's unrealistic pre-judging of a person based on a physical characteristic. The mind attempts to simplify the world by placing things in categories. It leads us to believe that everyone in a category thinks and acts similarly. This mistaken belief causes our behavior to become irrational. 2. Identify and describe 10 major structures or parts of the nervous system and describe for each structure its primary function(s). The nervous system is composed of the central nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system connects the central system to the muscles, organs, and sensors. These are connected together in a system of nerves. Additionally, there is a somatic nervous system that connects and controls our muscles. The autonomic system self-regulates our glands and organs. The sympathetic system changes our body's physiology in response to a threat. The parasympathetic system calms us down after our body has been in a stressful or defensive situation. These major systems are composed of a number of building blocks. Neurons are the basic building block of the nervous system. They are the cells that send and receive the electrical signals throughout the body. Dendrites are the extensions that protrude from the body of the neuron. The dendrites are the receiver and transmitter mechanism of the neuron. Dendrites receive and transmit the electrical impulse through an axon. These are the fibers that pass the signal to other neurons, muscles, or glands. The myelin sheath is a fatty tissue layer that insulates the axon. It speeds up the rate of the impulses traveling in the axon. The electrical impulses that originate in the neurons are called action potentials. They are generated by positively charged atoms traveling in and out of the axon. The synapse is the junction between the axon and the dendrite. The small gap, known as the synaptic gap, is responsible for triggering a chemical messenger. The chemical messengers are known as neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters cross the synaptic gap for a brief time. The neurotransmitters are a variety of chemicals such as acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate. The neurons and the associated components, connect together to form the central nervous system. It has its own communication system known as interneurons. These are the class of neurons that communicate with the brain by sending information from the sensory neurons. Sensory neurons send information from the body's tissues and sensory organs. This information is sent to the brain and spinal cord for processing. Motor neurons carry the information required for the brain to communicate with the muscles and glands. 3. Define and describe the following psychological processes. Classical Conditioning is a phenomenon that explains our automatic response to a given stimulus. The work of Pavlov and Watson described the behavioral modification that takes place when a conditioned response is the result of a conditioned stimuli. Operant Conditioning is similar to Classical in that they are both conditioned responses. However, operant conditioning is a conscious response to the threat of punishment or the promise of a reward. Generally, the behavior exhibited in operant conditioning is controlled by the subject. The Three-Stage Model of Memory depicts the method that the brain uses to create memories. It has a sensory memory for very brief memories. The short-term memory is a 'working memory' that is later subject to encoding into the long-term memory. Problem Solving is the abstract act of decision making based on information that may be incomplete or complex. The mind uses a variety of processes such as heuristics, insight, and algorithms to create solutions to complex problems and evaluates the possible outcomes to different solutions. Decision Making is the process we use to arrive at a conclusion based on available information. The mind will pull information from several sources such as memory, available information, past experience, and recent events to make a decision. Language Acquisition is the process children progress through as they learn the language. There is some disagreement about how the mind learns the language. Skinner believed that language was learned by association and imitation. Chomsky's theory is that language is innate and each child has the seed of language that grows with proper nurturing. Intelligence is the sum total of our mental processes that allow the mind to learn and retain information. It can remember and learn from experience, solve problems, and use the information to create new solutions and products. 4. Describe and compare psychodynamic, humanistic, trait, and social-cognitive views of personality. The psychodynamic view believes that actions and behavior are driven by unconscious needs, drives, and conflicts. Where psychodynamics usually focuses on negative and repressed feelings, the humanistic view looks at the positive actions people take to improve their life. The trait view sees the mind as a collection of 'traits'. These characteristics dictate how we act and react to a given situation. The social-cognitive view is a recent theory that says we are a product of our social environment. We learn by observing and imitating others in our social situations. Unlike the other views, social-cognitive is generally externally focused, while psychodynamic, trait and humanistic are internally controlled. 5. Describe Erikson's life span theory of human development. Evaluate the theory based upon the readings in the text and your own personal observations and experience. Erikson's theory on lifespan suggests that there are 8 distinct stages of life. Erickson contends that each stage is separate and presents a psychological task to be accomplished. This is why we grow. We begin life as infants and resolve the issue of trust. We progress through life to resolve such things as doubt, guilt, competence, identity, intimacy, contribution, and integrity. Each new problem is a new stage of life. Erikson's model is a simplified view of looking at growth. The tasks that Erikson describes are all confronted regularly through life. The issue of trust that he prescribes to infants continues through adulthood. Children don't suddenly move from stage to stage. Life is a gradual growing process where many issues interact over a long period of time. 6. Describe and compare biomedical, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and humanistic approaches to therapy. The biomedical therapy uses direct intervention on the electrochemical reactions in the nervous system, usually with drugs. Electricity and magnetism have been used in the past and continue to be researched. Biomedical may also involve surgery that permanently alters the brain. Psychodynamic therapies explore the underlying issues that cause a person to suffer from some mental disorder. The sessions are usually long and drawn out over a period of time. Where psychodynamic explores a negative event in the past, humanistic focus on positive actions in the present and in the future. It is a behavioral modification process that emphasizes human potential and sessions are generally shorter in duration. Behavior therapies contend that inappropriate behavior and reactions are the problems. By understanding the irrational behavior, it can be eliminated. This is somewhat similar to cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy contends that by the reassessment of our problems can lead to a different perception of ourselves. The shy could become more outgoing by understanding the irrationality of their shyness. Read More