Availability Heuristic - Essay Example

Module 5-8 Availability Heuristic Available heuristic is a mind Humans are ever making judgement. Many times this relies on what they can remember. The facts remain for fact finders to analyse. Particularly individuals use this to judge the frequency or possibility of an event happening. Because they remember recent familiarities or reports, then the news has a substantial effect on our conclusions. After a few cases of child kidnapping in any given society, parents will resort to careful monitoring of the children in school or on the street. The whole society in their different institutions will move to protect the young ones. The accessibility to this information has been availed by the news, thus priming their individual selves. One of the best methods is the improvement of stakes at the lottery. Make the price bigger and worth the risk. A bigger stage of return is easier to believe, more vivid, therefore, the individuals can imagine themselves in a position though. Small stakes can push individuals into denial; therefore, their ability to gamble lost due to the uncomfortable this is one experience that the bidder has to have a great result in their imagination point. Additional remuneration the winners: Individuals have a craving for that which has been done by another to success. Example one is motivated to purchase the ticket based on the result of those before. A poor mans motivated to live the life of a rich person (Gilovich, 2002). The various methods of heuristic availability are just. Individuals are merely given a chance to either be deceived or not. The daily routine or experiences should not be the reason they judge future events hence the need to rely on facts. Psychoanalytic Study The psychoanalytic method draws the basis on the unconscious and the irrational part of the human being. There is a raging conflict in any human mind. One part respecting the social organisation of the society, the constraints involved. The fight is between the conscious and unconscious part of the brain. Andy is overly critical of other. The sense of inferiority is overwhelming hence the need to demotivate others. These support a sense of superiority among his peers. These are defensive mechanisms of the harassment maybe at home or the peers. Andy is caught between pleasuring himself and societal norms hence the need to show his strengths (American Psychological Association, 2010). Humanistic analysis Andy lacks the self-actualization aspect of human beings. The ability of an individual then realizes the potential. What they can achieve if the set their minds to achieving a given goal. Andy is easily frustrated by tasks he is accorded. He can shove away responsibility for the easier way out of a given situation. Behaviour is motivated by a hierarchy of needs and purpose for self-realisation of the set goal and goals without quitting. Nothing is done in frustrated positions. Andy has a poor concept of himself hence the need to show others how superior and dominating he can be. Social cognitive The basis of this argument is the fact that they Act in situations we help create. In Andy’s case, he has created a state of helplessness and inferiority. The feeling is inside of him. The need to fight against these notions is evident. The indiscipline to those in authority, the failure to plan ahead and the overly criticisms of others is an environment he has created, he fights to fit in the world he has built. Therapy Behavioural therapists and psychoanalytic therapists both apply methods that help their patients overcome difficult conditions. They use different approaches towards the same end. However, there are differences in their methods. A behaviour therapist would approach the issue by trying to alter the behaviour of Geraldo. For instance, he would encourage him to encourage him to try and relax. The therapist should remind Geraldo that the tense he is, the more he will feel the pain. When being given an injection, he should ensure that his arms are relaxed. Moreover, he should take deep breaths that will help him relax. Geraldo should also be encouraged to decide whether he will watch the physician perform the procedure on him or not. The fact that he might see that the needle is tight might suppress the fear. However, if the sight of the needle will make him very scared, he should be encouraged to concentrate on something else within the room (Fitzek, 2009). The behaviour therapist should encourage Geraldo to distract himself while having a shot. Activities that will help him distract his mind from the procedure include singing a favourite song or talking to a friend. He should bite something that will help master the pain more easily. He should also focus on how helpful the shot will be. A psychoanalytic therapist would help Geraldo by helping him understand his internal life. The therapist would attempt to show Geraldo the relationship between his past experiences and the fear towards medical procedures. He would develop a close relationship with Geraldo, so that he opens up and tells him his fears and worries regarding medical practices. The therapist should encourage Geraldo to tell his physician about his fears. The physician will help him relax. The Fundamental Attribution Error The fundamental attribution error is a bias that is widespread in today’s world. It is especially common in social psychology. It refers to people emphasizing, on internal personality characteristics, to describe a person’s behaviour instead of the external circumstances surrounding the situation. The other form of the fundamental attribution error is when a person emphasizes on the role of the situation in influencing the behaviour of people. Latisha is a victim of the fundamental attribution error because she feels that the Germans became cruel, sadistic and with abnormal personalities. This was during the reign of Adolf Hitler with the atrocities he was responsible for the creation. Latisha does not consider the fact that the German people were polluted by propaganda that they were the superior race and that other racial groups were supposed to subdue to them. These lies were drummed into children’s minds from the time they were in school. They were taught that Jews were exploiting their economy (Walker, 2004). The alternative explanation for what happened was that some Germans participated in the persecution and not all were involved. The propaganda spread by the Ministry of Propaganda made many Germans to wrongfully hate the Jews. This was the cause for the massive persecution of the Jews. Moreover, any German who befriended or sympathised with the Jews was at risk of going to jail or even execution. Germans had to avoid the Jews at all costs because the spies called the SS, had infiltrated and were spying everywhere. The Nazi regime controlled the media in Germany. Therefore, they determined the information received by the German people. References Association, A. P. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Jan Walker, S. P. (2004). Psychology for nurses and the caring professions. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Sebastian Fitzek, S. S. (2009). Therapy. New York: St. Martins Press. Thomas Gilovich, D. W. (2002). Heuristics and biases: the psychology of intuitive judgement. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. Read More