Concepts in Psychology - Assignment Example

Concepts in Psychology Scientific Method Scientific method is a framework aimed at acquiring knowledge and has its basis on careful observation and experimentation. Scientific method is important to psychologists because it aids in confirming psychological theories, making revisions, and ensuring the findings from research support the hypothesis developed from these theories. An example of a scientific method is when in school one would want to know the importance of light to plants, one would plant a seedling and keep it in a dark room, generate hypothesis, observe the differences noting the results, and use the results to either support the hypothesis or reject it.

The hypothesis in this case would be light is important to plants, the observations are weak and yellow seedlings put in the dark while those outside are strong and green. This observation would support the hypothesis that light is important to plants.Learning Learning is lasting change in behavior that come from training or experience. The importance of learning to psychology is that it aids in the understanding of behaviorism and aids in better development of psychology. Areas of psychology that learning aids in development and understanding include educational, cognitive, developmental, and social psychology.

An example of learning is a rat pressing a lever to be able to access a reward after successive tries in an experiment.Structure of the Brain The structure of the brain involves the various part of the brain that play different parts in ensuring thinking and other brain functions occur. The structure of the brain consists of the cerebrum, limbic system, brain stem, and cerebellum. Structure of the brain is important in psychology in understanding what different facets of the brain play in the determination of behavior and other functions of the brain.

Examples of brain structure is the division of the brain to forebrain, hind brain, and midbrain that aids in the understanding of the different functions played by these sections of the brain in controlling behavior, balance, learning, memory, among other human behaviors.Intelligence Intelligence is the mental ability involved in the reasoning, calculation, learning quickly, perceiving analogies, & relationships, using fluent language, generalizing, classifying, and applying to new situations.

Intelligence is important to psychology because it aids in the understanding of cognitive and psychometric psychology because of its relation to thinking and that it enables one to adapt to new situations. Intelligence is also important in psychology because it aids in understanding mental problems. An example of intelligence is a doctor knows better about a given disease after the treatment of a patient having unfamiliar symptoms.ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) entails inability to focus, inability to control, behavior, overreacting, or a combination of these characteristics.

ADHD is important in psychology as it aids in the understanding of the effects of underdeveloped frontal lobes of the brain. An example of ADHD is a teenager is restless, disorganized, and hyperactive.Memory According to Nevid (198), memory is the “system by which we retain information and bring it to mind”. Psychologists are interested in the understanding of memory as a way of encoding, storage, and retrieval of information because it underpins other cognitive processes. Memory is also important in the treatment and recovery from addictions, posttraumatic stress disorder, and phobias and that it enables learning to occur.

An example of memory is ability to remember mobile phone numbers after looking at them on the phone.Stimulants Stimulants are drugs that that enhance “the activity of the central nervous system” (Nevid, 149). Stimulants are an important concept to psychologists because it aids in understanding psychological behaviors and mental activity that forms the basis of psychology and are used in the treatment of psychology disorders. Examples of stimulus include nicotine, caffeine, and cocaine.Work CitedNevid, Jeffrey S.

Essentials of Psychology: Concepts and Applications. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2006. Print.