Understanding Psychology - Literature review Example

Understanding Psychology Introduction William James, the American philosopher and physician and one of the founders of modern psychology, defined psychology in 1890 as “the science of mental life”. This definition provides an understanding of the core elements of psychology even today. Psychology is about the mind or brain, and about the ways in which organisms, especially people use their mental abilities to function in their environment. Psychologists have understood the workings of our minds by studying behavior, and have derived hypotheses based on their observations (Butler & McManus, 2000). Thesis Statement: Application of psychology for understanding learning outcomes is essential, to fulfill instructors’ accountability for the benefits of teaching practices and for improving the quality of instruction (Clark, 2002). Learning outcomes are of three levels, which will be identified in this paper. Major psychological theories will be discussed, and psychological processes interpreted. Further, the essential understandings of normal and abnormal psychology will be analyzed and interpreted. Discussion Learning makes a difference in our mental perceptions, by helping us to do something that we could not do before. For example, through learning one is enabled to play the piano, or understand the meaning of new words. When something stays in the mind, it is assumed that it is stored somewhere, and this storage system is “memory”. The learning and consequent memory formation may not always work optimally, and one may need to rack one’s brains and search the memory to remember something that was learned earlier (Butler & McManus, 2000). The Three Main Outcomes of Learning The main reason for any learning activity is that it promotes intellectual development in an individual. Learning outcomes are significant because they help teachers to focus on personal qualities that children need to acquire, such as autonomy, self-expression or concern for others. Secondly, by understanding learning outcomes, teachers can concentrate on practising specific methods that promote cognitive development. Further, outcomes from learning help teachers to work towards set objectives that reflect children’s knowledge, skills and understanding as is done in the national curriculum development. Intended outcomes can be achieved through a learning process characterized by the “use of discovery methods, first-hand experience, negotiation between teacher and pupil, and the teacher guiding the pupil through purposeful, meaningful experiences” (Powell & Solity, 1990: 56). In higher education, learning outcomes are in three levels: 1) the comprehension of basic principles, 2) application of theory, and 3) evaluation of theory, analysis and synthesis of own ideas. This system of understanding learning outcomes begins the teaching process by inculcating an understanding of the foundations of the academic discipline, moving on to the ways in which the theories are applicable in academics and in the working environment relating to everyday life, and promotes the ability to assess the learning of theories, analyzing and integrating with personal conceptualizations on the academic topic. The attainment of each of the three levels ensures and monitors progression within a course. The criteria for assessment of learning outcomes at each level determined the increased autonomy of the student (Burke, 1995). Major Psychological Theories Major psychological theories pertain to the main areas consisting of behavioral theories such as Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning, Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning, etc; cognitive theories such as Piaget’s theory of child development based on cognitive development and theories of thought, language and intelligence; developmental theories such as Freud’s theory of psychosexual development and Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development; humanist theories such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; and personality theories such as the trait theory of personality. Cognitive Theories of Thought, Language and Intelligence: Thought, language and intelligence are three major areas of cognitive science. “Cognitive science is the study of human intelligence in all its forms, from perception and action to language and reasoning” (Osherson, 1996: xi). The activities of cognition or mental processes include: understanding, remembering, interpreting, organizing, problem solving, decision making and creating. Our brain works with various types of mental representations, in the form of symbols, language, concepts and images, states Melucci (2004). Thoughts consist almost entirely of mental visual images; and thoughts interact by means of mostly learned associations between those images (Carruthers,1996). Language is a natural innate capability of the human brain. The special features that make language unique include symbols such as letters, phonemes and words; syntax or grammar; and abstraction or intangible concepts. Intelligence is a construct, an abstract representation. Intelligence quotient (IQ) is a score that is produced by tests which measure intelligence (Melucci, 2004). Thinking takes place at various levels, such as episodic or relating to an occurrence, semantic or pertaining to the meaning of an episode, procedural or the method of performance, and automatic as in the case of procedural tasks such as driving to a familiar location. More focused attention and mental effort is required when driving to an unfamiliar location or under external stress such as adverse weather conditions (Melucci, 2004). Regarding language learning, Noam Chomsky (2006) believed that human beings are born prepared to learn language; for a young child, language learning is instinctive. Between the ages of two and six, a child learns enough vocabulary and syntax, including thousands of words and an extensive number of complex grammar rules to communicate effectively with all adults. Intelligence can be defined in different ways. From the behaviorist aspect, intelligence is the ability to learn from experience and function successfully in one’s environment. From the cognitive viewpoint, it is the ability to judge, comprehend, and reason. The utilitarian definition of intelligence is that it is the ability to understand and deal with people, objects and symbols. Further, intelligence is “the ability to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment” (Melucci, 2004: 150) according to David Weschler the author of the widely used IQ test: the Weschler Scales. Thus, most definitions of intelligence include the ability to reason (Pyle, 1979). Developmental Theory: Erikson’s Theory of Child Development: Erik Erikson (1902-1994) was a psychoanalyst who created an original and highly influential theory of psychological development and crisis occurring in periods extending across the entire life cycle. The psychosocial theory of development describes crucial steps in a person’s relationship with the social world, based on the dynamics between biology and society. Erikson focused on the interactions between the child and his environment, and then determined the evolution of the maturing ego’s relations with an expanding social world. He identified dilemmas in the ego’s relations with the family and larger social institutions at significant points in childhood, adolescence, and early, middle and late adulthood (Sadock et al, 2007). The different aspects of child development identified by Erikson (1963) are: biological, social and individual. Erikson’s most important contribution to psychology is his demarcation of the eight psychosocial stages represented by the eight ages constituting the life span of an individual. An individual’s identity is related to each stage of the lifecycle. During adolescence a conflict between identity and role confusion can arise. Ego development occurs through the stages of the life span, and is part of a child’s evolution into adolescence. Interpretation of Psychological Processes By interpreting psychological processes, the academic discipline of psychology is useful at a practical level. Academic psychologists generally specialize in one area of psychology, carrying out research to further understand the science of the mind. Their findings facilitate the understanding, prediction, explanation or modification of psychological processes in the mind. The mind is the control center for cognition, affect and behavior which influences what people think, feel and do. Psychologists formulate hypotheses, develop theories and carry out original research in their applied settings, by which developments in the academic and professional fields can be integrated for facilitating the interpretation of psychological processes (Butler & McManus, 2000). An example is experimental laboratory work demonstrating that animals can complete quite complex tasks or even series of tasks, in order to gain a reward, has stimulated the application of these methods in humans. Rewarding behavior that needs to be increased is a theory that is applied in programmes for successful rehabilitation of offenders, and for helping people become more indepencent after spending years in hospital. Concurrently, the observations of professional psychologists may stimulate academic interest. For example, psychologists working in hospitals observed that some patients with auditory hallucinations, appeared to have fewer hallucinations if they wore an ear-plug. This finding stimulated valuable research into the relationship between hearing and auditory hallucinations (Butler & McManus, 2000). Essential Understandings of Normal and Abnormal Psychology The occurrence of psychological problems is known as the manifestation of abnormal psychology. This field is different from normal psychology which deals with behavioral, cognitive, developmental, humanist and personality theories. A wide variety of psychological problems may occur in childhood or later years. The psychological problems of childhood compromise children’s abilities to learn and communicate, such as “intellectual disability, language delay, specific learning disabilities, and pervasive developmental disorders including autism” (Carr, 2001: 2). In childhood and adolescence, problems of developing bowel and bladder control, sleeping and waking routines, and feeding or eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa may also occur. Further, there may be development of neuropsychological problems and adjustment difficulties as a result of conditions such as head injury or epilepsy. All these diffficulties are of concern to psychologists who study abnormal behavior. Additionally, two broad classes of conditions also manifest themselves in childhood, these are: disruptive behavior disorders such as attention deficit hyper-activity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorders; besides emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression, which also occur in adolescence and adulthood. The disruptive behavior disorders are explained by four broad theories: the biological, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral and family system theories (Carr, 1999). Conclusion The study of psychology has an inherent difficulty in that scientific facts should be objective and verifiable, but it is not possible to observe the workings of the mind. Perceptions have to be inferred from what can be observed in everyday life (Butler & McManus, 2000). This paper has highlighted the significance of understanding human psychology. Learning outcomes of three levels have been determined, major psychological theories have been identified, and the cognitive theories of thought, language and intelligence, and Erikson’s developmental theory have been discussed. Further, the interpretation of psychological processes has been evaluated, and the essential understandings of normal and abnormal psychology have been analysed. References Burke, J.W. (1995). Outcomes, learning and the curriculum. London: Routledge. Butler, G. & McManus, F. (2000). Psychology: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Carr, A. (2001). Abnormal psychology. The United States of America: Psychology Press. Carruthers, P. (1996). Language, thought and consciousness: an essay in philosophical psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press. Chomsky, N. (2006). Language and mind. New York: Cambridge University Press. Clark, R.A. (2002). Learning outcomes: the bottom line. Communication Education, 51(4): 396-404. Erikson, E.H. (1963). Childhood and society. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Melucci, N.J. (2004). Psychology the easy way. New York: Barron’s Educational Series Inc. Osherson, D.N. (1995). The study of cognition. In L.R. Gleitman (Ed.). An invitation to cognitive science. The United States of America: The MIT Press: xi-xviii. Powell, M. & Solity, J. (1990). Teachers in control. New York: Routledge. Pyle, D.W. (1979). Intelligence: an introduction. Massachusetts: Routledge. Sadock, B.J., Kaplan, H.I. & Sadock, V.A. (2007). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: behavioral sciences/ clinical psychiatry. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health. Read More