Introduction to Psychology - Assignment Example

Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY Introduction to Psychology Introduction to Psychology The two factors that Diener et al. believe that subject well-being results from people having a feeling of mastery and making progress toward their respective goals (Diener, Sapyta and Suh 1998). Since subjective well being is a more personal view of life, it reflects a person’s values. Subjective well being is more about cognitive states, for instance satisfaction with one’s life. Subjective well being is just one value among many which is held more important by people because it allows people to judge their lives based on their own values and standards. Studies reveal that people don’t just wish to be entertained and have fun, but want happiness resulting from something meaningful, like achieving a goal which is important to the individual (Diener, Sapyta and Suh 1998). The only reason that people wish to have a better physical health is because they believe it will help them achieve their subjective well-being. 2. Narrative Therapy is a counselling practice which aims at resolving the problems of the client through story telling. Since stories are the foundation of social life, narrative therapy encourages the clients to express their life experiences in the form of a story, helping to identify key aspects of their life by making them reflect on the new knowledge which might have not noticed before (Bacon 2007). Bacon believes that the method of narrative therapy can be useful for counselling Aboriginal Australians because it externalizes the problem and creates a gap between the problem and the client (Bacon 2007). Externalising conversation encourages patients to adopt a more positive attitude by facilitating dialogue, which can be used to resolve the problem. 3. Feather believes that a multidisciplinary perspective when conducting research on work, employment, and unemployment should be taken. By this he means that information needs to be conducted not just from the psychologists, but also from sociologists, economists, political scientists, and those who work with the disadvantaged, so that all the aspects having an impact on the research can be taken into consideration (Feather 2002). Secondly, he suggests that the changes in the nature of work and the resulting attitudes of the workers are also very important. Feather suggests that the researches should not only consider the needs and the values of the individuals but should also enable them to achieve what in meaningful to them and the outcome of the research should be fair and just, free from discrimination (Feather 2002). 4. According to Dickson, James, and Kippen, researchers involved in sensitive research involving emotional topics may need some therapeutic support themselves to deal with the issues which may arise from the research (Dickson, et al. 2007). They suggest that informal peer support, such as a network of colleagues, family, and friends, is very important for the researchers. They believe that informal briefing session, like discussion about emotion and how they actually feel in the process at the coffee machine or in the corridors, provide much needed support to the researcher and helps them get over the emotional distress which they might face a result of conducting a sensitive research (Dickson, et al. 2007). They also believe that researchers should be prepared to deal with the emotional challenges through their post-graduate programmes to avoid any future inconvenience. 5. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a seasonal depression which increases in fall and winter and reduces in summer. It is generally believed that it is the result of people reacting to the decreased amount of sunlight and colder temperatures (Westrin and Lam 2007). Researchers have found that bright light ends to change the chemicals in the brains of people suffering from seasonal affective disorder. The two most commonly used evidence based treatments for the disorder include light therapy and taking antidepressants. Light therapy, also known as phototherapy, includes regular exposure to bright fluorescent light during fall and winter (Westrin and Lam 2007). The therapy is usually used in twice a day, in morning and evening, to get good results. The antidepressant medication includes medicine from the SSRI family, such as fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, etc. These medications are taken in summer as well as winter. 6. Although males and females have similar intellectually capacity, males are usually better at spatial tasks than females, while females generally perform better on verbal tasks. This may be due to the fact that men demonstrate great visuospatial capabilities (Cherney 2008). The reason for is said to be the differences in mental rotation. The cause of this is still unclear but it generally attributed to the gender differences which are prevalent in the society. The development of these abilities is also linked with real life experiences. Computer and video games are said to improve the hand-eye movement resulting in better visuospatial abilities. Since boys are given toys which require space manipulation and participate in more sports activities they develop better visuospatial skills (Cherney 2008). Girls on the other hand, view spatial tasks to be more masculine and stay intimidated. Moreover, studies suggest that the type of video and computer games also has an effect on the spatial skill performance. Studies have shown that computer games improve the score of mental rotation in both males and females, but since males have more experience, their spatial abilities are generally better than their female counterparts. Findings have consistently shown a relationship between previous spatial experiences, affective variables, and visuospatial performance, making it important to quantify these factors. However, there are many form of training which can be used to enhance these spatial skills in both, males and females (Cherney 2008). Spatial ability is flexible and is not confined to genders but is more affected by the environment and life experiences. 7. According to the observational experiment “Strange Situation”, the three main parent-child attachment styles which are observed by the researchers include: Secure, Avoidant, and Anxious/Resistant (Steele and Fonagy 1996). These three attachment styles are very different from each other and reflect different levels of comfort of both, parent and the child. In the Secure attachment style, the child feels very safe with the parent or the caregiver, and freely explores the environment, is not afraid to engage with the stranger, get upset with the parent leaves the child alone, and expresses joy when the parent returns. In contrast, in the Anxious-Resistant attachment style, the child does exactly the opposite, i.e., does not explore the environment, is cautious when a stranger is around, even in the presence of the parent, get very upset when the parent leaves and is hesitant when the parent returns. The behaviour that the child demonstrates is very confined and reflects the insecurity of the child. The avoidant attachment style, on the other hand, is a mixture of the other two styles. The child demonstrating an avoidant attachment style generally ignores the parent on return and treats the parent like a stranger. There is a lack of emotional response during the reunion with the parent and the child often expresses the desire to get away from the parent by looking away and does not cuddle in when picked up. While Secure and Avoidant attachment styles are the opposite of each other, the avoidant attachment style is reflects a little of both (Steele and Fonagy 1996). These categories are further sub-categorized by the researchers. 8. Recent longitudinal and cross-sectional aging research has shown that personality traits change over the life course of an individual. Personality trait development is a life-long process and occurs in all age periods, including old age. Studies have shown that the trait of agreeableness and conscientiousness is higher in middle-aged individuals in comparison with young adults (Roberts and Mroczek 208). With age, people generally become more confident, responsible, and move socially active and mature. A framework of the Big Five personality traits was developed, that is Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Openness to Experience (Roberts and Mroczek 208). Studies reveal that people become more socially dominant and emotionally stable with time, while openness to experience increases in young adulthood but declines in old age. It was found that the mean level of personality change occurs between the ages of 20 and 40 and continues to change even in old age. The direction of change in these personality traits has been in the positive direction. However, the reason for change in personality trait more in young adulthood than in any other age is yet to be discovered. Many different factors, such as life experiences, genes, cognitive ability, etc, contribute to these changes. A better understanding of the affect of the developmental experiences on the personality change is yet to be developed. More research needs to be done to understand the effect of different factors in the process of personality change (Roberts and Mroczek 208). But it is clear that the belief that personality change does not occur in old age is wrong since many studies show that the change in personality may slow down, but never stops. 9. Psychological health of sole mothers is commonly poorer than it is for partnered mother in Australia because they are more likely to have had emotional problems than the partnered mothers. The main cause is believed to be the lower socioeconomic status of sole mothers. A study reveals that sole mothers were two to four time more likely to report suicidal thoughts, self harm, and depression in comparison with partnered mothers (Loxton, Mooney and Young 2006). The same results were concluded for other researches which were conducted outside Australia. The main reason seems to be the psychological and emotional traumas that sole mother have to deal with. Since partnered mother share the responsibility of the child with their partners, they are less likely to be disturbed. Sole mother not only deal with the emotional discomfort but also suffer a lower socioeconomic level which contributes to their distress making them more depressed and unhealthy. One of the main reasons for poor mental health is that of stress. Sole mothers clearly have a more stressful life since they are alone responsible for their child. Many studies have shown that the psychological health of sole mothers is worse than the partnered mothers, have a lower socio-economic level, and are more likely to have taken medication for depression. Studies have shown that when the socioeconomic status of sole mothers was controlled, their poor mental health decreased indicating a relationship between poor mental health and socioeconomic status (Loxton, Mooney and Young 2006). 10. Cognitive ability commonly declines in old age. Many environmental and biological factors have both, a positive and negative impact on cognitive aging (Anstey 1999). Environmental factors, such as, level of education in early life, have a very positive impact on the cognitive ability in later life, particularly in crystallised intelligence like vocabulary and general knowledge tests. The levels of education have also been associated with the socioeconomic, occupational, and health status (Anstey 1999). Moreover, education also helps individuals to make use of their cognitive abilities and lead an active and engaged lifestyle in later years. This is due to the fact that education in early life encourages individuals to engage in mental activity, which automatically increases their cognitive abilities. As far as biological factors are concerned, heredity too seems to play an important role in the cognitive aging. Studies reveal that heritability of cognitive abilities at its peak in young adulthood, reaches a plateau in middle adulthood, and decreases in later years of life. The study of aging twins also concluded that cognitive ability in old age has the heritability if about .5 to .7 (Anstey 1999). Another common view is that fulfilling life experiences, such as higher levels of education in early life, helps individuals to maintain a healthy mental activity in later life resulting in a better performance on tests of verbal ability in old age. It is also believed that mental activity leads to an increased cerebral capacity resulting in more neuronal connections (Anstey 1999). References Anstey, K. "How important is mental activity in old age?" Australian Psychologist, 1999: 128-131. Bacon, V. "What potential might narrative therapy have to assist Indigenous Australians reduce substance misuse?" Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2007: 71-82. Cherney, I. D. "Mom, let me play mroe computer games: They improe my mental rotation skills." Sex Roles, 2008: 776-786. Dickson, Swift, E. L. James, S. Kippen, and P. Liamputtong. "Doing sensitive research: What challenges do qualitative researcher face?" Qualitative research, 2007: 327-353. Diener, E., J. J. Sapyta, and E. Suh. "Subjective well-being is essential to well-being." Psychological Inquiry, 1998: 33-37. Feather, N. T. "Some issues for research on the psychology of work and unemployment: Comments on the AUstralian psychological society discussion paper." Australian Psychologist, 2002: 10-12. Loxton, D., R. Mooney, and A. F. Young. "The psychological health o sole mothers in Australia." Medical Journal of Australia, 2006: 256-268. Roberts, B. W., and D. Mroczek. "Personality trait change in adulthood." Current Directions in psychology Science, 208: 31-35. Steele, H., and P. Fonagy. "Associations among attachment classifications of mothers, fatehrs, and their infants." Child Development, 1996: 541-555. Westrin, A., and R. W. Lam. "Seasonal affective disorder: A clinical update." Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 2007: 239-246. Read More