Introduction
The scientific study of behaviors and mental functions is something that I am interested in so much. My personal goal as an upcoming psychologist is essentially to have a good understanding of individuals and groups through both researching specific cases and establishing general principles. For that reason, the first topic that is, Introduction to Psychology is a very motivating topic to me.
I like the definition of psychology because it is straight forward and easily understandable. What is studied in this field that is, mental process and behavior is what I am interested most as I have stated above. Since a human mind is enigmatic and highly complex, many people tend to wonder how the psychologists study such a seemingly abstract, extremely sophiscated, and intricate thing. This chapter provides hopes to anyone interested in becoming a psychologist since it explains what psychology is in a procedural or step by step manner. The chapter begins by stating the role of a psychologist as examining observable behaviors, drawing inferences from the behaviors about less apparent process for example, emotions and thoughts, and employing systematic methods so as to comprehend, predict, control, and explain behavior. This is what makes this field become lively and remove the worries that many have about studying a human mind. Personally, I find this explanation very helpful since it clearly explains to me what I am supposed to do so as to achieve my goal.
Coming to the approaches in psychology, the 3 approaches discussed in chapter 1 motivate me further since they make me have a desire to know more. This is very imperative in my career because I become more and more interested that in turn will help me to achieve my goal easily. I like the way this chapter has categorically described the 3 approaches that is, intra-individual approach, individual level of analysis approach, and inter-individual analysis approach. The description of these three approaches provides a better guidance that is vital for anyone to achieve his or her goals in this specific field of study.
Having lived with many individuals with different characters, all the specialized areas of psychology are fascinating to me. The seven areas provide more motivation because after keenly going through them, I understand what I am supposed to do in my scientific study of behavior and mental functions so as to achieve my goal. With a better understanding of these specialized areas, I understand that I can solve any problem be it a problem faced by children or faced by adults. I like the fact that a better understanding of these approaches will improve my job of helping to solve a problem hence this will make me enjoy my career.
I have always believed that theories organize and summarize a lot of information. In other words, theories try to describe facts. Thus, the truth that psychology is made up of theories makes me believe that in this field of study there is no fiction. The ability of these theories in psychology to connect facts as a result means that the theory based research conducted in psychology does not produce inaccessible bits of trivia. Instead, findings in psychology fit into a specific framework, which connects several other studies. In addition, theories in the field of psychology are normally more testable than the common sense hence the research conducted in this field is not biased hence psychology is a living subject. What I like most about psychological theories is their evaluation criteria, and this implies that this is a subject that is based on reality.
In terms of the research done in psychology to study behaviors and mental functions, it is very interesting to note that knowledge gained is attained by the scientific methods and scientific methods are based on facts. As a result, after being motivated by curiosity, the preexisting knowledge, and a longing to solve the real world problems, a psychologist will conduct a research and gain truthful knowledge about human behavior and mental processes. This is imperative because one will not judge wrongly when observing and interpreting the behavior of another person. I have personally experienced individuals who judge others wrongly after observing their behaviors. For that reason, I believe that the scientific method used in psychological research deals with this problem as it allows informed judgments on another individuals’ behaviors. Consequently, since the research conducted in this field is not biased, I find it very lively and enjoyable hence a road to success.
Under the research, the questions formulated are straight forward because they try to investigate problems that occur in our day to day living. The relationships between variables make it easier for one to formulate hypotheses that can be tested. It is this testing that leads to development of theories. A good thing about psychological theories is that they summarize numerous observations, can be tested to determine whether they are true, and predicts events that occur naturally. The research methods are also fun for example; observing the behaviors of individuals makes the subject become more entertaining. Therefore, the above facts about topic 1 encourage me to work more hard and achieve my goal of good understanding individuals and groups.
References
Plotnik, R. (2002). Introduction to psychology. Australia: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.
Atkinson, R. L., & Hilgard, E. R. (2000). Hilgard's introduction to psychology. Fort Worth, Tex: Harcourt College Publishers.
Myers, D. G. (2004). Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers.
Wade, C., & Tavris, C. (2000). Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
