Assignment 2: The Major Areas of Psychology
Abstract:
Psychology is the study of human behavior and the mind. Unlike pseudoscience, it applies scientific method in comprehending the way of the world. There are five major areas in psychology. Developmental psychology focuses on the life span development of humans. Secondly, cognitive psychology focuses on the use of attention, memory, perception, and the capacity of the brain to think and solve problems. Thirdly, behavioral psychology refers to how humans behave, as a result of what they learn over their lifetime; it can be under classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or observational conditioning. Fourthly, social psychology refers to the behavior of humans, as a result of how they perceive themselves and others, how others influence their behavior, and/or how the social dynamics influence their behavior. Fifthly, applied psychology is the use of psychology in the treatment of disease and illnesses, such as the use of psychotherapies in the treatment of mental disorders.
Assignment 2: The Major Areas of Psychology
Psychology is defined as “the study of human behavior and the mind” (Psychology—an introduction, 2016). It has been evolving in the world ever since the earth was born, and humans had grown their minds into discovering the complexity of human behavior and the mind. Unlike pseudoscience, psychology applies scientific method in understanding the intricacy of humans, as it demands solid evidence in supporting its claims and coming up with theories that are created based on what can be proven out of the claims. As it is said, behavior can be measured, observed, and manipulated by interpreting what is being seen and perceived before noting down the corresponding evidences with the use of a formula.
The Major Areas of Psychology
Developmental psychology
There are a number of major areas of psychology. One of them is developmental psychology, which focuses on the life span development of humans or “the progression of aging” (Developmental psychology, 2016). It centers on the understanding of aging, from birth until death. During the time of Shakespeare, the seven ages are composed of the following: (1) infancy; (2) childhood; (3) lover; (4) soldier; (5) justice; (6) old age; and (7) dementia and death (Developmental psychology, 2016). Nowadays, these seven stages are defined as: (1) infancy; (2) childhood; (3) adolescence; (4) adulthood; and (5) old age (Developmental psychology, 2016). Dementia, however, is not considered a part of normal aging, since it reflects loss of cognitive functioning, which tends to be the result of a disease or illness. Old age, on the other hand, starts at the age of sixty-five and the years succeeding.
Cognitive psychology
Another major area of psychology is cognitive psychology, which focuses on the use of attention, memory, perception, and the capacity of the brain for problem solving and thinking. This branch of psychology centers on the mental processes of the brain, as well as its anatomy and its functioning that, in overall, affects human behavior. It explains how humans think, learn, analyze, and remember by using experiences and what they readily observe in their surroundings. In cognitive psychology, the theme centers on the process of storing information from the external world by encoding them in the brain and then retrieving these information in due time to answer problems, make decisions, and combine reasons. This is done by encoding the incoming information, and then retrieving them and decoding them after some time, if in case the encoded information can still be retrieved in the brain.
Behavioral psychology
Classical conditioning
There are three basic perspectives on learning. Classical conditioning refers to a case wherein the body adjusts to stimulation before being related to bodily functions. Here, a neutral stimulus, such as the sight of the refrigerator, is paired with the taste of mango juice, which is an unconditioned stimulus. Thus, the sight of the refrigerator, which is now conditioned stimulus, produces a feeling of thirst, as a conditioned response.
Operant conditioning
The second basic perspective on learning is operant conditioning, which refers to the association between behavior and the consequences of the said behavior. In this case, drinking in front of the refrigerator, which is the behavior, results in getting a cold glass of mango juice, which is the consequence of that behavior. With this, the person becomes thirsty every time he/she stands in front of the refrigerator, which increases the likelihood that he/she will drink mango juice again the next time he/she walks in front of the refrigerator. Therefore, the mango juice has become a positive reinforcement because it increases the likelihood that the person will return to the refrigerator to drink another glass of mango juice.
Observational conditioning
The third basic perspective on learning is observational conditioning. Here, the tendency to learn new skills is based on the person’s ability to observe. It is said that “learning cannot be confined to just a pairing of stimuli or the consequences of behavior” (Learning—memory—thinking, 2016). Instead, there needs to be a way of observing others in order to learn how to do the skill or behavior. For example, observing how mango juice is made should allow one person to duplicate the behavior and do another glass of mango juice. By merely observing, one can learn how to do things on their own and duplicate the behavior.
Social psychology
Social psychology is another major area of psychology that examines behavior in three specific perspectives. First is how people perceive themselves and others. Second is how others influence people’s behavior. Third is how group and social dynamics influence the behavior of people (Social psychology, 2016). This manner of perception affects how people feel about themselves, or how they judge themselves whenever they handle tasks or mission. From this comes their perception of self-worth, their self-esteem, as well as their self-concept. These internal perceptions affect a person’s behavior, how they value themselves, and how they interact with other people, as an effect of their self-concept.
Personality
What is personality?
Personality is defined as “the sum total of people’s experiences that shape how they think, feel, and react to certain situations” (Personality, 2016). It describes their characteristics and their personalities as individuals and as members of the group or organization. It is describes their patterns of behavior that differentiates them from other people within the group or society. As stated, “It is who they are as individuals” (Personality, 2016). Personality defines a person’s traits, which can either be positive or negative. Examples of positive traits are: brave, calm, charming, cheerful, and decisive. Examples of negative traits are: abusive, afraid, aloof, angry, annoyed, arrogant, and ashamed. All these are examples of personalities. However, the main challenge in trying to understand personality rests on coming up with a definite personality type that would fit into a pattern of behavior that is more often predictable (Personality continued, 2016).
How is personality measured?
Personality can be measured through the use of words. This is the lexical approach—a term that means related to words (Personality, 2016). This was introduced by Raymond Cattell back in 1949, when he developed a total of 16 factors, each of which has multiple traits or descriptors in each of them (Personality, 2016). Here, the number of words used to describe a person, is limited to the number of adjectives that can be used. Because there are hundreds of ways that a person’s traits can be described, there are likewise hundreds of ways by which personality can be measured using the lexical approach.
How is personality used in psychology?
Personality can be made useful in psychology by using the traits of an individual to define the type of character that the individual generally has, which would reflect how strong and resilient they can be when faced with a mission or a task. This is seen in the theories presented by Hans Jurgen Eysenck who described three factors of personality; as well as the theory of Cattell, and Carl Jung’s Myers-Briggs personality inventory. There is likewise the big five-factor theory model, pertaining to the five factors of O.C.E.A.N. (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism). By using these model theories, a person can be aware of where his/her personality lands on each of these domains. They would know what areas to improve or what personalities should be made stronger, and which of those personalities should be lessened, to benefit his/her work and make them more productive. By using personality, psychology becomes useful in the everyday life of humans by making people aware of their strengths and weaknesses, which are used during work.
Applied Psychology
Psychological disorders
Definition
Psychological disorders pertain to mental illnesses, which were mentioned back during the time of the Greeks and the Roman Empire. Nowadays, however, those with mental illness should be diagnosed using standardized diagnostic criteria to consult the issue that needed to be addressed. There are times when a patient has more than one psychological disorder, under which the psychologist has to address both the mental illness, as well as the other factors that inhibit the treatment. For example, the DSM-IV-TR uses multiaxial in which both the primary mental illness as well as the other primary factors are analyzed.
Examples
One example of a psychological disorder is schizophrenia, which is being defined as a “serious mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). Those who have this illness seemed to have lost their sense of reality, and may hear voices that others do not hear. They think other people are going to hurt them. It makes it difficult for the patient to interact with other people, or go to school, do their job, or perform their everyday tasks. This illness can be very disabling.
Psychotherapy
Definition
Psychotherapy is one way of treating a person with a mental disorder. It is also called talk therapy, wherein the doctor explains to them their illness and what they are going through. The patients are given tools and strategies, which they can use, so that they can go over their experiences of stress and unhealthy thoughts and behaviors. Psychotherapy gives patients the capacity to manage themselves better, especially when it comes to the symptoms, which are usually difficult to get over with. Psychotherapy can be the best treatment a patient with a mental disorder can have, and they can be combined with medications to improve the case of the patient, for them to outlive their illness and have a healthier mind and wellbeing.
Examples
One example of a psychotherapy is cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT, which is a combination of cognitive therapy, as well as, behavioral therapy. Cognitive therapy focuses more on the patient’s thoughts and beliefs, and how it affects the moods and perceptions, as well as the actions (National Institute of Mental Health-2, 2016). Behavioral therapy, on the other hand, focuses more on the patient’s actions and the aims of changing the patient’s behavioral patterns (National Institute of Mental Health-2, 2016). This can be used in treating schizophrenia, wherein the patient and the therapist had to be involved actively, to identify the thinking patterns of the patient, all of which should be changed accordingly.
References:
Developmental psychology. (2016). In J. Anderson’s, General Psychology PSY1001 XB (Weeks 1-5). Retrieved March 9, 2016 from South University Campus database: http://mycampus.southuniversity.edu/portal/server.pt/community/south_university_campus_common/
Learning—memory—thinking. (2016). In J. Anderson’s, General Psychology PSY1001 XB (Weeks 1-5). Retrieved March 9, 2016 from South University Campus database: http://mycampus.southuniversity.edu/portal/server.pt/community/south_university_campus_common/
National Institute of Mental Health. (2016). Schizophrenia. Retrieved March 9, 2016 from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia-easy-to-read-12-2015/index.shtml.
National Institute of Mental Health-2. (2016). Psychotherapies. Retrieved March 9, 2016 from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/psychotherapies/index.shtml.
Personality. (2016). In J. Anderson’s, General Psychology PSY1001 XB (Weeks 1-5). Retrieved March 9, 2016 from South University Campus database: http://mycampus.southuniversity.edu/portal/server.pt/community/south_university_campus_common/
Personality continued. (2016). In J. Anderson’s, General Psychology PSY1001 XB (Weeks 1-5). Retrieved March 9, 2016 from South University Campus database: http://mycampus.southuniversity.edu/portal/server.pt/community/south_university_campus_common/
Psychology—an introduction. (2016). In J. Anderson’s, General Psychology PSY1001 XB (Weeks 1-5). Retrieved March 9, 2016 from South University Campus database: http://mycampus.southuniversity.edu/portal/server.pt/community/south_university_campus_common/
Social psychology. (2016). In J. Anderson’s, General Psychology PSY1001 XB (Weeks 1-5). Retrieved March 9, 2016 from South University Campus database: http://mycampus.southuniversity.edu/portal/server.pt/community/south_university_campus_common/
