...Basic Concepts of Positive Psychology Krista Hart June 11, 2014 Tricia Henderson Subjective well –being is defined as a person’s cognitive and affective evaluations of his or her life. The cognitive element refers to what one thinks about his or her life satisfaction in global terms (life as a whole) and in domain terms. The affective element refers to emotions, moods and feelings. Affect is considered positive when the emotions, moods and feelings experienced are pleasant. Affect is deemed negative, though, when the emotions, moods and feelings experienced are unpleasant. When psychologist measures SWB, they are measuring how people think and feel about their lives. The three components of SWB, life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect, are independent factors that should be measured and studied separately. Thus, the presence of positive affect does not mean the absence of negative affect and vice versa. Before evaluating the correlates and predictors of SWB, it is worth noting the instruments used in measuring the components of SWB. Life satisfaction can be measured using a questionnaire such as the 5 items satisfaction with life questionnaire. Affectivity can be measured by for example, the PANAS. I would never consider to be hooked up to a machine in order to be cheerful and happy. I want to use my own will to make myself feel happy and complete not a machine. Hedonic happiness is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance...
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...The Gestalt psychologists maintained that when people perceive sensory elements their tendency is to see things in terms of the entire form or pattern rather than as individual parts. Identify and describe these basic principles of perceptual organization from the Gestalt perspective: figure-ground, similarity, proximity, and closure. Gestalt psychology was based on the study of perception. Gestalt is a term that means whole. Gestalt physiologists argued that we perceive as a meaningful and complex object, not a series of independent parts. In other words, we perceive any stimulus field as a simplified, balanced, and organized whole. For example, in the perception of letters with missing parts consciousness seeks to fill in this gap, and we recognize the whole letter. The wholeness of perception and its orderliness is achieved through the following principles: figure-ground, similarity, proximity, and closure. Figure-ground is a lot illusions are based on this principle. In a picture we can see either faces or a vase, or either a young or old woman. The illusion is based on gestalt when we focus on the figure from the background. The figure is what comes forward and what make sense for us; the background is what we ignore and what does not come to our consciousness. Similarity is people’s visual perception always tends to classify similar objects the same; therefore, objects with similar characteristics whether size, color, shape, or brightness are perceived as...
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...Basic Concepts and Principles in Psychology Amber Winston Kaplan University PS124 - Unit 3 Assignment 06/02/2015 The video that I chose was Harlow’s Monkey Experiment. Harlow was a Psychologist who provided an understanding of human behavior and development. Harlow used the social behavior of monkeys for an attachment deprivation. Harlow believed the monkey study demonstrated that the need for affection created a stronger bond between mother and infant more than physical needs (food). Social development begins at birth as a child forms an attachment (a strong emotional bond) with the primary caregiver, usually the mother. In Harlow's initial experiments, infant monkeys were separated from their mothers at six to twelve hours after birth and were raised instead with substitute or "surrogate" mothers made either of heavy wire mesh or of wood covered with cloth. Both mothers were the same size, but the wire mother had no soft surfaces while the other mother was cuddly covered with foam rubber and soft cloth. Both mothers were also warmed by an electric light placed inside them. Even when the wire mother was the source of nourishment (and a source of warmth provided by the electric light), the infant monkey spent a greater amount of time clinging to the cloth surrogate. These results led researchers to believe the need for closeness and affection goes deeper than a need for warmth. This experiment was just an example of how a human infant or child needs love and affection...
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...Psychology Subfields: Social Psychology Social Psychology Basic vs. Applied Research Beau L. Miller Valley Forge Christian College Dr. Kenneth Damstrom PSY223 A Introduction to Psychology October 22, 2010 Abstract In my paper I’ll try to distingush between applied vs. basic social psychology research through the acute social crisis of our time. Many people are turning to social science for the solution of our social problems. Society seems to be saying, in effect, "Scientific methodology in the natural sciences and their accompanying technologies has brought us to the brink of extinction; let it save us through the social sciences and their technologies." The great foundations, governmental agencies, business organizations, and the universities are repsonding to this demand by directing increasing amounts of money and personnel to activities dealing with human relations, intergroup relations, and social "problems" in general. Social Psychology Applied vs. Basic Research In a time where social work and social psychology are often seen as similar to the uneducated, I want to use this research paper to look into the differences of how psychologists are using their research. I’ll try to use this paper to address both basic questions regarding human behavior and applied issues of social concern. In (Kelman, 1968)described the tension between the rigor and vigor within science in general and within social psychology. In presenting the different styles of research...
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...* Introduction to developmental psychology (history, basic issues) * Theories of development * Research methods in child development Introduction History Child development as a science Parental preoccupation with “expert” child rearing started in the early 20th century. Parents started turning to paediatricians and psychologists for advice. John Watson pushed for rigid feeding schedules for infants and an orderly approach to child rearing. Benjamin Spock’s urged parents not engage in conflicts over issues such as weaning and toilet training, and to display affection to their children. Today Watson’s views are seen as emotionally cold and excessively rigid, while Spock’s recommendations as overly indulgent. What does developmental psychology study? Developmental science seeks to identify variables that influence development and to explain how they work together to shape an individual’s life. Scientists develop theories and conduct research aimed at describing, explaining, and predicting age-related changes in behaviour, thinking, emotions and social relationships. Definition Orderly and relatively enduring changes over time in physical and neurological structures, thought processes, and behaviour. 3 broad goals in the study of 3 child development: * To understand changes that appear to be universal * To explain individual differences * To understand how children’s behaviour is influenced by the environmental context or situation. ...
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...Topic/Activity Reading Assignment/Activity 1 Course Introduction; Policies and Procedures syllabus, rules, policies 2 Background of psychology; basic terms give out textbooks 3 Psychology: from Hippocrates to Wundt p. 1-8 workbook (wb) p. 2-4 4 Perspectives and the Big Issues p. 9-14 wb 4-6 5 Skepticism, Common Sense, and Hindsight p. 14-24 vocab quiz; wb 6-9 6 Research Basics: Observations and Surveys p. 24-30 7 Research Basics: Correlation and Causation p. 30-34 vocab drill 8 Research Basics: The Experimental Method p. 37-40 vocab quiz; wb 19-21 9 Ethical standards and practices in Psychology p. 49-53 experiment analysis project 10 Film: Discovering Psychology Part 2 film; worksheets on experiments 11 Test on background and scientific methods Test Unit Objectives: · Define psychology and trace its historical development. · Compare and contrast the psychological perspectives(behavior, cognitive, humanistic, neuroscience, psychoanalytic, behavior genetics). · Identify basic and applied research subfields of psychology. · Identify basic elements of an experiment (variables, groups, sampling, population, etc.). · Compare and contrast research methods (case, survey, naturalistic observation). ...
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...Social Psychology Definition Roberta Menlove Psy/400 October 2, 2012 Richard Johnston Social Psychology Definition Social psychology is a discipline of science attempting to guide social situations giving particular consideration to how humans interact with one another. Social psychology focuses on how individuals, in general, think about, view, influence, relate to, and affect each other. Social psychology cannot explain every social problem, however, by studying how individuals react to specific situations it does give insight into understanding many aspects such as how stereotypes are created. It also can explain behaviors such sexism, racism, why a person may behave one way in a certain situation and like a completely different person in a different situation, and even how individuals fall in and out of love (Myers, 2010). Clinical Psychology Social psychology is very similar to other psychologies, such as clinical psychology and sociology, but has distinctions of its own. For instance, one contrast between social psychology and clinical psychology is social psychology tends to focus on situational influences of “normal” behavior, whereas clinical psychology focuses on particular behaviors mainly intra-psychic influences of “abnormal” behavior. Clinical psychology is an expansive field of research within the sphere of psychology that applies psychological principles to rehabilitation, prevention, assessment, amelioration, or psychological dysfunctional behavior...
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...Question 2: Critically discuss the basic principles of CP. Situate your argument by referring to how a specific school can be manipulated to either perpetuate ideologies and ideas or how it can facilitate critical thinking. In discussing the basic principles of Critical Psychology, we need to establish what Critical psychology is – what its basic concerns are, etc. After doing that and reaching an understanding of what critical psychology is, we can look at how specific schools can be manipulated to either perpetuate ideologies and ideas or how it can facilitate critical thinking. Critical psychology is an approach rather than a theory, an orientation towards psychological knowledge and practice – and to relations of power in general. It is an orientation that cuts across the various sub-disciplines in psychology and is made up of diverse theoretical perspectives and forms of practice. An omnipresent theme is critical psychology is that of psychology and power itself. At its most basic it is an investigation of the relationship between power and psychology. It is an awareness that psychology itself is powerful and that it plays a role in maintaining and extending existing relations of power. Critical psychology is concerned with both critiquing oppressive uses of psychology and with enabling potentially transformatory forms of practice that disrupt imbalances of power and which have social equality as their goal. The mainstream practice of psychology has attempted to play down its...
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...to the conception of complex phenomena in terms of basic parts or elements. This conception of science was leading to many important discoveries with important applications in areas such as the biological sciences in the late 1800s. It was at this time that, what most psychologists acknowledge as, the first "school of psychology" began. In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt began the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany. The school of psychology that Wundt began and championed all his life is referred to as "structuralism". For this reason, Wundt is often referred to as the father of structuralism. Structuralism can be defined as psychology as the study of the elements of consciousness. The idea is that conscious experience can be broken down into basic conscious elements, much as a physical phenomenon can be viewed as consisting of chemical structures, that can in turn be broken down into basic elements. In fact, much of the research conducted in Wundt's laboratory consisted of cataloging these basic conscious elements. In order to reduce a normal conscious experience into basic elements, structuralism relied on a method called introspection. For example, one of Wundt's research assistants might describe an object such as an apple in terms of the basic perceptions it invoked (e.g., "cold", "crisp", and "sweet"). An important principal of introspection is that any given conscious experience must be described in it's most basic terms, so that a researcher could not describe some...
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...Introduction to Psychology Chapter 1 The Origins of Psychology A. What is Psychology? * Psychology is the science of human and animal behavior; the study of the organism in all of its variety and complexity as it response to the flux and flow of the physical and social events that make up the environment. * Psychology is more than common sense * Why is psychology scientific? * Because it is based on empiricism * The notion that all knowledge can be acquired through observation, not on reasoning, tradition or common sense * Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior * Mind * The contents of subjective experience * Sensations, thoughts, and emotions * Behavior * Observable actions * Thought and feelings * Activities of cells B. Roots of Modern Psychology * In the late 1800's both physiologists and philosophers were investigating the mind * Philosophy - "why" * Physiology - "how" * Philosophy - ideas of about the acquisition of knowledge * Physiology - progress in understanding the nervous system, senses, etc. * Both came together to create the idea of applying the methods of science to the study of human behavior C. The First Schools: Psychology Emerges as a Science * Wilhelm Wundt * Established psychology as an independent science * First psychology lab, in Germany (1879) * Defined psychology as the...
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...| The foundations of psychology | | | Blaine Waddell | 5/29/2011 | PSY/300 Katherine Bowen | Psychology is a science of behavior and mental functioning that uses both quantitative and qualitative research studies to develop and test hypotheses and put forward theories and models that explain human behavior.” (Kowalski & Westen, 2005) When psychology was first founded there were only a few foundations of psychology. The most popularly used in the 1800’s were called, structuralism and functionalism. Structuralism focuses on identifying and analysis basic elements of experiences. These experiences even include mental events like perception. Research for this form of approach to psychology comes from verbal accounts of experiences. Functionalism focuses on the belief that optimal learning conditions can be created by knowing how the brain uses and processes information; thereby it is considered perceptional also. As time went on and the science of psychology progresses more approaches to present day psychology emerged. Behavioral, psychoanalytic, cognitive, social/cultural, humanism, physiological, and clinical are all popular approaches to modern day psychology. The physiological approach is the learning how the brain effects behavior and how behavior can affect the brain. The behavioral approach...
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... COLLEGE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATE DEGREE PROGRAMME Code: GESS5301 Title: Essential of Psychology Term: Fall 2012 Credits: 3 Pre-requisite: NIL Instructor: Ms. Katherine Leung Office Location: -- Office Tel: -- Email Address: kath0214@hkbu.edu.hk Aims and Objectives This course aims at providing students with a general introduction to the field of psychology. While several orientations to the study of human behavior will be discussed, the primary emphasis will be put on the scientific study of behavior from an empirical perspective. Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs) On completion of this course, students should be able to |CILO 1 |Describe and distinguish between the major psychological theories of behaviour; | |CILO 2 |Define, generate and identify examples of the basic behavioural principles and concepts as well as how to apply them to their own lives; | | |and | |CILO 3 |Critique the major areas typically considered the domain of psychology such as learning, sensation, memory, personality, developmental | | |psychology, and abnormal behaviour from an empirical perspective. ...
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...biases are minimized Psychology—scientific study of behavior that is tested through scientific research Dualism Free Association Dream Analysis Heredity—all traits and properties that are passed along biologically from parent to child Physiological—having to do with an organism’s physical processes Introspection Psychiatry You should know the definition/major characteristics of the three Historical Approaches and the six Contemporary Approaches: Functionalism—psychologist who studied the function of consciousness structuralism—psychologist who studied the basic elements that make up conscious mental experiences inheritable traits—heredity influences a person’s abilities, character, and behavior Humanism—psychologist who believes that each person has freedom in directing his or her future and achieving personal growth psychoanalysis—studies how unconscious motives and conflicts determine human behavior, feelings, and thoughts cognitive—organism’s thinking and understanding behaviorism—analyzes how organisms learn or modify their behavior based on their response to events in the environment biological—impact of biology on behavior sociocultural—studying the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on behavior and social functioning You should know the major contributors to each field and their belief structure: William Wundt—structuralism BF Skinner--behaviorism Carl Rogers—humanistic psychology Ivan Pavlov--behaviorism ...
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...The Foundations of Psychology Psychology is the scientific investigation of mental processes and behavior. Mental processes include how a person thinks, feels, remembers as well as a person’s behavior. When a doctor needs to understand a person they need to know the person’s biology, psychological experience, and cultural context. People’s experiences during their life from birth to adulthood are what shape how they feel and think. Early psychologists established several approaches and schools of thoughts of psychology. These schools of thought are known as the psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive and evolutionary perspectives. They came up with these by research and study which will be discussed throughout this paper. In many respects, these perceptions have progressed independently, and at the center of each are singularities the others tend to ignore (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Despite their differences, each school of thought sought evolution for psychology as well as advancement of human understanding while remaining focused on the unique characteristics of contemporary psychology. Psychodynamic Perspective. The psychodynamic perspective belief is that most of the mental processes and emotions happen at the unconscious or subconscious levels, meaning below conscious awareness. Sigmund Freud was one of the most influential thinkers in the early twentieth century whose work in the psychodynamic...
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... | | |Chapter Summary/Lecture Organizer | I. INTRODUCING PSYCHOLOGY A. What is Psychology? - The scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology values empirical evidence - information acquired by direct observation and measurement using systematic scientific methods and critical thinking – the process of objectively evaluating, comparing, analyzing, and synthesizing information. Studying psychology offers practical solutions to everyday problems and develops an appreciation for scientific methods of research, as opposed to pseudo psychologies (“false psychologies”) that pretend to discover psychological information through nonscientific methods. B. Psychology’s Goals -The four goals of psychology are: (1) Description - to describe particular behaviors by careful scientific observation, (2) Explanation – to explain behaviors by conducting experiments to determine their causes, (3) Prediction – to predict when a behavior being studied will occur in the future, and (4) Change – to change inappropriate behavior or circumstances. psychologists investigate behavior with basic research or...
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