...Food is a constant in life; we need it for energy, growth, nourishment and survival. You never really know how much food plays into our lives until you try to change the food you eat or analyze why or how you eat the food you consume. Food Psychology is the study of the mental process behind how and why we eat. Research has shown over the years that our eating habits are significantly influenced by our view and thoughts on food as well as many other social, environmental, physical and psychological factors. Anthekme Brillat Savarin sums it up greatly with the phrase “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are”. Food feeds our feelings and sometimes our feelings feed food into us more than we’d like. Food is a common denominator in life, we socialize around food, celebrate holidays with food, even going on a date we commonly find ourselves surrounded with food. Food can evoke memories of our distant past; it can arouse us, harm us or help us. Even jealousy can flair up in people due to food, one study found; “compared with things like having a coffee or talking on the telephone when their partners had lunch with an old flame, it provoked the most jealousy (Kniffin & Wansink, 2012). Psychology is a ponderous part of life as is it relation to food. Food relates to psychology because it drives how we eat, how we market food and how we connect food with experiences and memories; food can become a coping tool and therefore influence us. Food Psychology has many...
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...Pay It Forward Wendy Easton March 12, 2012 PSY 490 Radha S. Shanker, Ph.D. Pay it Forward Philosophers for centuries have debated if a prosocial act regardless of the degree of generosity or unselfishness the act may appear on its surface exists genuinely altruistic (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). People who volunteer to work at the local food closet may do so based on a genuine desire to help other people or to assist in alleviating a personal anxiety. I believe altruism exists and will provide a personal example to support this belief. In addition, I will explain further altruism, how it relates to psychology, and to personal, professional, and social responsibilities, and its effect on the future of psychology. Personal Experience Summary My life as I perceive it exists busy; consequently, I reside perpetually behind schedule. However, I do make time to drop food and personal hygiene items off and visit with the managers of the local food bank the first Wednesday of every month. The individuals and families that enter the building are each gracious and grateful for the food and other products offered. I have never witnessed any person display embarrassment for the need for assistance, in fact, I had not thought about that emotion until this assignment. Each person I have encountered either dropping off or in need have resided authentically friendly and appreciative. Genuinely, I do not believe that any person possesses expectations. Consequently, I do believe...
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...* Psychology is a relatively new scientific discipline * Was once known as an experimental philosophy * Descartes introduced idea that the brain is not the same as the mind, mind and body are separate entities * John Locke’s concept of empiricism shows that knowledge is derived from sensory experience (senses) * Can be studied using the scientific method Wundt and Introspection: Evaluation: Key behaviourist psychologists: Pavlov & Watson * Unreliable method of investigation * Different participants provide different introspective reports about same stimulus. * Trained in introspection not very useful * Pavlov got reliable, reproducible results in experiments on animals and can be generalised to humans * Can’t study on children and animals due to limited vocab and can’t express feelings properly. * Animal thoughts can’t be studied * Learning, development, mental disorders & personality can’t investigate through introspection – questions validity of using introspection as a method for investigating human behaviour because it’s subjective (only his/her can report mental processes * For Watson, only way to make psychology a science is to emulate natural science and adopt its own objective methods * Psychologists often use it alongside other scientific methods to investigate. Key behaviourist psychologists: Pavlov & Watson * Unreliable method of investigation ...
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...The Four Goals of Psychology The Four Goals of Psychology Ariel Mendoza Grand Canyon University: General Psychology January 18th, 2012 Psychology is the study of human behavior and mental processes, not only what we do but why. Our thoughts, memories, emotions, perceptions, all fall under this category. It is the study of what makes us, us. There are ultimately four goals in psychology. Describe, explain, predict, and control. Describe, is when you observe. You look, watch, and listen so that you are able to identify and classify mental processes and behaviors as precise as possible. Ivan Pavlov was a physiologist studying digestive processes on his dogs when he came up with the concept of classical conditioning. Using the first goal of psychology, he observed that when his assistants dressed in white lab coats had come to bring edible and non-edible items for the canines, their mouths would begin to salivate. He began to explain or propose reasons for this behavior that the canines’ responses were learned actions. That in the process of trying to learn about their digestive systems by giving them food, he learned they had become accustomed to eating whenever the humans with white lab coats were nearby. Salivating to the expectation of food is a conditioned reflex. It was after what he explained that he could be able to predict what would happen if he changed their introduction to the food being presented. Pavlov wanted to change the conditioned...
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...is the belief that human or animal psychology can be accurately studied only through the examination of observable behavioural events, in contrast with subjective mental states (Kardas, 2014, p. 297). Although other psychological approaches had already demonstrated the utility of focusing on behaviour, Behaviourism, as a sub-discipline in psychology, developed largely because of the work of John Watson and B. F. Skinner. Both behaviourists agreed that studying behaviour, not consciousness, should be the main focus of psychology, but they differed in theory; Watson’s believed that behaviour could be demonstrated in classical conditioning, while Skinner believed in using operant conditioning. Both Watson and Skinner rejected the studying of consciousness. Watson was convinced that because it could not be observed it could not be studied. According to Watson (1913) the goal of psychology for a behaviourist “is the prediction and control of behaviour. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness” (p. 1). He felt that introspection was faulty at best and awarded researchers nothing but more issues. He pushed for psychology to no longer be considered the science of the mind; instead, he asserted that psychology should focus on observable behaviour (p. 9). Skinner also believed that psychology should study observable behaviour,...
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...Essay Describe and evaluate the behaviourist approach in psychology (10 marks) When psychologists look at behaviourism in the environment they look at the nature vs nurture argument where they argued that nurture for a child is more important that the nature of the child. Psychology approaches the fact that behaviour is more learnt from the environment than it is just born it to you. For example, you learnt that you have to get dressed every morning and not go out the house with nothing on as it is illegal. That is not born into you; you have to be taught it. However depending on the environment you are brought up in, psychologists say, depends on what you learnt and how you behave. The more you learn the less likely you are to commit a crime and the more likely you are to teach your own children that they should behave in life. The case study for The Batista Boys is an example of how nurture for children can be more powerful than nature. All 18 boys in the family had a condition where they were born appearing to be female. All of them were raised as females and it wasn’t until they hit puberty than the whole family knew any different. The boys all were raised as girls and they acted feminine until they found out the truth. This case study could prove that nature can be overruled by nature and that it is a lot more powerful than it seems. Psychologists, such as Pavlov, believe that animals can learn from classical conditioning in the environment. Pavlov classically conditioned...
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...Social Psychology 11.30am – 1.00pm Throughout this essay I am going to discuss main aims and procedures of psychology from academic perspective, what psychology is, the founding fathers of psychology, main issues concerning psychologist, different branches of psychology and why psychology is form of science. The purposes of psychology is focusing on research and theories and understanding psychological area. While some psychologists work on applied psychology to gain knowledge. Psychologist involved in research applies psychology during some point in their career. Clinical psychology is among various principles of psychology aims at developing knowledge and research method which they continue to build up and treat with psychological issues. Psychology is the science discipline to understand behaviours of a person. The goal is to understand people by establishing general principles and researching cases. The four goals of psychology are description, explanation, prediction and influence. Description is identifying behaviours. Explanation is the reason for mental behaviour. Prediction is offering hypothesis about sets of conditions produces manner of behaving and mental processes. Influence is using the results of research to solve practical problems that involves behaviour. The specialised meanings in psychology are behaviourism, functionalism, individualism, ethnocentrism, introspection and pragmatism. Determinism is the argument that the person doesn’t have...
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...Psychology Paper Historical Roots of Psychology Psychology as defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary is the science of mind and behavior. It has been around for 130 years in the realms of science. In the history of psychology, there are different people who studied different aspects under this topic. One of those people were Plato who was Aristotle’s teacher. He stated that the soul could exist even when away or separated from the body. This concept is known as “dualism”. “In dualism, ‘mind’ is contrasted with ‘body’” (http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/dualism). Another person is René Descartes. He agreed with Plato about the concept of dualism and he believed that the “pineal gland” which is the small organ at the base of the brain involved in sleep was the “seat of the soul” (Saundra K. Ciccarelli, 2012). “The pineal gland played an important role in Descartes' account because it was involved in sensation, imagination, memory, and the causation of bodily movements” (http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2011/entries/pineal-gland/). By this information we can connect the pineal gland being the seat of the soul by it being involved in sensation, imagination, memory, and the cause of bodily movements. It is said to be the seat of the soul because it is where the soul from being “individual”, becomes one with the body. Gustav Fechneris who was a physician and a physicist, often credited with performing some of the first scientific experiments that...
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...Brown 1 Hannah M. Brown Mr. James Eichen English IV P 16 February 2016 Food Studies Food is the center of life across the globe, in various cultures. While it is vital to humanity’s survival, it has become far more than an important factor of health and nutrition. In food studies, the complex relationship between food and humans is explored. Food studies is more than just the study of food itself, as it is different from the traditional foodrelated areas like nutrition, molecular science and gastronomy. It is explored via multiple perspectives such as art, history, sociology, psychology, social justice and economics. With psychology having the largest connection to food studies, researchers can look deeply into eating and find a deeper meaning to help them understand humanity in a greater way. A meal has the image of unity and brings people together. Food choices can tell stories of families, groups and individuals. “The ways in which foods are eaten in various nationalities signified unconscious attributes and qualities” ( “Thinking Made Easy” ). Humans live by symbols to make sense of this world, to help organize and to give meaning to our existence. Every group, whether it is bound with religion or social status, thinks of itself as “special and exceptional and uses food to show it” ( Civitello ). During the Chinese New Year, traditional dishes are carried with great significance based upon superstitions affiliated with spirituality...
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...: “ BEHAVIOURISTS EXPLAIN MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOUR IN TERMS OF THE LEARNING PRINCIPLES THAT SUSTAIN AND MAINTAIN IT. DISCUSS THIS STATEMENT AND SHOW HOW A BEHAVIOURIST’S APPROACCH TO THERAPY IS IN STARK CONTRAST TO A PSYCHOANALYTIC ONE” Behaviourism is a movement within psychology that works on the principle that all behaviour is “learned” , that we were all born with a “blank slate”. Behavioural approaches use strict experimental measures to study observable behaviour ( or responses ) in relation to the environment, thus resulting in the maladaptive behavioural approaches that we employ to deal with our learning. Behaviourism was first developed in the early 20th century by an American psychologist John B Watson, who at the time was working in the field of animal psychology. He believed that all behaviour was observable and therefore scientific, and worked on the principle and study of the association between a stimulus and response. ( Watson did not deny the existence of inner experiences, but insisted that they could not be studied because they were not observable ) Watson’s stimulus and response theory of psychology claimed that all complex forms of behaviour – emotions, habits etc – are seen as composed of simple muscular and glandular elements that can be observed and measured, and that emotional reactions are learned in much the same way. Watson aimed to prove his beliefs with laboratory experiments, and one of these experiments was known as “ The Little Albert Experiment”...
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...Early Psychology: Perspectives and Theories 3 Early Theories of Psychology By: Jasmine N. Gresham AIU online: Course work unit one individual project SSCI206-1205D-01 Aspects of Psychology Short Description of each Perspective: Gestalt: Is a psychology term which means "unified whole". It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. These theories attempt to describe how people tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles are applied. Founded by Max Wertheimer, was to some extent a rebellion against the molecularism of Wundt’s program for psychology, in sympathy with many others at the time, including William James. In fact, the word Gestalt means a unified or meaningful whole, which was to be the focus of psychological study instead. Behaviorism: hard core behaviorists believe that everything you do is because of conditioning. You are merely a puppet, an animal trained to act one way or another by your parents and society. Physiological: the name says it all - most everything you do or feel can be traced back to a chemical, neurological, physical reaction of some kind in your body. Examples that represent each perspective: * Example of Gestalt:...
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...I. INTRODUCTION “Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world” - Nelson Mandela Education Psychology is a branch of psychology that deals application of psychology to teaching and learning and as science it depends upon research for guidance and direction in promoting effective and responsible teaching that the teachers can use, it enhances the procedure of effective teaching, and it also gives a scientific approach for teaching in different knowledge, skills and values. [1] One of the purpose/ function of Education Psychology is to guides the teacher in understanding the characteristics of his/her learners in each stage of their development. The teacher/instructor must have a basic knowledge of growth development to be able to design an appropriate learning material according to the student’s development stage. In general, Educational psychology is important not only in the filed of psychology but also in the field of education. As a partial fulfillment in one of our major subjects, which is PSY05 (Educational Psychology) we are required to conduct a classroom observation in the Elementary or High School setting. This said requirement aims to make connections between theories and practices that we discussing in the said subject. Francisco G. Nepomuceno Memorial High School, the school that we chose of our group for our observation. FGNHMS or commonly known as City High Pandan is a public secondary...
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...The Study of Animal Behavior through Comparative Psychology I have found that the use of comparative psychology to study animal behavior has been a most crucial part in the development of todays’ society in humans alike. Comparative psychology is a branch of psychology popularly focused on comparing animal behavior to human behavior. Essentially comparative psychology focuses on animal psychology and the implications that science may have on our understanding of human psychology. Comparative psychology, which involves the study of mental processes and behavior in other animals, is also known as ethology or behavioral biology. Comparative researchers have a wide variety of jobs from studying animals in cages and controlled environments to traveling to distant places in far off countries to study animals in their natural environments. Many of the jobs people prefer tend to include working in laboratories, zoos or aquariums. The psychologists study animals and their behaviors in the wild to compare and contrast their findings. Most times comparative researchers spend their time teaching others about what they have either observed or learned from others experienced in the field of study. The study of animal behavior is enormously diverse, largely because behavior is focused to so many aspects of an animal's biology. Virtually any kind of behavior performed by an animal may be the subject of study. Some questions that have attracted considerable interest include...
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...theory in contemporary psychology. Psychological functionalism attempts to describe thoughts and what they do without asking how they do it. For functionalists, the mind resembles a computer, and to understand its processes, you need to look at the software -- what it does -- without having to understand the hardware -- the why and how underlying it. Gestalt Psychology According to Gestalt psychologists, the human mind works by interpreting data through various laws, rules or organizing principles, turning partial information into a whole. For example, your mind might interpret a series of lines as a square, even though it has no complete lines; your mind fills in the gaps. Gestalt psychotherapists apply this logic to problem-solving to help patients. Psychoanalysis Psychoanalytic theory, which originated with Sigmund Freud, explains human behavior by looking at the subconscious mind. Freud suggested that the instinct to pursue pleasure, which he described as sexual in nature, lies at the root of human development. To Freud, even the development of children hinged on key stages in discovering this pleasure, through acts such as feeding at the mother's breast and defecating, and he treated abnormal behavior in adults by addressing these stages. Behaviorism In the 1950s, B.F. Skinner carried out experiments with animals, such as rats and pigeons, demonstrating that they repeated certain behaviors if they associated them with rewards in the form of food. Behaviorists believe...
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... Psychology of Health in the Workplace Paper Health and Psychology are overlapping concepts that describe the well-being and mental influences that motivate to respond to their health psychologically and physically. Health can be explained as optimal wellness or type of illness (Sarafino, 2011). In other words, health is whether someone is experiencing symptoms or simply how their current state of their body. This essay will take a look at the interrelatedness of health and psychology, health in the workforce, and lifestyle choices that can be done to deter illness and chronic diseases. Psychology and Health relationship Psychology and health provides a reasoning that an individual personality and mental process influence their health (Sarafino, 2011). For instance, health might be pre-determines biologically such as genetics and DNA. Psychological factors such as negative emotions, conscientiousness, anxiety, stress, hostility, and pessimism may impact an individual health. For example, an individual may become depress and utilize high-fat foods to deal with depression, which in turns contributes to obesity and weight gain. Another aspect on how health and psychology relationship combines is through behaviorism to impact health positively. Few examples of the goals through behaviorism, for health and psychology is motivating health and wellness, averting illnesses, classifying the...
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