...Introduction The history of psychology dates as far back as ancient Greece. The philosophers since the 4th century BCE have been trying to define exactly what it is that makes us, us. Plato proposed four groupings (artistic, sensible, intuitive, reasoning) and Aristotle hypothesized four factors (iconic i.e. artistic, pistic i.e. common sence, noetic i.e. intuition and dianoetic i.e. logic) and contributed to ones social order in society. (blog. tiptaplab.com). Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that governs the personality and its variations between individuals. The areas of focus include; construction of a coherent picture of the individual and their major psychological processes, investigation of individual psychological differences, investigation of human nature and psychological similarities between individuals. Personality also refers to someone’s public image (blog. tiptaplab.com). The word personality is a Latin word personae, which is the mask actors wore in ancient Greek plays. They changed personae to let audience know they were assuming different roles (www.reading fanatic.com). Key contributors of Personality There are several contributors to school of personality psychology who explore personality in different contexts. They include Gordon Alport, who believed personality is something within an individual that leads to characteristics of behaviour and thought. Carl Rogers on the other hand thought it is a self organized consistent pattern...
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...alcoholism, criminality and homosexuality. Throughout this essay six types of theories will be discussed about how and why people are deviant. Four of these theories support the idea of deviance being biological and three support the idea of it being caused by your social construction. Also the essay will talk about the differences between the theories and a similarity amongst them as they don’t often agree. There are two main views that people see as to how a person becomes deviant; biologically or from a person’s social construction. The biological explanation of deviance is that it is part of who you are when you are born. Whether you are born into a long line of alcoholics or your mother has a mental illness, it is coming from your genes. There are many theories that support the biological explanation of deviance that will be explained in this essay. Some seem very unlikely and don’t have a lot of evidence but there are a lot of theorists that support this idea. The social constructionist explanation is that you become deviant from the way that you are brought up. It is believed that certain parts of your childhood can cause a person to become deviant. This could be that your parents or caregivers brought you up to be a deviant person because they were deviant themselves. It could also be that you were neglected as a child and never were taught right from wrong. There are also many theories supporting this explanation of deviance and one famous believer of...
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...PSYCHOLOGY PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE Chapter 13 MOTIVATION AND EMOTION Section 1: The Psychology of Motivation Section 2: Biological Needs: Focus on Hunger Section 3: Psychological Needs Section 4: Emotions 1 HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON Chapter 13 Section 1: The Psychology of Motivation PSYCHOLOGY PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE Question: What are the four theories of motivation? FOUR THEORIES OF MOTIVATION Instinct Theory – behavior patterns are genetically transmitted Drive Reduction Theory – people act to reduce drives and their associated tensions Humanistic Theory – people act out of the desire for growth and fulfillment beyond basic survival needs Sociocultural Theory – individual needs and motives are influenced by culture and society 2 HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON Chapter 13 Section 2: Biological Needs: Focus on Hunger PSYCHOLOGY PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE Question: What is the hunger drive, and what are the causes of obesity? HUNGER DRIVE The hunger drive is the urge to eat arising from the need to supply the body with food. 3 HOLT, RINEHART AND WINSTON Chapter 13 Section 2: Biological Needs: Focus on Hunger PSYCHOLOGY PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE Question: What is the hunger drive, and what are the causes of obesity? CAUSES OF OBESITY Biological – obesity seems to run in families and genes help determine the number of fat cells a person has Psychological – people tend to eat more when they are under stress or...
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...Aggression: Biological or Learned? Abstract Aggression is any hostile behavior by an individual person that inflicts physical or psychological damage onto another individual. It can take on a physical form, such as physical acts of violence. It can also take on psychological forms, such as verbal threats or verbal abuse. There are many different theories which aim to explain how aggressive personalities are developed. Theorists who adhere to the Biological Approach to Personality believe that genetics play a large part. They argue that there are biological indicators which make certain people more prone to aggressive personalities. They argue that aggression is not necessarily inherited, but certain predispositions pared with certain factors in an individual’s upbringing can spawn aggressive adults. Theorists such as Albert Bandura believe that personality characteristics such as aggression are learned. According to the Behavioral/Social Learning Approach to Personality, individual personalities are developed through observation and experience. Specifically, aggressive personalities are learned much like other behaviors are learned as a child grows and experiences different things.Research has shows that children predisposed to violence and aggression grow up to be aggressive adults. Aggression, as defined by Merriam-Webster is “a forceful action or procedure (as an unprovoked attack) especially when intended to dominate or master” (Aggression, 2012). It is “hostile...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality PSY/250 April 23, 2013 Richard Dehmer Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality All people have unique personalities, but not all analysts agree on how personalities are formed. This paper will discuss the hierarchy of needs. This theory uses five levels that each individual must progress through to reach self-actualization. This theory of personality also aligns with the Biological theory in the same ways. Individuals must meet basic needs of happiness to more to another level and self-awareness, or self-actualization. First Level “Maslow divided organismic needs into two categories. First, he identified several categories of deficiency needs—“D-needs” (or “D-motives”)—which are necessary for survival. The physiological needs are the basic biological necessities such as food, water, sex, and shelter. (Friedman & Schustack, (2009), pg. 304).” By working and making a living, Danette is meeting her need for food, drink, and shelter. She also fulfills the sleep, warmth by owning a home. Second Level The second stage includes the safety needs of an individual. This stage seems easy enough to fulfill, but some individuals do not find it as easy as others. Safety needs differ based on what makes an individual feel safe and secure. This stage covers the basic needs, but some individuals may have a longer list of needs. Once the needs on this level are met, Danette can move on to the next level. ...
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...them. The young man makes his first attempt to jump in the ropes. As soon as he is ready to jump in, he’s pushed from behind. The push is so forceful that he stumbles into the ropes, tangling them around him and falls to the ground, scraping his knee badly. He looks up and sees one of the boys that was watching the girls play jump rope, had pushed him. He started shouting obscenely things at the young boy and soon begin punching hitting and kicking him. The young boy didn’t know what he did wrong and why he was being treated this way. An adult saw what was going on and ran to stop it. He then took the young boy home with the little boy asking “Why?” See the young boy didn’t know that jump rope was known as “femininity”. He was raised to be open-minded and androgynous. The other boy was raised and taught the masculine gender roles and what he is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Somehow, the other boy felt that the young boy’s behavior was inappropriate and he should be punished for it. This is what happens when development of the human sexuality is influenced by factors, such as parents, authoritative figures, peers, etc. Some people are raised differently from others and as a result of that are ridiculed and made fun of or even, hated. This paper will discuss the factors that influence the development of human...
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...Biological and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Paper By: LaTreena Alexander PSY/250 December 5, 2014 John Muench The biological approaches to personality are important elements needed in order to analyze each part of the process effectively. The information being presented uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to discuss the extent to which growth needs influence personality formation. The biological factors that influence the formation of personality are being described while the relationship of biological factors to Maslow’s theory of personality is being examined. The basic aspects of humanistic theory that are incompatible with biological explanations of personality are thoroughly explained within this informative paper. Through analyzing and researching Maslow’s hierarchy of needs one can get the full basic knowledge and understanding of how growth needs influence personality. Maslow made a pyramid known as the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which was all based on two different groups made up of deficiency needs and growth needs. Within the deficiency needs there are lower needs that have to be attended to before moving on to higher needs, and once this happens a person can act to remove a deficiency in one is ever found in the future. The first four levels of needs are physiological such as hunger and thirst, safety and security, a sense of belongingness and love with others, and esteem to achieve specific goals or to gain approval for an achievement. According to...
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...Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology PSY 410 December 23, 2013 Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology Introduction In psychology, there are many branches such as cognitive psychology, behavioral psychology, and developmental psychology, but the most difficult would be abnormal psychology. It is difficult because the word “abnormal” is difficult to define. Defining “abnormal” is difficult because it means an individual is not following what is socially normal, but with different cultures, there is no way to set a normal standard of socially acceptable behavior (University of Texas, n.d.). “Abnormal” can be defined as expressing behavior that is either destructive to themselves, family, friends, or co-workers (University of Texas, n.d.). With this definition, individuals need to be able to understand the origins of abnormal psychology, the challenges in defining and diagnosing normal and abnormal behavior, how it has evolved into methodical discipline today, and the theoretical models that help diagnose and treat irregular behaviors. Ancestries of Abnormal Psychology Historically, abnormal psychology is a reasonably young science of approximately one hundred years, although there have been abundant recognized incidents of emotional disorders (Hansell & Damour, 2008). These incidents found in the Bible, which describes people suffering from illnesses known as depression and schizophrenia in today’s world (Hansell & Damour, 2008). In some cultures...
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...Biological and Humanistic Theories PSY/250 April 29, 2010 James Fullilove Biological and Humanistic Theories Biological and humanistic are two theories that describe a person’s personality, or the way people respond in everyday life. This paper will inform the reader of a comparison and contrast between the two theories, how they correlate with people personalities throughout the world that exist, whether you have a extraversion or introversion personality. The biological approach can be defined as a personality trait acquired from a parent, or another family member that spends more time with someone than normal. As little children we tend to study our parents, watch their every movement, how they deal with certain situations of everyday life and their attitudes. If you were ever told that you act just like one of your parents, it might be true due to the fact that you followed them around as a child watching everything they did in everyday life. You have acquired some of their characteristics from what you have experienced as a child, the way you walk, talk, and present yourself. You can also acquire this from the environment that surrounds you, or what you see in everyday society. Hans Eysenck was a philosopher that traced an individual’s personality to his or her experiences by the biological makeup than by actions or mistakes made by a person parents. Eysenck believes that if a person observes another person doing the same thing on a daily basis...
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...Q1) As an anthropologist, you find out about the existence of a group of humans in the amazon rainforest that have never been contacted. How would you the four subfields of anthropology to investigate this human community? Ans: The Amazon rainforest also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 square kilometres (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 5,500,000 square kilometres (2,100,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. States or departments in four nations contain "Amazonas" in their names. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with an estimated 390 billion individual trees divided into 16,000 species. Q2) How do anthropologists utilize the scientific method in their studies? What are the limitations of the scientific method in anthropological studies? Ans: The scientific method is described as "a method of investigation involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or...
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...is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Carpenter, S., & Huffman, K. (2010). Visualizing psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. All electronic materials are available on the student website. Week One: Introduction to Psychology Details Due Points Objectives 1.1 Describe the development of the discipline of psychology. 1.2 Compare and contrast research methods used to examine psychological phenomena. 1.3 Explain biological influences on the human brain. Readings Read Ch. 1 & 2 of Visualizing Psychology. Review this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings. Participation Participate in class discussion. 1 Discussion Questions Respond to weekly discussion questions. 1 Individual Origins of Psychology and Research Methods Worksheet Complete the Origins of Psychology and Research Methods Worksheet located on the student web page. 10 Week Two:...
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...individual’s personality development. Defining Personality Personality originated from the Latin word persona. In some way personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character. In other words it is what makes up an individual. There are many theories of personality, a short version is that personality is more or less made up of different types of characteristic patterns some are thoughts, feelings, and behavior an individual might have. Personality may be a believed to be something that is born with a person, but some research suggest that it is also influenced by different types of biological process and needs that an individual might have. Theoretical approaches There are numerous amounts of different theories on personality and how it comes to be, but first to understand a theory one might ask what a theory is? “A scientific theory is a set of related assumptions that allows scientists to use logical deductive reasoning to formulate testable hypotheses.”(Feist,2009) A theory of personality is biological theory. This theory suggests that genetics are responsible a hundred percent for personality. Research also suggests that there is a link between genetics. A biological theorist who was known for this type...
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...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 perspective influenced many in the early stages of the science of psychology. The main notion of Freud’s theory was that the human mind consisted of three basic components: the id, the ego, and the superego (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Freud believed that when these components conflict, an...
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...Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology Abstract In the following paper, abnormal psychology will be discussed in length. The origins of abnormal psychology will be discussed, including the challenges to defining and classifying normal and abnormal behavior. There will also be a brief overview of how abnormal psychology has evolved into a scientific discipline. Finally the biopsychosocial, biological/medical, and sociocultural theoretical models, will also be analyzed in relation to the development of abnormal psychology. Historical Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology Abnormal psychology, also known as psychopathology, is the subfield of psychology devoted to the study of mental disorders (Hansell & Damour, 2008). The subfield also aims to understand the nature, causes, and treatment of these mental disorders (Pearson Higher Education, 2010). Abnormal psychology has come a long way in regard to how it is defined, viewed, and even treated. There are many challenges when it comes to defining and classifying normal and abnormal behavior. Over time, abnormal psychology has evolved into a scientific discipline. When it comes to the development of abnormal psychology, there are many theoretical models in which we can study as well. Origins of Abnormal Psychology It is difficult to define abnormality, and the scientific characterization of abnormality depends on five criteria: help seeking, irrationality/dangerousness, deviance, emotional distress, and significant...
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...Foundations of psychology May 09, 2011 Foundations of psychology There are many schools of thought within the study of psychology. Commonly, most people are only aware of a few of the general therapies and some of the research connected with psychology, but there are far more schools of thought and study in the field of psychology than what the public may be aware of. The four main perspectives concerning psychology is divided by schools of thought. Each of the four schools of thought is based on different studies and assumptions where the causes and treatments are concerned, in reference to psychology. The main four schools of thought are psychodynamic, the behaviorist, cognitive, and the evolutionary. The Psychodynamic Perspective The school of psychodynamic was “founded by Sigmund Freud ( HubPages Inc, 2011),” and evolved from Freud’s theories that all people have “powerful unconscious motives that underlie their conscious intentions. (Kowalski, R. & Westen, D. (2009)” A few of the issues that Freud and his followers focused on was repressed issues from one’s past, and helping people bring foreword these past issues so they may be dealt with by using reason, helping people face the nature of their problems. Freud believed that people can be totally unaware of their subconscious motivations and process that affect their conscious thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and intentions. The psychodynamic...
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