...Neurotransmitters: communication between neurons across synapse Are stored in vesicles at axon tips -> go to post synaptic cells and attach to receptors: protein sites on the surface of a cell; specific to neurotransmitter • Each neurotransmitter can bind to different receptor types • Have different effects depending on which type of receptor it binds to. The chemical signal that crosses the synapse creates an electrochemical signal. Postsynaptic Potential: change in membrane potential of postsynaptic cell • Postsynaptic potential fades as it flows along Excitatory postsynaptic potential: depolarizing postsynaptic potential (if positively charged molecules flow into the neuron) • single EPSP isn’t enough to fire Inhibitory postsynaptic potential: positively charged molecules flow out; hyperpolarization makes neuron less likely to fire an AP. Junction of axon: is specialized region where new AP’s are generated • The firing of a cell depends on what signals are present at junction. Brain and spinal cord, neurons are organized into groups Neural networks Sensory systems: group of neurons that provide info about the environment • (hearing, vision, taste, smell, and touch) Motor systems: parts of the NS that influence muscles and other organs to respond to the environment. Peripheral Nervous System: includes all the nervous system not housed in bone, carries out sensory and motor functions Central Nervous System: encased in bone (brain, inside the skull, and...
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...Legal Aspects of Professional Psychology “Professional psychologists study mental processes and human behavior by observing, interpreting, and recording how people and other animals relate to one another and the environment.” The psychologists express theories that have possible explanations and concentrate on an individual behavior that influence a person’s action where understanding and explaining thoughts, emotions, feelings and or behavior is in attention. However there is a legal aspect of professional psychology that is the most important part in professional practice. “Legal aspects of professional psychology cover abroad spectrum of any application of psychological ethics, and ways of understanding legal issues and questions. Additionally to the practical practices, legal aspects of psychology also include empirical or academic research on topics concerning the relationships of government laws and regulations to human behavior and mental processes”(Roger Rivera, “Legal Aspects Of Professional Psychology”). Legal issues related to informed consent and refusal Most important factor of legal issue in professional phycology is the informed consent of the client, where the doctor gets consent of the client for performing tests and medical treatments including records of the patients. It is the psychologist’s duty to offer and explain services, and if the patients have no ability for opinion, take consent from the person who has the legal power to do on behalf of the...
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...Aspects of Psychology Arnecia Anderson American Intercontinental University Aspects of Psychology In this assignment we were to get a healthier understanding about psychology. In this paper I chose three perspectives to research. The three perspectives I chose were Behaviorism, Cognitive, and Psychodynamic theories .I answered questions relating to the perspectives such as, how they are even related to today’s Psychology .I hope this paper is as informative to my readers as it was to me. Aspects of Psychology In this assignment we were to get a better understand psychology in the present day. With doing so I researched the various theories of psychology. I chose three perspective to talk about in my paper Behaviorism, Cognitive, and Psychodynamic theories. The word behaviorism converses to the school of psychology founded by John B. Watson created on the belief that behaviors can be measured, trained, and changed. Behaviorism is also called behavioral psychology, which is a theory of learning established on the idea that all behaviors are learned through conditioning. What is conditioning? Conditioning transpires through interaction with the environment. Behaviorists trust that the environment around human beings forms our behaviors. For starters how a person was raised plays a big part in there...
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...Legal Aspects of Professional Psychology Michael Lampe May 06, 2013 There are many factors that can affect a professional in the field of psychology. Some of these factors may be ethical issues and some may have legal issues. These two issues may seem similar. However, they are very different. American Psychological Association (APA) Ethics Code can help clear up any problems with ethical issues. The legal issues are not as easy to see or find the correct answers. Legal issues can be separated into two categories, legislation and litigation. Legislation concerns governmental bodies passing laws. Litigation is laws that are formed by the rule of the law. There are legal issues related to informed consent, assessment, testing, diagnosis, and confidentiality. These issues will be discussed and the influence of legislation on the field of psychology will be evaluated. Competency will also be covered. Informed Consent Informed consent is a legal and ethical term defined as the consent by a client to a proposed medical or psychotherapeutic procedure, or for participation in a research project or clinical study. In order for the consent to be informed the client must first achieve a clear understanding of the relevant facts, risks and benefits, and available alternatives involved. Informed consent requires legal documentation in all 50 states. The concept of informed consent originated with the recognition that individuals have rights: to freedom, autonomy and human dignity...
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...• Analyze the legal issues related to informed consent and refusal Informed consent is an essential part of the treatment process in psychology. Legally it protects both the psychologist and the individual who will be receiving professional services. According to Pope and Vasquez (2007), informed consent provides the client and the therapist the opportunity to understand his or her legal rights and that they each have an equal vested interest in the treatment process. Pope and Vasquez (2007) also stated that informed consent is a decision making-process that gives the client the... The informed consent is the agreement between two parties to work collaboratively (Pope & Vasquez, 2007). In psychology, the client signs the consent form to allow treatment from the psychologist who may include testing, treatment, and initial psychological assessment. The patients have the right to their information; in terms of benefits, alternative treatments and about the risks. If the patient does not understand what he or she is giving permission to, he or she can allow an authorized decision-maker. The law requires that all persons take reasonable steps to clarify and communicate adequately with their patients about their risks and benefits. The informed consent is basically the understanding and justification of power that should not be abused intentionally or accidentally (Pope & Vasquez, 2007). The informed refusal is when a patient is refusing care; because of legal issues, trust, infectious...
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...Psy206-1004A-101 Aspects of Psychology Unit 1 IP1 Kevin J. Penn September 10, 2010 American InterContinental University Online Abstract The following compares and contrast of Naturalistic Obersavation and Correlational research. Which includes the research techniques reliability and validity strengths and weakness and generalizability. There are many different ways of collecting information and data to compare different types of things that happen from the past, present and to help predict the future. The research methods that I have compared are Naturalistic observation and Correlational research method. Like any thing else that they are more than one way of obtaining something there are differences and similarities that researchers can use to help them obtain their objective. The correlational research method is one in which the facts are utilizes facts to form links with an assortment of dependent variables. In most cases it is the one that is used first to give a basis before experiments can begin. There are three types of correlational research, observational, survey, and archival (Schmidt, 2000). Observational research includes items that can be tangibly recorded, for example, reporting for work and production. Survey research refers to the statistics that can be found by questioning subjects; for example, comparing the associations between couples who live together and divorce rates (Schmidt, 2000). Archival research deals...
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...The foundations of psychology were set upon the discovery of the relationship between biology and philosophy. The birth of psychology is a direct result of these two studies combining to make an intriguing study of human behaviors, emotions and reactions. Psychology became equally important to other studies when it became apparent that it reflected both biological aspects as well as aspects of philosophy. Combined, these two studies allowed the discovery that people exhibit behaviors and emotions for many reasons. Human’s exhibit behaviors(s) in reaction to environmental factors, taught behavior, natural instinct, as well as an array of other scenarios trigger such behaviors. “Humans are complex creatures whose psychological experience lies at the intersection of biology and culture”(Kowalski & Westen, 2005). Psychology was (in some perspectives) stumbled upon in very early biological studies. It was observed that patients with head trauma injuries were test subjects to the identification of the correlation between the human brain and physical responses. This discovery opened the door to the study of human psychology. The finding that the human brain interacted with the body in producing reactions and actions led to an entirely new world of study filled with fascinating aspects, now known as psychology. The foundation of psychology is built largely upon philosophy and was rooted from such philosophers such as Aristotle and Descartes...
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...Running head: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY DEFINITION PAPER Social Psychology Definition Paper PSY 400 October 24, 2011 Matt Diggs Social Psychology Very often, one wonders why one acts the way he or she does. It just seems to be human nature to ask such questions and to try to discover more about the complexity of human actions and causes. Of course, there are many perspectives in the field of psychology that attempt to address these significant questions. For instance, biopsychology considers important factors including one’s brain, genetic predisposition, and many others when addressing behavior. However, social psychology, even though it agrees with other branches in psychology, does focus on different aspects when seeking these kinds of conclusions. Social psychology centers their attention on understanding human actions such as what led to the cruelty of killing millions of people during War II. Why will one always help him or herself first, before helping others? Why do others matter more when making decisions? Social psychology is essential not only to the field of psychology but also to every individual because it provides answers to questions one seeks about him or herself and others. However, social psychology does more than provide answers to these few questions, as these merely touch the surface of social psychology’s focus (Myers, 2010). Definition of Social Psychology Social psychology is a science just like many other fields including astronomy...
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...Aspects of Psychology: SSCI206 – 1304B – 17 Shera Bussey 11/17/2013 Joanna Oestmann The three perspectives that I say that has something to do with psychology are behaviorism, structuralism, and evolutionary. These have so much to do with psychology and these are also a few of them today and the way that I understand psychology. Behaviorism was a moment in psychology and also philosophy that was emphasized outward the behavioral aspects of thoughts, but the theory was or is focused on the observable behavior that was developed as a response to stimulus. Structuralism, I would say is an aspect of human cognition, behavior, culture, and experience that is focused on relationships of contrast between the elements in a conception that reflect patterns. Functionalism is a major proposal that has been offered as solutions to the mind or the body problems. The solution to the mind or body usually try to answer questions. At the most general level what is it that makes a mental state so mental. To me, I think the example of behaviorism is based on rewards or punishments. I believe that if a teacher provides positive reinforcement, or would rewards as that matter that whenever a student performs a desire of behavior then they will learn to perform good behavior on their own. For example of structuralism are primary involved in the so called executive, functions, rather than drawing conclusions and conceptual thinking. A good example of functionalism is law, the reason...
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...experiments- political- social economic aspects-1890- 1913 John B. Watson - neo- behaviorism Group 3: Cognitive Revolution- political - social -economic aspects-"mind back in psych"- 50s, 60s, 70s Group 4: Modern Psych; applied practice/science - how psych maintains to be a science - applying psych to life settings - do we still follow same premise psychology was founded on? Economics and Psychology: From Imperialistic to Inspired Economics, by Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer http://www.bsfrey.ch/articles/362_01.pdf The Psyche as Behavior ARTURO, C. A. (2013). The Psyche as Behavior. Revista Colombiana De Psicología, 22(2), 377-387. http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=93598506&site=ehost-live Behaviorism Moore, J. J. (2011). BEHAVIORISM. Psychological Record, 61(3), 449-465. http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=65033133&site=ehost-live Topics: * Behaviorism * Lab setup/ experiments * Political – social - economic aspects * 1890- 1913 * John B. Watson * Neo- behaviorism Section 1: Brief Discussion on the history of behaviorism. What is behaviorism? How was it seen as a stepping stone for psychology as a whole/ as a science? Section 2: Discussion on the first lab setup for psychology: when, where, who, etc? Why was it established? Why it drove psychology to become a separate science...
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...Abstract In this paper I will discuss a comparison of positive psychology and master resiliency training (MRT). They compare in that one’s life, to be successful whether in the civilian world or military it is essential that the mindset maintains a positive outlook, additionally they are different in content rather than context. Positive Psychology and Resilience Factor In a tactical shift from contemporary definition of psychology, positive psychology refers to the study of happiness. For a long time, psychology sought to define dysfunction among people with more focus on individuals who suffered mental illness and/ or psychological related problems. Psychologists always have the intention to help their patients, positive psychology regards it as one sided because it does not consider the positives of a psychologically tormented patient (Shatte & Reivich 2002). Therefore, this new field of psychology looks at how people can attain more happiness and life fulfillment. In this field, psychology researchers look at issues such as pleasure, strengths, and talents among others. The ability to carry on even when things are not going your way best defines resilience. When this happens, an individual is able to adapt to changes in situations. Resilience is a much needed ingredient to happiness and a happy life (2002). In this paper, analyses of positive psychology are discussed; furthermore, it will compare advocating a positive outcome, the development of self-esteem, and...
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...Social Psychology April Owens Social Psychology/ PSY 400 Lauren Davis February 13th 2012 Social Psychology People are social beings. From the moment we are born, we are raised to socialize with an incredible amount of people. These people influence our day-to-day lives just as much as we affect the lives of others. Social psychology searches to understand these interactions. What complicates these interactions is that they do not even need to be real, as long as they are perceived interactions. The idea is that people are a combination of their own personality plus the people they interact with on a regular basis. Social psychology treats the social aspects of mental life. It tries to understand the link between the mind, group situations, and the responses a person has as a result (WordIQ, 2010). By looking at how an individual reacts to a certain group (large or small) and how the group reacts to the individual, it is possible to find out how each portion can influence the other. There appear to be three general topics that are studied in social psychology. These topics are socialization (gender, life development, intelligence), communication (persuasion, self presentation, language, and rules), and social perception (identity, attitude, and attribution; WorkIQ.com, 2010). By focusing on these topics, we are able to get the full idea of how individuals and groups influence each other. One thing to look at is if social groups influence the...
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...Organizational Psychology Alisa M. Davis Psych 570/Organizational Psychology March 28, 2012 University of Phoenix Organizational Psychology The field of organizational psychology focuses more on group type settings and situations, usually in offices and workplace environments. This field of psychology takes research and theories to intervene and communicate numerous strategies and applies them in group situations in both workplace and non-workplace settings. Psychologists in this field are usually focused on helping individuals better understand his or her interactions with others, so that each individual can better work together to accomplish goals at hand. This paper will define organizational psychology and explain the evolution of the field of organizational psychology. This paper will also compare and contrast organizational psychology with related disciplines and analyze the role of research and statistics in the field of organizational psychology. Definition of Organizational Psychology According to Rutgers On-line Dictionary (2007) the definition of organizational psychology has an in-depth meaning. The definition consists of intervening in a situation that deals with individuals in order to achieve one or numerous objectives. These objectives usually involve raising or improving performance, improving relationships and systems, enhancing equity and fairness and increasing subjective well being (Jex...
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...Discuss the ways in which coaching psychology research might advance the practise of executive coaching Coaching psychology as a practise is a relatively new phenomenon which encourages an individual to realise and ultimately develop their personal strengths and attributes. Although it is a new practice, psychologists as a whole are yet to determine an exact definition of the meaning coaching psychology. However one of the most applicable definitions to this subject matter is “Coaching maybe defined as a goal - directed multifaceted process for enhancing people, work and life and, as an industry, it has and still is experiencing rapid growth” (Brock, 2006). This essay will examine coaching psychology and how its research will benefit the development of executive coaching and how previous research can enhance this particular sector in psychology. Some of the main areas that will be explored are how positive psychological research has informed this particular area as a whole, the relationship between a coach and client, what qualities make for a good coach and how future research can improve our knowledge and the practice of executive coaching. Positive psychology despite, being considered an applied science it is an empirical science by virtue of scientific method and research. Positive psychology is imperative to the practice of executive coaching as it concentrates on utilising an executives/managers ability to improve an “individuals traits which manifest themselves as...
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...Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes. The field of psychology is so diverse and always evolving. Due to its expanding nature, there is not on theory that can truly explain or answer all questions that are associated with psychology. Psychology is and has always been defined by its diversity. The unique diversity of psychology allows psychologists to elaborate and expand on the areas of diagnosis, explanation and assessment of the discipline. The diverse nature of psychology is evident in its 54 divisions of the American Psychological Association (APA), each addressing a different perspective of psychology and a unique aspect of human interaction (Plante, 2011). Psychology permeates and has a broad implication for human interaction as well as for the sciences and other disciplines. The psychological science, through its diverse distinctions and studies a variety of perceptions and perspectives, serving and honoring the individuality of the human experience (Shiraev & Levy, 2010). Psychological diversity influences the major concepts and contributes to a unique perspective of human behavior. Behavioral genetics is the field of study that examines the role of genetics in human and animal behavior. It is often associated with the “nature versus nurture” debate. “Nature versus nurture” concerns the relative importance of an individual’s innate qualities, versus personal experiences in determining differences in physical and behavioral traits. Behavioral...
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