...Summary: This article is written by Martin E.P Seligman, and is largely about the modern interpretations of happiness and the way psychology has been dealing with improperly by only looking at how to minimize pain and not maximize happiness. He starts the article by recounting some of history of psychology that led to the current state of affairs, beginning at World War 2. He claims that right before WW2 there were 3 main objectives to psychology: curing mental illness, making untroubled people happier, and studying genius/talent. These all fell by the wayside after WW2 however as all of the funding began to flow towards the study of mental illness, not towards the study of mental health. This was mainly because of the increase in both the discovery of mental disorders and also the sheer number of people who were left distressed in the wake of WW2. This led to a huge increase in treatments and cures for many disorders. However it also caused many problems in society and science. There was too much focus put on the minority that had disorders, and not on the majority that, although seemingly bereft of maladies, were not altogether happy. Therefore he states that psychology should be just as concerned about what is right with people as what is wrong. The second section of the article deals with the question of what happiness actually is, because we have to know what it is we are trying to increase. Although science can’t...
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...Life of Pi is a film adaptation of the history of Pi by Yann Martel. It is a complex play where imagination can lead to different interpretations of the story. Here is my interpretation, of such a beautiful film as Life of Pi. Analyzing the few main elements on the film was the only way to truly grasp its purpose. The Tiger The figure of a tiger is rather interesting because it is a figure that was not intended to be there. Right at the beginning of the film, And Lee shows us a tiger just as we could imagine one that is as a symbol of strength and ferocity by its true meaning. A particular scene marks the bestiality of this beautiful animal and his predator instinct; that is the scene where Pi’s father decides to show his son the extreme danger of Richard Parker, and sacrifices a goat for the tiger, a symbol of innocence and belief for some religions (goat). Nevertheless the tiger’s brute force and ferocity, he eventually comes around the film’s edge and becomes a “friend” for Pi, who had tried several times to have a peaceful relationship with the tiger. This friendship is born trough ought a series of forces that make the tiger to be the energy motor for Pi. In front of feeding the tiger as to prevent Pi being his next meal, he finds enough reason to continue surviving. Interestingly enough, in the Buddhism, the tiger appears as a symbol of hope and spiritual effort. Faith Of course, Life of Pi is as well a film about faith. Pi, who is just a young man, does not choose...
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...While not everyone is aware, it is more than evident that psychology and the legal system are intertwined in many different ways. After having the chance to observe court case in real life, it is even more clear to me how these two fields merge into one another, creating an entirely different field of forensic psychology. I will be sharing my observations and experience of my time observing a real-life court case trial before my own eyes and how this can be related to the course information I have learned in this class this semester. I attended court on Tuesday, February 27th, at the Black Hawk County Courthouse in Waterloo, Iowa. My observation lasted for about two hours between 2 p.m. and 4 pm. During my time, I witnessed the voir dire...
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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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...What is Psychology? Psychology is considered as a boring subject or something which would definitely make one a "psycho-case"...One of my freind gave a comment,"Psychology is the science of madness and it does not contribute any positive effort towards the society!" I think she was not wrong, just because she did not know what Psychology is..Let's read this article and we all will get to know about this boring subject. Definition of PSYCHOLOGY: Science is a complete body of knowledge arranged in a systematic order. Psychology is a biological science which deals with the behaviour and minds of animals and human beings, both. It was derived from two Greek words; psyche: 'soul' and logos which means to talk. So the literal meaning of Psychology is: to talk about soul. Historical background of PSYCHOLOGY: Earlier psychology was a part of Philosophy. It was never considered to be a science. Four hundred years ago, a Greek Philosopher PLATO, studied life. In his theories, life and soul are said to be the beginning of Psychology. Morgan, a Philosopher said, "Psychology is the scientific study of activites of an individual." Boring, another Philosopher said: "Psychology is the study of human nature." Then, Robbinson said: "Psychology is the science of human and animal behaviour." According to Aristotle: "Psychology is the science of soul." Titchner, rejecting this view said: "Psychology is the science of mind." Welhelm, then said: "Psychology is the science of consciousness. "J...
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...them. Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. It is an academic discipline and an applied science which seeks to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching specific cases. There are thirteen major branches of psychology which are: * Abnormal Psychology - is the area that looks at psychopathology and abnormal behavior. * Behavioral Psychology - is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. * Biopsychology - focused on the study of how the brain influences behavior. * Cognitive Psychology - is the branch of psychology that focuses on internal states, such as motivation, problem solving, decision-making, thinking and attention. * Comparative Psychology - concerned with the study of animal behavior. * Cross-Cultural Psychology - a branch of psychology that looks at how cultural factors influence human behavior. * Developmental Psychology - looks at development throughout the lifespan, from childhood to adulthood. * Educational Psychology - branch of psychology concerned with schools, teaching psychology, educational issues and student concerns. * Experimental Psychology - psychology that utilizes scientific methods to research the brain and behavior. * Forensic Psychology - a specialty area that deals with issues related to psychology and the law. * Health Psychology – branch of psychology that focuses on how biology, psychology, behavior...
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...Diverse Nature of Psychology Name: Course: Institution: Date: The Diverse Nature of Psychology Psychology in simple terms is the studies the minds of human beings and their behaviors. It is difficult to capture about psychology in a brief definition, but topics such as personality development, emotions, motivations and social behavior represents briefly, what psychology explains. It widely entails other scientific discipline and provides appropriate knowledge to solve problems (Pastorino, & Doyle-Portillo, 2011). For example, applications of psychology include mental health treatment, performance enhancement, ergonomics and many other areas affecting daily life of an individual. The different concepts that help to explain psychology include motivation, behaviorism and cognition. How psychological motivation influences Human life. Psychology studies what motivation means to human beings. It explains how secondary motivation to human life and how it influences their behaviors. This intends that human behavior change in different ways and at different circumstances. Motivation is considered an important factor on how people respond to different cases (Elliot, 2008). For example, in an organization where individuals have learned the organization culture and has worked for many years, it is through motivation that they will perform much better than before. It is motivation that encourages a person’s behavior towards their actions. Therefore, psychology major focuses on...
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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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...Theory of Individual Psychology Diana Dias Brandman University Individual Psychology Personality Theory The theory of individual psychology is based on Alfred Adler’s individual psychology proposal. Adler’s personality theory, individual psychology is a theory of human behavior stressing the attempt to overcome feelings of inferiority by benefiting the commitment to accomplish personal goals that have a purpose in the community (Schultz, 113). From his perspective he saw everyone as being social. We are all different individuals but our personalities are different based on our communication with others and our surroundings (Schultz, 113). He also thought the route of our personalities was based on the conscious versus the unconscious because more importantly we are always working on ourselves and managing our future. Summary of major principles One of the first major principles of individual psychology is “The Source for Human Striving.” Due to Alfred Adler’s early experience with his illness he felt he provided more on the inferiority and superiority complexes. In individual psychology inferiority complexes are a natural circumstance of all individuals or otherwise known as all humans striving (Shultz, 116). To overcome the inferiority complex you need to have compensation, which are the effort people need to conquer the feeling of inferiority and to tackle for more high levels of development. According to the individual psychology theory this action starts from...
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...Social Psychology Definition Paper PSY/400 October 28, 2013 Social Psychology Definition Paper Social Psychology is the branch of psychology that would deal within the social interactions. This has to deal with where it came from (the origin) and how it affected or the effects on an individual. Many different social topics are covered in social psychology like group behavior, social perception, non-verbal behavior, leadership, aggression, conformity and prejudice. It is used to explain and understand how a thought, feeling or behavior of a person is influenced by actual other human beings. Research has been done to determine what is the best way to find out how others influence the decisions that are made in everyday life (Myers, D. G. 2010). Define Social Psychology Understanding social psychology can be a bit difficult. It looks at the behavior of humans that is influenced by others and what social context to which will occur. Social psychology is the scientific field that searches to understand the nature and the causes in an individual’s behavior during social situations. The behavior of humans is formed by different influences. Some can be internal as well as some external. Humans are all social animals so our tendencies through our culture can define our circumstances. The personality and attitude plays a big part in forming behavior but it can also offset and reinforce social pressures. There are some main ideas in which social psychology inquire about to address...
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...Philosophy and Psychology The links in the table on the left take you to sub-headings on this page. |. |Philosophy can mean different things | | |Sometimes philosophers deal with questions of truth and sometimes with questions of goodness ; | | |sometimes they offer consolation for life’s sorrows and sometimes they are purely pragmatic. In | | |the philosophy of science, a theory may be valued only for its predictive capability ; its truth | | |or falsity may be immaterial. In ethics, philosophy may have a prescriptive function, offering a | | |preferred set of values ; but where those values originate from is a debatable question. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ...
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...Psychological Perspective Paper Introduction Psychology is the study of human and animal behavior. There are various perspectives within psychology and the upcoming paragraphs deal with 6 psychological perspectives: Behavioral, Cognitive, Biological, Developmental, Psychodynamic, Sociocultural and Evolutionary. Psychological Perspectives All six perspectives seek to explore and examine human behavior and makes use of varying techniques in order to do so. Each perspective tries to search for answers to different questions, which exist about behavior. Each of these perspectives is different hence they have there own reasoning and explanation. Among the perspectives of psychology, many have been accepted some whereas others have had difficulty in being accepted. Behavioral Behavioral Psychology is a branch is psychology that claims that all behavior is learned through conditioning. The field is also known as behaviorism. The idea behind it is that all people acquire their behavior by interacting with their environment through classical condition or operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is the involuntary, or automatic, response to a stimulus (i.e. fight or flight response) where as Operant conditioning is that of a learned behavior through positive/negative reinforcement (consequences) or positive/negative punishment. (What Is Behavioral Psychology, 2011) Cognitive Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people...
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...Axia College Course Syllabus PSY/201 Foundations of Psychology Course Start Date: 2/21/11 Course End Date: 4/24/11 Please print a copy of this syllabus for handy reference. Whenever there is a question about what assignments are due, please remember this syllabus is considered the ruling document. Copyright Copyright © 2010, 2009 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. University of Phoenix® is a registered trademark of Apollo Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft®, Windows®, and Windows NT® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Use of these marks is not intended to imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation. Edited in accordance with University of Phoenix® editorial standards and practices. Course Syllabus PSY/201 Foundations of Psychology 2 Facilitator Information Janie Lacy JanieLacy@email.phoenix.edu (University of Phoenix) Janie@JanieLacy.com (Personal) 407-924-7533 (EST) Facilitator Availability I am available from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on most days, but I attempt to reserve Sundays as my rest day. During the week, I am available most of the time during that 9 a.m.-12 p.m. time frame. On Saturdays, I tend to be available in the morning only. If these times are not convenient for you, please let me know. I will be happy to accommodate your schedule,...
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...is it that some individuals are so high above the curve in terms happiness and optimism, even in the face of challenges and misfortunes? Whatever it is, there are individuals in psychology who wish to study and understand the science of happiness. These individuals specialize in the relatively new field of psychology, positive psychology. Such researchers wish to gain insight on acquiring happiness and building a resiliency to negative emotions. With an increasing emphasis on measuring college success, primarily through academic outcomes, it becomes understandable that school professionals shouldn’t neglect student’s well being. Furthermore, a college student’s level of happiness should be monitored and remain a priority for the university/colleges...
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