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¶ … Personality
Theoretical perspective of the approach
According to behavioral approach human behavior can be learned and unlearned. When a behavior is unlearned, new behaviors are learned in its place. This approach is primarily concerned with observable and measurable aspects of human behavior. Unacceptable behaviors are unlearned. This approach views development as a continuous process in which children play a positive role. This approach can be used in a clinical and educational set up. Behavioral theorists posit that real things are things that can be seen and observed (Bustamante, Howe-Tennant, & Ramo, 1996). The mind, the id, or the unconscious, cannot be seen, but people's actions, how they react, and behave can be seen. From ones behavior inferences can be made about the minds and the brain. However, the mind and the brain are not the primary focus of investigation. It is what people do that is subject of study and not what they think or feel (Bustamante, Howe-Tennant, & Ramo, 1996).
Behavioral theorists do not look to the mind or the brain to understand the causes of abnormal behavior. They assume that the behavior represents certain learned habits. They therefore try to determine how these behaviors are learned. Under behavioral approach it is the behavior that is always studied (Bustamante, Howe-Tennant, &...
Behaviorists are not interested in mind and its rarified equivalents like psych and soul. They therefore make inferences about the conditions that maintain and reinforce human behavior that is made from the study of animal behavior. Behavioral approach is hinged on animal research which is a very important foundation. Behavioral researchers investigate mechanisms underlying the behavior of both normal individuals and those with mental illnesses. Application of behavioral model to mental illness is widespread in a variety of presenting problems (Bustamante, Howe-Tennant, & Ramo, 1996). Behavioral model is widely used in treating behavioral disorders and disorders of impulse control like excessive drinking of alcohol, obesity, or sexual problems. The approach is also very important in treatment of anxiety. It is also occasionally used in managing severe mental disorders like the schizophrenia (Bustamante, Howe-Tennant, & Ramo, 1996).
There are two types of learning namely: classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is demonstrated when a neutral stimulus acquires the eliciting properties of unconditioned stimulus through the pairing of the unconditioned stimulus and neutral stimulus. In this regard behavior is controlled by association (Bustamante, Howe-Tennant, & Ramo, 1996). Operant conditioning…
Pavlov is one of the pioneer behaviorist theorists. He was the first person who came up with the idea of conditioning. According to him behavior was reflexive. It took him some time to distinguish reflexive behaviors from instinctive behaviors. Instinctive behaviors are at times thought to be motivated. An animal has to hungry, be sexually aroused, or have nest building hormones before the instinctive behaviors can occur (SparkNotes, 2013). Pavlov averred that there was no basis for distinguishing between reflexes and reflexive behaviors. Pavlov was more concerned with the nervous system and to be specific the cerebral cortex. Pavlov thought that learning of elicited responses in animals and conceptual behaviors in humans was due to mechanisms of classical conditioning. This has thus been proved wrong (SparkNotes, 2013). None the less, his ideas were one of the greatest ideas of our culture.
John B. Watson is considered one of the most colorful personalities in realms of psychology. He was behaviorism's chief spokesman and protagonist. He believed that mechanism had a thing in explaining behavior. He averred that the study of mind is the province of philosophy and that the mind is the realm of speculation and endless word games. He was categorical that the mind has no place in psychology (SparkNotes, 2013). To him psychology has to be based on objective phenomena and ultimate explanation must be found in the central nervous system. Watson convinced psychologists that the real explanation of behavior lay in the nervous system. When the brain is understood a little better, most mysteries would be demystified. It was for Watson that many psychologists believed that what they called conditioning was so important.
Skinner described the principles of operant conditioning. He strongly believed that environment is a stimulus of ones behavior. He attributed certain behavior patterns to particular kinds of response tendencies. People will therefore learn to behave in particular ways over time. Behaviors with positive consequences will increase while those with negative consequences will decrease. Skinner never believed that childhood had a role in shaping ones personality (SparkNotes, 2013). To him, personality is something that whose development is lifelong process. People's responses change as they encounter new situations. Take the example of a man who lived in the suburbs when he was young who had developed a liking for fast driving because his friends rode with him and he never got speeding tickets. After leaving, college this man moved to the city. Whenever he drove
Theoretical Perspective of the Biological Approach to Personality Psychology Personality is defined as a person's exceptional deviation on the general evolutionary design for human temperament. A personality trait refers to a durable disposition to act in a certain manner in different situations. Personality traits represent some of the most significant sets of individual disparities in organizations. It is the comparatively set of psychological characteristics that differentiates one person from another. People
Super ego. In Freud's model, the final element of personality to develop is the superego. According to Cherry, "The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society -- our sense of right and wrong. The superego provides guidelines for making judgments" (2010, para. 3). Freud believed that the superego first starts to emerge during
Functional Theory Approach to Death penalty The functional theory approach to the death penalty is the longest standing explanation for why the death penalty works. Simply put, the death penalty serves a function. The functionalist theoretical approach suggest that death penalty serves a certain function, that is, deterring crime (Weisberg, 2003; Gamson, 1988). This may also be referred to as manifest function. Unfortunately this theory is somewhat debunk, as there is
Constructive Therapy Constructivism is a theoretical perspective that asserts that people attempt to make sense of the world by developing their own set of personal individualized constructs. Personal experience, interpretation, social context, and linguistic factors define a person's subjective reality. Constructive psychotherapy focuses on individual experience, personal resilience, change, and the therapeutic relationship to assist people with change. The current article asserts that constructivism and constructive psychotherapies heavily draw from principles
The topic of workplace diversity has attracted more and more scholarly attention in the past few decades. Indeed, the topic has become one of the most crucial organizational issues in the 21st century, with organizations in both the public and private sector increasingly seeking to tap the advantages diversity brings. Two major areas of focus have been the extent to which organizational members support diversity and the impact of diversity
Theoretical Approaches: There are several theoretical approaches that have been developed by different personality theorists that focus on explaining the uniqueness of individuals. These theories have particularly been developed in the field of personality psychology that includes some popular thinkers or theorists like Sigmund Freud. Since these theories provide different approaches to understanding personality, they have been classified into different categories based on their focus and the psychologists who developed them.