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¶ … Psychology?
The term psychology comes from two Greek words: psyche, which means "soul," and logos, "the study of." These root words were first combined in the 16th century, at a time when theorists were just beginning to see that there might be a connection between the mind and body, even though they were unable to actually understand and capture the essence of "thought." Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and the mind. The actual definition is comprised of three major elements:
Psychology is a scientific method. It obtains knowledge through the use of systematic and objective methods for empirical (observable) research and experimentation to validate ideas and hypothesis.
Psychology is concerned with behavior -- behavior is any action that can be observed and measured in some empirical manner.
Psychology is also concerned with the way the mind works, not necessarily focusing on the brain as a biological organism, but the conscious and unconscious mental states. These states of consciousness cannot actual be seen or quantified, but only inferred from observable behavior (Hothersall, 2004).
Psychology is quite broad, and investigates a large range of issues: animal behavior, learning and memory, perception and sensation, motivation, the range of emotions, language and meaning, social/cultural behavior, mental illness, human development, and a number of environmental and cultural factors that affect the way humans interact with one another (deviant behavior, for example). Some psychologists...
For instance: are humans more genetically programmed from birth to develop traits or personality abilities or is the environment a driving factor? How do people recognize and react to others -- faces, body language, remarks? How does memory work -- how accurate is it, what is the difference between short- and long-term, can this be improved? What is deviance and how does it relate to culture, society, or genetics? How do we learn? What are effective ways of learning? What kinds of motivations occur during friendship, love, sexual infatuation? Why are humans different in sexual preferences? How do humans express violence and why? Why do environmental factors influence violent or passive behavior? What causes prejudice and why? Are standardized test scores accurate predictors? Why is depression on the rise and what are the cultural causes? As we can see, all these questions, and more, help us understand the manner in which humans act and react towards each other and solve the problems that living in a social environment engender (Papini, 2008).
One of the major questions that philosophers and then psychologists attempt to understand is the process of thinking - or cognition. Cognition is the way that…
REFERENCES
Hothersall, D. (2004). History of Psychology. New York: McGraw Hill.
Kohler, W. (1992). Gestalt psychology: An Introduction to New Concepts in Modern Psychology. Boston, MA: Liveright Publishing.
Lycan, W.G., ed. (1999). Mind and Cognition. London: Blackwell.
Papini, M. (2008). Comparative Psychology: Evolution and Development of Behavior. Minneapolis, MN: Psychology Press.
In this, the individual does soak up the behaviors of those he or she is associated with. Yet, this is out of mimicking others behavior, with no regard for self gain. On the other hand, Bandura placed more emphasis as development being based on a balance between the environment and one's internally set goals. From this perspective, the individual mimics behaviors that lead to the achievement of certain goals,
Assignment 1 Phenomenological psychology focuses on the subjective experiences of individuals. The “founder” of phenomenology, Edmund Husserl presented a cohesive methodology and philosophical framework that laid the foundation for phenomenological psychology. One of the greatest challenges of phenomenological psychology is differentiating between the unique subjective experiences and perceptions of individuals and the need to discern an objective, shared reality. Phenomenological psychology is almost easier to define by what it is not:
With the issues of gun control coming up in the media, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. In the meantime, it is obvious that America needs to embrace itself from future unspeakable horror. References Anthony Scioli, P. (2013, Janurary 5). Newtown, Connecticut: From Fear to Hope. Retrieved from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hope-today/201212/newtown-connecticut-fear-hope Bergland, C. (2011, April 31). Mindfulness Training and the Compassionate Brain. Retrieved from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201212/mindfulness-training-and-the-compassionate-brain Berit Brogaard,
The nature vs. nurture debate is over whether an individual learns behaviors from their environment (nurture) or whether an individual is born with certain genetic traits and predispositions toward certain behaviors. Today, most developmental psychologists believe that nurture enhances nature: that while biology is important, environment probably trumps biology in most cases. One developmental process that can be explained by both genetics and environment is gender identity. Biology does affect
Psychology Learning Experience Understanding Psychology through Learning Experiences and Learning Theories Faculty Name Homo sapiens are referred to as human beings because they possess a complex mind that processes and stores information received as stimulus. While learning may seem easy to some people, psychologically it happens through certain processes. The learning theories are not just theoretical; they are applicable to our daily professional and personal lives. It is important to understand that learning
These memories have happened in the external world and they are remembered based on what has been experienced before (Explicit Memory Storage, 2004). Semantic memory is memory that is based on a person's knowledge. This knowledge can be factual or theoretical (Semantic v Episodic Memory, 2004). Some examples of semantic memory might be that a person knows what kind of dog they are looking at or they know their friend's