From this outline psychology could clearly be defined as a science as it involves gaining a deeper understanding of humans within the world. However, there are many factors which need to be taken into account in order to claim psychology as science. Thus, this essay will look at and apply the main attributes that characterise a science to psychology, discussing the arguments for and against psychology being a science in relation to scientific methods and research biases. The scientific method involves experimentation exploring observations for cause and effect relationships. The design of which is so one variable is manipulating another variable primarily by gathering quantitative research.
Psychology- as explored through the eyes of Carl Jung and Abraham Maslow When Carl Jung says, “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves”, he very aptly describes the role that Psychology plays in exploring and examining the processes of the human brain and how that impacts our behaviors and personality. Comparing the theories of Jung and Maslow could take hours since each one had enough to say about what their beliefs were about the human condition. But while Carl Jung focused on how the unconscious affected our personality (Introversion and Extraversion), Abraham Maslow focused on the integration of self (Self-Actualization Theory). Jung believed that there were active centers in the unconscious
Describe an example of altruistic behavior, and state how a psychodynamic psychologist might explain the behavior. 5. Compare and contrast biological psychology and cultural psychology. Explain how and why a biological psychologist and a cultural psychologist might investigate the way people learn a particular behavior. Discussion Questions Please post questions and answers on the UNIT ONE discussion boards.
Social psychology has in roots in the beginning of the 20th century in America. On the whole it was a positivist approach, using experimental methods to conduct its research – laboratory experiments which were thoroughly objective, it wanted to find the link of cause and effect in individual’s behaviour. It wanted to determine the laws of human nature and prove them using empirical techniques. After World War II the influx of research in social psychology increased, with the emergence of academics such as Asch and Milgram, who were interested the issues of conformity and obedience, partially
This essay will evaluate how a psychologist and a member of the public might each reach conclusions or form matters of opinion of which they ‘feel certain’ and how the meanings attached to what they ‘know’ might be different. Introduction 3: This essay will aim to draw comparisons between the way in which Psychologists gain knowledge and the methods which are used to gain knowledge by the general, or lay, public. The essay will begin by detailing the methods used by psychologists for knowledge acquisition, known as the scientific method, followed by the various methods of belief fixation used by the lay public, such as tenacity, authority and pure reason. It will then go on to make detailed comparisons
My interpretation of this definition is that psychology, while unique to each person, is the culmination of all experiences which ultimately identifies a being and can at times predict or evoke certain behaviors. In the clinical sense, psychology can be a useful tool when controlling behavior, gathering data for an identified population or attempting to explain the what and why’s we encounter everyday of our lives. Psychology and Life (19th Edition) goes on to describe the evolution of modern psychology, which can trace its beginnings to ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. Plato and Aristotle had opposing views that weighed heavily on modern psychology. On one hand Plato believed in more of a nativist view, in which assumes that people are preprogrammed for certain behavior due to their lineage from the time they are born (Gerrig, R. J. and Zimbardo, P. G. 6).
Comparison and contrast essay: William Sheldon’s Type and Personality Assessment and Myers-Briggs Typology Index. Have you ever asked yourself why people act in one way and others in different ways? As we already know, people have different physical and psychological aspects and these traits influences their way of life. These aspects have been studied and classified by some scientists and we are going to focus on and compare two theories: William Sheldon’s and Myers-Briggs. The first theory, William Sheldon’s, who is an American psychologist, proposes that body types are related to personality characteristics.
For instance; we are able to learn how stereotypes are formed, why there is racism, and also how a person’s behavior changes in different types of situations. Social psychology differs from other forms of psychology because it uses a scientific method and the empirical study of social phenomenon. General and clinical psychologies both rely on anecdotal observations and subjective interpretations. Psychologists focus on different situations and the different variables that may affect social behavior. Sociology differs from social psychology because sociology specifically looks at the different social behaviors and the surrounding influences at more of a broader view.
This can be useful in obtaining overall coverage of the psychological similarities and differences between subjects to establish general laws regarding human behavior. However, as pointed out by Gordon Allport, such larger scale studies tended to ignore individual personalities and each the uniqueness of each personality (McAdams, 2006). This is in direct contrast to the idiographic approach, which has little concern for the general principles of human behavior and is instead concerned with the personality of the individual. The emphasis is on examining these personalities as discrete psychological units and trying to discover unique patterns. Those utilizing an idiographic approach do not seek to identify ways in which an individual is similar to others, but rather to identify consistencies and inconsistencies within the individual's personality.
As the text states, it started with a concern for, “…explaining the processes of thought by using the technique of introspection (i.e., self-reflection)” (Wickens, 2005). Since self-reflection is biased then there had to be a more investigational method, conceivably, a method where the information could be observed and recorded. Psychology has become more about the study of behavior and mental phenomena, whereas, biopsychology is about the study of the brain and how it relates to behaviors. In my paper I will identify some of the important theorists that are associated with biological psychology and describe the relationship between biological psychology and other fields of psychology and neuroscience. I will also describe the major underlying assumptions of a biopsychological approach.