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Effect of heredity on personality development
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Biological aspects of psychology
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1) Define psychology and trace its historical development. Psychology is the scientific research of the study of the human and animal behavior and mentalities. So in general the study is about how, what and why the human brain functions the way they do. As well as why mental illnesses exist.
In chapter 7 the main topics that were discussed were thinking, language and intelligence. The aspect of cognition is defined as the mental activities involved in acquiring, retaining and using knowledge. Thinking involves be to manipulate internal, mental representation of information to be able to draw inferences and conclusions. With thinking there are two kinds of mental representation present which are, mental images and concepts. There are also types of concepts that are used with thinking.
Chapter 6 and 7 covered a lot of concepts regarding mental illness; and out of all the mental ilnesses, depression and stress really stood out. Stress and depression stood out because every single mental ilness underlying problem was depression; and usually triggered by a stressor. Depression and stress play a role in veryday life, and probably have played a greater role in adolescent years. This reminded me of when I was in middle school, and especially high school. Adolescences is one of the hardest time in a persons life, because of all the pressures coming from every direction.
Two brain imaging technologies used in investigating the relationship between biological factors and behaviour are PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans. The studies used to support the use of the scans in investigating the relationship between biological factors and behaviour are studies by Adrian Raine who studied the relationship between the size of the prefrontal cortex (biological factor) and murder (behaviour) and Baddeley study of how damage to the hippocampus (biological factor) affects on memory(behaviour). PET scans monitor glucose metabolism in the brain. A patient is injected with a harmless dose of radioactive glucose and radioactive particles are emitted and then detected by the
The main aim of this assignment is to find out the strength and weakness, similarities and differences between the different approaches of psychology such as biological approach, behavioural approach and psychodynamic approach. I have chosen mental illness to evaluate these approach. The biological, behavioural and psychodynamic approaches of psychology are connected to the nature and nurture argument. The biological approach highly talks about nature side of the argument and states that all behaviour is biological and is treatable.
There is only one approach in psychology that studies thoughts, feelings and behaviour. The biological approach believes that the way we are is due to our genetics and physiology. They believe that the activity going on our nervous system’s is what affects the way we think, feel and behave (Sammons, 2009). The physiology in the biological approach looks into how the brain functions. The brain is a very complicated machine as such, the brain is what controls our every move, every feeling and every action.
However, due to the limitation of skills, most of the researches done are not well designed. A main limitation of psychology as a field of study is that it never captures the nature of consciousness (Willig, 2013), as human mind is bound up with meanings and interpretations which differ from one individual to another
And the other reason was that they realized that psychological processes must have a physiological basis. In the past, researches were carried regarding the
Functionalism and Behaviorism Name: Institutional Affiliation: Functionalism And Behaviorism Introduction Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. Since people have varied perceptions and thoughts with regards to this definition, scholars in the past and present have come up with various classical theories related to psychology, all of which are geared to helping people to better understand the different perspectives of psychology and how it impacts the daily lives of humans (Bjorklund & Pellegrini, 2002). In this paper, I will aim to compare and contrast two major schools of psychology that is functionalism and behaviorism and their impacts in the field of psychology.
The nature vs. nurture debate centers on whether human behaviour and personality are inherited (nature) or acquired (nurture); in other words, whether a person’s environment or a person’s genetic inheritance determines their behaviour and personality. Goldsmith and Harman (1994) adopt a neutral position, in which both nature and nurture influence people, stating that they “believe that the fundamental issue concerns the interplay between characteristics of the individual and of the relationship” (54). Goldsmith and Harman discuss temperament and attachment for infant, with temperament being linked to the nature side of the debate and attachment being linked with the nurture side; as a result, the infant’s temperament influences the attachment bond between the infant and the mother, but the attachment bond influences the temperament of the child as well. Therefore, both nature and nurture interact with each other to produce people’s behaviour (Harman et al. 54). Andersen and Berk (1998) take on the nurture perspective, while Leary (1999) claims that nature is the determining factor of a person’s personality.
Why did the chicken cross the road? This is a question that almost everyone has asked at some point in their life. Have you ever sat back and wondered why we do the things we do? Psychologist do this every day. They have a way of looking at anything someone or something does and explaining the why of it.
According to Rebber (1995) psychology is what scientists and philosophers of various persuasions have created to understand the minds and behaviors of various organisms from the most primitive to the most complex. From the definition above, it is clear that psychology is related to the mental
Genetics might explain predispositions to certain behaviors such as mental illnesses that run in a family, but they do not explain the everyday behaviors that every individual engages in. Thought processes, environmental factors, observations, and life’s actions are what describe the behaviors that are present within every human. Behaviors are learned characteristics of a person and can be changed over time and many times. If genetics were to determine behaviors, this process would not be able to occur. In conclusion, behavior is derived from the underlying drives and motives that each human possesses that varies from person to person.
Understanding other people’s behavior and thinking is the first benefit of taking Psychology. With this course, you can learn how to understand a person’s behavior. If
It claims that psychology should concern itself with the behavior of organisms (human and nonhuman animals). Psychology should not concern itself with mental states or events or with constructing internal information processing accounts of behavior. According to methodological behaviorism, reference to mental states, such as an animal's beliefs or desires, adds nothing to what psychology can and should understand about the sources of behavior. Mental states are private entities which, given the necessary publicity of science, do not form proper objects of empirical study. Methodological behaviorism is a dominant theme in the writings of John Watson
