Essentials of Understanding Psychology 9th Edition, Essay Example

Chapter 1

(1) Can you describe how a researcher might use naturalistic observation, case studies, and survey research to investigate gender differences in aggressive behavior at the workplace? First, state a hypothesis and then describe your research approaches. What positive and negative features does each method have?

Workplace aggression has become ever so ramped in today’s society. My hypothesis is that workplace aggression can be targeted before it gets to aggression meaning at the assertive level. There are not many measurement techniques available to make a differentiated theory much less consider the role of values and norms of the workplace. It is postured that culture plays a huge role in assertion versus aggression. Once the aggression takes place management has to come in and make the aggression cease and get to the bottom of the aggressive behavior. By this time it is usually too late because people are fired and nothing good comes from this meaning nothing is learned to prevent workplace aggression. For instance a police person may have aggression which is innate to their job but the average worker cannot portray aggression for it is not conducive to a positive workforce and is against the law if assault and battery occurs.

(2) Of the 5 current schools of thought to explain and understand behavior, which theoretical perspective makes the most sense to you and why? (A) Summarize the theory you select and (b) give personal examples of how it applies to a behavior familiar or important to you. Gestalt psychology attempted to break the thoughts into minute parts therefore I think this theoretical perspective makes the most sense to me because the human mind is made of parts into one large and whole entity. It applies to behavior because this part controls our behavior as a human being. It is important for me to understand how the human mind works as a whole through small parts working intertwine.

Chapter 10

(1) Summarize Freud’s theory of personality. Include as much as you know about this theory including the Id, Ego, and Superego, the 5 psychosexual stages, defense mechanisms. Please think of an example of how you could apply Freud’s theory to describe someone you know or the personality of someone on television, etc.

Freud’s theory of personality deals with the unconscious and conscious mind and how they play a part in a person’s development into their personality. For example Louis meets David and accidentally calls him Jim by his friend’s name. This is summarized through the unconscious mind emerging through conscious thoughts because he may remind him of Jim or Jim may have been on Louis’s mind just before the talk or meeting. This is no accident for there are inner forces controlling your though patterns. Freud’s Theory of Personality continues to be debated and misunderstood by many laymen. The ID is personality present from birth. It is driven by instant gratification or the pleasure principle. There is anxiety related to it. The thoughts may not be realistic but the EGO deals with reality. It strives to satisfy the ID’s desire in socially and realistic ways. The EGO abandons impulses where the ID does not. The SUPEREGO is the last process to develop and holds the standards and morals by which we exist as human beings. Animals do not possess these types of personalities. They cannot think and decipher reality from fiction. The SUPEREGO leads to feelings of value, accomplishment and pride in a person’s personality and thought process. It makes one feel good or bad depending on choices made.

Chapter 5

(1) You are eco-friendly and you are a supporter of maintaining a clean, earth. You want to get more people to recycle since you believe this will help our earth. Taking what you know about operant conditioning, what are at least two specific strategies you could use to increase recycling? Please label these strategies based on vocabulary in the text and support your answer. Please also answer how effective you think they will be based on what you know about the impact of reinforcement/ punishment, shaping, etc.

Operant learning is a condition that is effective through a reward system and punishment. Skinner was the inventor of the theory. Internal thoughts could not be used to understand internal thoughts and motivations. Operant learning deals with a reward from a parent or teacher for finishing projects. It involves praise and even promotions with rewards. In order to get people to be eco-friendly and support a clean earth they first have to be educated on the rewards and difference between non-ecofriendly environments. You could use money as a motivator to experiment with operative learning or helping save the ozone layer which worries a lot of people. There is an increase in operative learning with the mere possibility of rewards just as there if fear of punishment if operative learning is not adhered to. For example a child might collect cans for money and to clean the environment. They will be effective tools if orchestrated in an educational and reward system says Skinner. Reinforcement comes from the reward system in itself. Whatever one finds that is important to another will be the deterrent from not wanting to disobey the operant mode of thinking.

References

Essentials of Understanding Psychology 9th edition