Unit one of psychology, revised

Part 1

Behavioral psychology involves shaping the behavior and attitude of an individual’s behavior to meet that of the required culture. Society has rules and regulations that should be followed by all that identify with it. Some people may choose to defy the set rules by behaving in an undesirable way. One of the ways of solving this issue is through the reinforcement theory. The theory consists of different methods that are geared towards controlling the consequences of a person’s actions (Clutterbuck & Evans, 2010).

Positive reinforcement involves the rewarding of a person so as to motivate their actions in the future. Negative reinforcement on the other hand involves applying a negative force so as to deprive an individual of the environment they are accustomed. Positive punishment involves is an operant form of conditioning that inflicts pain on a person to get a positive reaction. Negative punishment involves removing the negative stimulus so as to get a positive reaction from a person. The case of the student who has developed the behavior of procrastination should take on one of these theories. Some cases may however display a person reinforces an undesirable behavior. If a teacher decided to punish the student for their late assignments, the student may react negatively by dropping the class (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010).

The use of the negative punishment result is not positive in that it does not solve the problem at hand. One can avoid rewarding wrong behavior by analyzing the possible results of each reinforcement theories. This involves looking at all options in relation to the behaviors that is to be changed. The study of the reinforcement theories has allowed me to carefully examine the elements of the reward system. The advice that I would give the teacher would be to apply negative reinforcement which enhances the desired behavior by changing the environment of the student so as to get a positive result (Domjan, Grau & Krause, 2010).

Part 2

Abstract

Psychology is the study of a humans being brain which is responsible for the reactions, behaviors and actions. Over the years a number of theories have been introduced to explain a particular occurrence. These theories are ideal in the study in that they provide arguments that can either be reinforced or dismissed depending on the hypothesis that presents itself. There are a number of theories that have in turn been helpful to the growth and sustainability of the course as a whole. It is therefore essential to provide an explanation on some of the most practiced theories so as to have a better understanding of the subject.

Behaviorism gets its roots from the principles that argue for the notion that all forms of behavior arise from behaviorism conditioning. Conditioning is acquired through the exposure of an individual to a certain environment. This limits the use of the mental state of a person in that most of the observations are performed from an external point of view. Their two forms of conditioning applied in behaviorism are classic conditioning and operant conditioning. Classic conditioning takes place in different stages. The first stage involves pairing a natural stimulus with a particular response. This is followed by stimulus that had neutral qualities previously. This forms two features better known as a conditioned stimulus and a conditioned response. Operant conditioning is less complex in that involves the application of a factor that triggers a response which changes the behavior of a person. This is achieved through using punishments or rewards to influence the behavior of a person.

Cognition is a branch of psychology that looks into the functions of a person’s brain in terms of their reasoning, response, memory and understanding. This theory is relatively new compared to the topics like behaviorism which has been used to tackle most of the earlier psychology related issues. Cognition involves critical thinking and problem solving when exposed to any environmental factor. Introduced in 1967, the cognitive theory sparked the cognitive revolution. The theory is defined by the study of the brain and its surrounding elements in the overall function of the body. The brain is responsible for the adaptation of the different environments that an individual is introduced. Most of the cognitive responses are as a result of the brains partnership with the nerves and the sensory organs. The brain contains structures such as the hypothalamus that are responsible for reasoning, computing, calculating, storing, receiving and issuing responses. This is only possible with the help of the nerves and the sensory organs that assist in the transfer of these messages to from the brain to the rest of the body and back. Phycologists have taken advantage of this theory in solving critical issues that arise from the lack of proper function of the brain cells. This in turn has given the nervous system a pivotal role dealing with issue such as behavioral change in individuals (Kuhn, 2007).

Culture and diversity is an essential aspect in the world of psychology. Most of the interactions that take place between people are brought about by the culture and diversity aspects. Culture is a way of life in that it is responsible for the actions and behavior of a certain people. Most of the cultural practices are passed on from generation to generation making them a significant part of life. One of the qualities of culture is that it is divers and thus different from one place to another. Diversity is defined as the different cultural practices that each community relays. The culture and diversity theory is ideal for the proper understanding of psychology owing to the disadvantage that comes with the ignorance of difference culture. One of the principles of the theory is the study of the behavior of a particular society in relation to their cultural practices. Understanding a person’s culture is the primary factor required to understand their way of reasoning, ideologies and values. Psychology is essential for solving social issue that arises from the behavior of an individual. Most psychological problems arise from the lack of recognizing the diversity in culture. Becoming aware of a way of life has been used to tackle issues related to individuals who have been dubbed as outcast due to their relation with their surrounding environment. One example is the study of the family of a serial killer so as to find out the reasons for their behavior (Coon, & Mitterer, 2011).

The three theories can be used interchangeably when studying psychological problems. Psychologists have in many occasions combined the use of behavioral and cognitive psychology to understand the behavior of social defiant. The study of culture and diversity is also used to understand the cognitive ability of an individual. This indicates that all the present psychological theories are significant in the subject and therefore play a vital role in the continued growth of psychology (Sternberg, 2009).

References

Clutterbuck, P., & Evans, L. (2010). Positive reinforcement: Activities and strategies for creating confident learners. Carmarthen, Wales, UK: Crown House Pub

Domjan, M., Grau, J. W., & Krause, M. A. (2010). The principles of learning and behavior. Australia: Wadsworth Cenage Learning.

Zastrow, C., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010). Understanding human behavior and the social environment. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.

References

Coon, D., & Mitterer, J. O. (2011). Psychology: A journey. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

Sternberg, R. J. (2009). Cognitive psychology. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth

Kuhn, C. (2007). Bridging Philosophy and Psychology Using the Example of Behaviourism and B.F. Skinner’s ‘Beyond Freedom and Dignity’. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.