Critical Thinking And Reflection

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Recommended: Operant Conditioning

Tahlea Capps
PSY 101
Critical Thinking/Reflection Essay

At the start of this semester I wasn’t sure what to expect. The last attempt I made to take Psychology 101 was eighteen years ago, just out of high school, fresh into junior college. That class was overwhelming, not to mention boring, and I was not able to wrap my head around the information. I did end up withdrawing from the class. So, at the start of this semester I was nervous that this experience might be similar. I can honestly say it was not! My instructor made the material interesting, fun, and left me excited to return to class the next week. There were many topics that were covered throughout this semester. And a few of the chapters, Learning, Life Span Development, and Motivation and Emotion really resonated with me. Concepts I learned within in these chapters really got me thinking and some I am even trying to apply to my life now.

Within the Learning chapter, I found operant conditioning not only interesting but actually useful. During class we discussed the different types of reinforcement and punishment. Shortly after that class I tried these techniques at home with my children. The next time my four year old did not do as we asked, I told him that he would not have any television, phone, or nook privileges. He continued to not listen and he did get his “screen time” taken away. The next time he was asked to take care of that particular task, he did not argue and completed it without hesitation, knowing that if he did not there would be a consequence/punishment. When my daughter came home late, past her curfew, we took away her driving privileges for the next weekend in hopes to discourage her from breaking curfew in the future. I did not realize this but I...

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...mom always said to me, do a good job for you and not for anyone else. If you know that you could do better than it is not good enough. You should always be able to take pride in what you do and never be ashamed to say “I did that, that was my work”. I will pass this on to my children because it is true. Personal satisfaction feels better and motivates me more than any monetary or material token.

These are just a few of the concepts I have learned in psychology 101 that I will take with me and apply my life. I started out taking this course because it was a requirement but I continued the course because it was interesting and it taught me a little bit about myself, my family, and us as human beings. I can, and will, use what I have learned this semester in psychology 101 to understand others a little bit better and to better myself in various aspects of my life.

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