Psychology: Behavior and Mental Process

1090 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Biological aspect of psychology

Psychology is the study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes. (Gerrig page 2). I think the field of psychology is divided into several parts: Research, counseling, perspectives, goals, and careers. Research has played a vital role in the psychology. It has identified and helped us to understand how and why people feel, act, and think. Implementing the scientific method enables the results to be both reliable and valid. By employing this precise method, psychologists are able to collect data and make reasonable conclusions based upon the facts collected.
Counseling explores human thoughts and behaviors. Psychologists utilize theories to explain why these actions and thoughts occur. Aristotle, Plato, Wundt, and Freud are a few of the pioneers who established guidelines to predict how, why, and when these behaviors will occur again in the future. Utilizing various techniques such as behavior modification, biofeedback, reward/punishment, and conditioning help modify and improve behaviors to better the lives of the individuals. It is important to remember that psychology is the study of both normal and abnormal behavior.
As presented in Chapter 1 of Psychology and Life there are seven psychological perspectives utilized to define the causes and consequences of behavior: Psychodynamic, Behavioral, Humanistic, Cognitive, Biological, Evolutionary, and Sociocultural. The behavioral perspective states that for every action there is a reaction and consequence. If you study hard, then I will get good grades. The cognitive perspective is based upon more advanced metal developments such as perception, memory, language use, thinking, problem solving, and decision making. The use of these processes involves actions and cons...

... middle of paper ...

..., community, or child’s safety or wellbeing can be gravely impacted.
Upon completion of this course, I hope to have gained the knowledge and insight to better deal with people and situations in an appropriate, professional, and effective manner. I want to recognize why people act and response the way they do and what triggers these specific reactions. With this knowledge I can hopefully avoid potential problems or react in a manner which will enhance the situation as opposed to instigating a larger problem. The knowledge and tools I learn in this course will benefit by life and those in which I interact.

Works Cited

Psychology and Life http://www.occupationalinfo.org/04/041061050.html http://psychology.about.com/od/careersinpsychology/tp/psychology-career-trends.htm
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/witness/201010/whats-it-take-become-forensic-psychologist

Show More
Related

  • Ap Psychology Research Paper

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychology can be broadly defined as the scientific and systematic study of people’s behavior and mental processes.

    Read More

  • The Structure of Power in American Society by C. Wright Mills

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychology is a social science that aims to study the mind and the behaviors of humans. It aims to understand what drives humans to act the way they do. It differs from sociology and anthropology in that it takes accounts the individual rather than society as a whole.

    Read More

  • Psychological Disorders

    1870 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are also seven psychological perspectives, which are thought to contribute to abnormal behavior. First is sociocultural, the problems reflect the values and beliefs of the culture. Second is behavioral, there is faulty conditioning or modeling. Evolutionary is the third, this is an exaggerated form of an adaptive reaction. Fourth is humanistic, where the personal growth is blocked.

    Read More

  • What Is Psychology?

    384 Words  | 1 Pages

    Psychology is the study of the behavior of living organisms. The people that study the behaviors are called psychologists. There have been many studies done by these people to try and figure out why people or animal do the things they do. Psychology's four main goals are to describe what occurred, explain why it occurred, predict what event is likely to occur next, and to change to prevent unwanted outcomes. Psychologists study the process of thinking, learning, cognition, emotions, motivations, and personalities. An example of one study that has been done would be why a dog salivates to the sound of a bell and show. This behavior is due to a conditioned stimulus becoming a conditioned response. Another experiment done was with a baby and a white mouse to see if the baby would be scared if something happened while grabbing for the mouse.

    Read More

  • Shaping the Way We Teach Through Psychology

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychology is the study of how the brain functions and the responses we, as humans, have to changes around us. Upon entering my Pre-Calculus class in the eleventh grade, I quickly realized that I had been called to become a post-secondary teacher. Psychology is used in many careers such as law, nursing, medicine, and teaching. The role of teachers is unlike any other. They need to know how to maintain order throughout their classroom, commit to their students, and realize that every student is diverse in their learning needs. Before taking Psychology 2012 at Hillsborough Community College, I never realized I would use psychology in my teaching career; however, it has become so evident to me the importance of it that I am now going to minor in Psychology as well as majoring in Mathematics Education.

    Read More

  • Key Perspectives of Psychology

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    The behavioural perspective to psychology’s assumptions are that all behaviours are learnt from the environment. The environment is made up of many aspects such as housing, local amenities, financial stability and education, these factors that influence are known as environmental determinism.

    Read More

  • Psychology

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    My paper is based on an article from the text’s web site (chapter 9) entitled “Lack of sleep ages body’s systems.” The basic claim of the article is that sleep deprivation has various harmful effects on the body. The reported effects include decreased ability to metabolize glucose (similar to what occurs in diabetes) and increased levels of cortisol (a stress hormone involved in memory and regulation of blood sugar levels). The article also briefly alludes (in the quote at the bottom of page 1) to unspecified changes in brain and immune functioning with sleep deprivation.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Psychology In Psychology

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychology is the scientific study of the mind, brain, and behavior. In psychology, and all of the other sciences, relying on opinions is abandoned in order to find out which explanations best fit the evidence or data given. Science continually forces us to question our findings and conclusions. Over time, psychology has advanced greatly and a main reason for such progressiveness is because of the change in the research model used.

    Read More

  • Counseling Psychology Interview Paper

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    Counseling Psychology is a specialty within the professional psychology that maintains a focus on facilitating personal and interpersonal function across the life span. Those who are Counseling Psychology focuses on the clients emotional, social vocational, education health-related, developmental, and organizational concerns.

    Read More

  • Perspectives of Psychology

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ses influences behavior. The evolutionary perspective explains, how evolution explains mental processes. The psychodynamic perspective assumes that human behaviors are driven by unconscious forces. The behavioral perspective is primarily concerned with learned behaviors. The humanistic perspective emphasizes on personality growth. The cognitive perspective examines our internal thought processes. Finally, the sociocultural perspective compares human behaviors to other cultures, and social settings. There are many ways to examine human behaviors, and these perspectives can help to explain these behaviors, and come up with possible solutions.

    Read More

  • Psychology

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    Psychology is the investigation of the mind and how it processes and directs our thoughts, actions and conceptions. However, in 1879 Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Nevertheless, the origins of psychology go all the way back thousands of years starting with the early Greeks. This foundation is closely connected to biology and philosophy; and especially the subfields of physiology which is the study of the roles of living things and epistemology, which is the study of comprehension and how we understand what we have learned. The connection to physiology and epistemology is often viewed as psychology, which is the hybrid offspring of those two fields of investigation.

    Read More

  • Psychology : Psychology And Everyday Life

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    I never noticed how much psychology could be incorporated into everyday life. But really, any decision or action you take is related to it. I have personally been extremely interested in social psychology: why people do things because of social norms, what people do in order to look socially acceptable, etc. Others topics I also find interesting are sensation and perception; how past experiences can influence how you perceive the things around you, states of consciousness; how things that have happened in your day can be transferred into a mash of events in your dreams, motivation and emotion; what makes a person do something or what makes a person start or stop procrastination, and lastly: personality; what characteristics and traits stand out the most in a person, what makes a person who they are.

    Read More

  • Benefits of Therapy and Christianity

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    Therapy is very effective treatment for mental and emotional problems; however, in order to reap the benefits, it is important to choose the right therapist. Someone a person can trust who make them feel cared for and has the experience to help make changes for a better life or self. A good therapist knows how to listen, help identify, and understand self-defeating thoughts and behavior. They also encourage a person to make positive changes, and motivate an individual to learn and grow, but the therapist cannot do the work for the client. Counseling can help a person to learn to make better decisions. It can assist a person to improve personal skills, develop greater confidence, and acquire awareness and appreciation of their needs and those of other people. With counseling...

    Read More

  • The Importance of Research in Psychology

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    Research is a necessary skill in the Psychology field because it is the key to observing, diagnosing, and treating clients with psychological problems. “Among the health care professions clinical psychology is one of few to provide extensive research training.” (Howes, 1996) Clinical Psychologist uses the scientific method as the procedure for research. Psychology is the only mental health discipline that has its roots in academic research rather than in practice. “Research is the foundation of all Clinical Psychology activities.” (Plante, 2005)

    Read More

  • What Is Contingency Approach To Leadership?

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    What do you expect to learn from this course that will help you develop in the areas you’ve identified?

    Read More

More about Psychology: Behavior and Mental Process

Open Document