Introduction
The enduring differences between individuals are an intriguing subject area in modern psychology. An interest in examining how people differ in their thinking, feeling and behaviour has developed over time. Even over 2000 years ago, Plato stated “No two persons are born exactly alike; but each differs from the other in natural endowments, one being suited for one occupation and the other for another”.
Moving forward in time to 1984, Shackleton and Fletcher pointed out that within the study of scientific psychology of human behaviour, individual differences can easily get lost and brushed off as noise to data. Much of previous research has been concerned with the general processes of the ‘normal’ population such as learning, thinking, memory and perception. It is through this research on ‘average’ behaviour that general theories have been formulated, tested and retested, which led to a greater understanding of the underlying cognitive processes of the human mind. However, while many researchers are searching for what is universal, they bypass the fact that each individual may be reacting differently to the conditions of the experiment. One can appreciate that there are certain aspects of humans that are universal and other aspects that are unique to individuals. This point was illustrated by Kluckhohn & Murray back in 1953, they stated: “Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other men, (b) like some other men, (c) like no other man"(p.53).
This essay will explore the different measures of psychology research and how they tackle different questions in a chosen field of Cognitive Psychology. The measures that will be compared are; single case studies of brain injury and pathology, ‘average’ behaviour across d...
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The study of psychology began as a theoretical subject a branch of ancient philosophy, and later as a part of biological sciences and physiology. However, over the years, it has grown into a rigorous science and a separate discipline, with its own sets of guidance and experimental techniques. This paper aims to study the various stages that the science of psychology passed through to reach its contemporary status, and their effects on its development. It begins with an overview of the historical and philosophical basis of psychology, discusses the development of the various schools of thought, and highlights their effects on contemporary personal and professional decision-making.
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Kurt Lewin, a German born man who left his home country during the Nazis time, came to the United States with the idea that Gestalt’s perspective could be applied to personality theory and social dynamics (Neill, J.). Lewin began with behavior, and then incorporated the idea of how people perceived the behaviors of themselves and others (Neil, J.). His differences were published in 1935 and was known as “Field Theory,” which would be something that set him apart from other theorist; in-fact he has done the complete opposite of the many before him (Book). This theory can relate to those that are from different physical and psychological environments.
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What is mental imagery? In The Effects of Mental Imagery on Athletic Performance, Anne Plessinger describes mental imagery as the imagining of the execution of an action without actually performing the action. Plessinger also explains that mental imagery not only includes visual senses, but also auditory, olfactory and kinesthetic senses (4). Studies have demonstrated that mental imagery prior to athletic performance leads to better results than the execution of the action alone. Plessinger describes an experiment that consisted of a control group and an imagery group who were told to complete specific golf skills. It was concluded that the imagery group performed better because they had higher goals and expectations of themselves (4). Perhaps the mental preparation helped the imagery group’s brains acquire the right skills needed. Also, other studies have shown specific physiological differences (breathing, heart rate...etc.) with the addition of mental imagery before performance (1).
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In response, they proposed that perception is based on the organization of stimuli into holistic and meaningful forms. They are well-known for the phrase "the whole is different than the sum of its parts. " They proposed several "laws" (really heuristics or "rules of thumb") that are referred to as the Gestalt laws of perceptual organization. These are discussed in the module later on.
In all historical aspects, psychology can show us the diverse ranges of how it is evolving throughout our world today. Ancient Greeks and philosophers in the 4th century, show us the early development of personality psychology. They wanted to figure out what actually makes us who we are. Aristotle was one of the first individuals to hypothesize connections between physical aspects of the body and behavior. Today there are many different theoretical vi...
Edited by Raymond J. Corsini. Encyclopedia of Psychology, Second Edition, Volume 3. New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc.