Discovering Psychology
Discovering Psychology
PSY154-080
FALL 2000
By BRENT
September 6, 2000
Here is 26 writings that I done for the Discovering Psychology telecourse class that was suppose to be done over the course of an entire semester, all was written one after another over a period of 10 hours, without reference to any book, based on my personal knowledge of the subjects in question from years of study and research and most likely from watching PBS, the History, and Discovery Channels to much as well.
Questions from DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY STUDY GUIDE 4th Editon, which accompany PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE 15th by Nancy Franklin.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Unit 1
Question 2. Why do some people believe that psychology is only concerned with abnormal behavior?
The reason that most people believe that psychology is only concerned with abnormal behavior is mainly due to the media, especially televisions focus on psychologists as
individuals that help people with psychological problems.
There is many different kinds of work that psychologists do from working in the criminal justice system to determine the mental competence of a client, to those that teach psychology in the schools. But thanks to television there is a popular stereotype of the psychologist as a quack doctor, someone that deals only with crazy people. The media thinks that all a psychologist does is to psycho-analysis every detail of some ones life, their personality defects, their fears, their phobias and so on. They down play the importance of mental health, and act like the problems are not real.
But the role of psychologists are to be professional scientists that base their decisions on sound research and have a desire to help people solve problems that prevent them from living productive lives. The role of the psychologist is to help individuals to improve their physical, and mental well being, to overcome negative states and learn proper ways to handle problems. There is countless serious problems that should not be down played or made fun of by the media such as individuals with drinking problems, smoking problems, low self esteem, suicidal thoughts and so on. The media should encourage individuals with psychological distress to seek professional help to overcome any depression or suicidal thoughts that could lead to harming oneself or others.
Unit 2
Question 3. What are some of the objections to study of mental processes?
The primary objections to the study of mental processes such as dreams, individual judgment, or perceptions is that such processes rely on the biased self reporting of the individual. Critics say that the study of individual mental processes are personal observations and cannot be independently verified or proven as is traditionally required based on the scientific method used by all modern researchers.
Likewise since mental processes happen within a persons mind, one cannot observe those processes directly, and since they are difficult to scientifically study some psychologists recommend ignoring the study of mental processes altogether.
But those that do consider the study of mental process an extremely important concern to help solve problems of individuals believe that proper measurements can be developed and tested through strict experiments.
Distinct and personal experiences like emotions, and reactions to internal and external events can be scientifically inferred from changes in heart rate, brain waves, speech patterns, and body language that can all be measured. But it is disputed whether such things as lie detectors are truly accurate measurements of an individuals honesty based on changes in heart rate, pulse, and so on.
Individuals do have variations in personal experiences and psychological processes that can effect any arbitrary measurements. One would need to study far larger samples of individuals, including various subgroups based on age, gender, race, religion, class, and so on to properly determine if there is certain measurements that are consistent over the entire human species, or if there is difference based on environmental or socio-economic factors that would lead to differing mental processes.
Unit 3
Question 4. Different technologies for measuring brain activity help psychologists view structures and functioning of the brain. What advantages do these advanced techniques offer?
Over the past few decades major medical advances have occurred that were designed to help doctors and psychologists to determine if individuals have abnormalities in the brain that could result in premature death or disability. These techniques includes the EEG, CAT, MRI, and PET scans that provide important information that can be used to help distinguish between normal and abnormal brain structures and activities.
Using the EEG or electroencephalogram one can measure brain wave patterns, giving the doctor an actual image of the human brain and how it is working. These new devices and techniques are used to help scientist better understand the inner workings of a living human brain, which if far superior to the old way of using autopsies to reveal abnormalities in the brain.
These new devices allows for scientist to help individuals with brain abnormalities, and to properly determine what is wrong with a person.
Clearly the processes of mapping the human brain holds great promises of identifying abnormalities both chemically or structurally that may exist within a brain that causes depression, learning disabilities, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and so on. By knowing what the problem is one can come up with solutions to those problems and improve the quality of life for all.
Unit 4
Question 1. Many different factors do influence a persons performance on a test, such as study habits, recollection of material, knowledge of the test format, and the confidence level of the individual. Given the choice, would I take a drug that might improve my performance on a test. There are drugs that help to improve a persons memory, but I would prefer to just get the needed amount of sleep, the requisite amount of study time to properly memorize the material, and eat a healthy meal before the test to give me the energy needed to succeed. There are natural herbs and vitamins in various foods that have been found to improve an individual's memory.
I personally would not take a beta-blocker that interferes with the effects of adrenaline to reduce stage fright or a drug that promote the retention and recall of information. Just getting enough sleep the night before a test can promote the retention and recall of information. Also my approach is to review the material on a test at least three times to improve the retention and recollection of information.
I would not definitely believe that just the fact that an individual taking a drug would give them an unfair advantage over other test takers because many factors can give a person an unfair advantage, such as the amount of sleep, the health of the individual, the educational background, the amount of study time a person has devoted to the test, the mental processes of the individual to remember information, and so on.
Taking vitamins could produce an improvement in memory, but the law cannot clearly prohibit legal products, or prevent someone from eating health foods that may give them an unfair advantage, if someone else does not eat healthy foods, of does not get the needed amount of sleep, or an adequate amount of study time to retain the information needed on a given test.
Also a test is not the same thing as an athletic competition governed by organizations that have the legal right to make rules and guidelines as to what is and is not acceptable in terms of drugs. A test at a school involves an individual competing against themselves for the best possible grade, with the possibility that everyone could get an A on the test making everyone a winner, unlike an athletic event where there are winners and loser in a given event.
But I would strongly recommend that individuals seek medical advice from a trained professional before they decided to take any drug, because there is always a danger in taking drugs. A given drug may have side effects that would make them to risky to take, for example steroids that athletes take have been found to have untended side effects that damages a persons body. That is why most organizations and competitions do prohibit athletes from taking drugs to enhance performance due not only to a perceived unfair advantage resulting from such drugs, but more importantly because of the unintended side effects on an individual's long term health.
Unit 5
Question 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being bold? Does boldness imply the same thing when used to describe both boys and girls? How might training and experience lead boys and girls to express boldness in different ways?
The trait of boldness differs from person to person based on an individuals distinct background and life history. There are both advantages and disadvantages based on an individuals level of boldness. A bold individual is considered brave or adventurous, which in itself has negative and positive consequences. A bold person may be more likely to strive for their dreams no matter how outrageous those dreams may be, such as a desire to be President of the United States.
But on the negative side they may be to adventurous and in doing so risk their life sky diving, or taking other dangerous risks. They may also risk their money gambling. They may be too bold and force their desire on others. It is better for an individual to not be too bold, but make rational decisions based on all the information available.
Usually boldness is influenced by the gender expectations in a given society. In most societies boldness in girls is considered a negative trait, while it is considered a positive trait in boys. Females are expected to be feminine, passive, weak, while males are expected to be masculine, strong, dominant, and bold.
I think that these social stereotypes do prevent women from achieving their dreams, and devalues males that cannot live up to those social expectations.
Unit 6
Question 1. Is human language unique? Human language is unique, and has been shown to be similar regardless of race, ethnicity, or regional difference. Humans have been proven to be the only ones that use complex language, such as syntax, and meaning modifiers. Animals may be able to make noise or coo, cry, babble, or have some type of body language that has meaning among that given species. But there is no evidence of a complex language among any species other than the human species.
There is some type of communication going on between animals, such as the meowing of a cat, or the barking of a dog, or the different sounds a bee makes to describe something. But this appears to be very simple communications methods, and do not have the complexity of human language that gives meaning to words based on the situation, with the same word having different meanings given a particular situation.
Animal language is based on a given situation, based on the immediate environment, and does not include communication based on future situations, or a memory of the past. The dog may bark to protect a piece of food, to show its domination. But it does not have a complex communication or mental processes, or a rational consciousness to even understand that they exist.
It is debatable if gorillas or chimps are able to have anything other than simple language. Chimps have been shown to have the ability to memorize certain things, and apply meaning to certain actions, as has other animals, and birds. They may be able to push a button to get a banana, or even comprehend that pressing a button that says yes or no leads to a certain result, such as the giving of food or not. But it has been shown that they do not have the vocal capacity, or the higher brain development needed to have complex language or communication skills that humans have.
Animals may be able to use symbols, usually no more than several hundred at the very most in the most advance animals such as chimps or dolphins. But no species other than humans has the capacity to organize symbols according to specific rules. Humans can teach animals symbols, and give them arbitrary rules to go by, but in the natural environment humans clearly learned these symbols naturally as a uniquely programmed skill that only humans have.
I would however agree that higher animals such as gorillas, chimps or dolphins once trained to learn higher level communication skills, may be able to transfer what they learned to their children, such as a female gorilla trained in sign language did transfer some of its knowledge of symbols to its child. But once again the language was less than several hundred symbols, and in no way approaches the complexity of human language, or the process where humans transfer tens of thousands of symbols to their offspring.
It is clear that animals have never been shown to have any language skills that are truly complex compared to humans, with animals having simple language skills, such as recognizing a mothers voice, babbling, varied sounds, specialized sounds of a given animal, and the ability to learn some symbols, but never more than a few hundred which would give the animal the ability of a 2 year old infant at the most.
Human language is still the only complex language known to exist in the universe, and no training of animals to mock human intelligence can overcome the fact that only humans have the brain structure to have real higher level communications skills that are boundless in the potential for growth and continued intellectual advancement.
Unit 7
Question 1. As the population ages, it will be increasingly important for individuals to adapt to the ever changing environment with a range of sensory abilities and deficits becoming increasingly important. The individuals that design houses will need to improve access to and safety of buildings, taking into consideration that more people are living to be older than they did in the past.
The elderly population is growing dramatically thanks to improvements in medical technology, in human diet, and quality of life. Older individuals do require more light to distinguish objects. Likewise they do need higher visual contrasts to detect potential hazards such as curbs or steps, which is why brightly colored devices should be used to help the visually impaired individual to avoid accidents.
In evaluating my home environment I do see things that need to be changed to make the environment more comfortable for the disabled, or visually or hearing impaired. For examples I do not have a ramp for a disabled person to go up to enter my home, and the lights I use are a lower light level to save money, but does need to be increased to better meet the needs of my parents that do have vision problems.
Using books with larger print is a way to make reading more comfortable for the visually impaired. Also one could print larger labels on food and medical products to make it easier to read. Speaking at a different tone makes it easier for a person with a hearing problem to better understand what is being communicated. Also blinking lights could be used on a phone to tell someone that there is a call. For individuals that cannot smell, that is a dangerous situation if there is a fire, and would therefore require smoke detectors and other dangerous gas detectors to avoid potential harm in ones home.
Unit 8
Question 1. About 2 percent of the American population is hooked on gambling, which is a addictive behavior that can lead to negative problems in a persons life. I do not think that compulsive gambling is a genetically caused disease that causes the person not to be responsible for their own actions. On the contrary I believe that gambling is a learned behavior which can be treated by a counselor that is trained to help individuals overcome gambling disorders.
There is an organization called Gamblers Anonymous that has similar goals to Alcoholics Anonymous in helping an individual to overcome an addiction. The best way to help a person overcome any addiction be it drugs, alcohol, sexual aggressive behavior, or gambling is to change the persons environment, to change the antecedents that usually leads to negative consequences.
It is needed to eliminate the cues that promote the negative behavior, thereby leading to the extinction of the behavior. To not work in a bar where drinks are served would reduce the likelihood of relapse for an alcoholic, likewise not working or going to places where gambling occurs will reduce the likelihood of gambling.
But thanks to the fact that internet gambling is available 24 hours a day in a persons home if they have the internet. This makes it more difficult to control the addiction. Therefore the person also needs counseling to show them the negative consequences of their actions both on their finances and in terms of relationships with others that can be negatively effected by any negative addiction. The person needs to be in a treatment program that has professional staff, and has proactive, empathetic counselors that help the client to overcome their problems.
As a counselor I would recommend that a person totally give up their addiction, what ever it may be whether its drinking, smoking, gambling and so on. Because any gratification or pleasure that results from even a limited amount of drinking, smoking, or gambling may only serve to reinforce the negative behavior. Therefore the most likely way for a person to overcome an addiction is to totally give up the negative behavior, in this case gambling. But once again it is hard to cause the desire for gambling to go extinct because even the state government promotes gambling with the lottery numbers popping up on television everyday. Society should not promote negative behaviors by allowing gambling, alcohol, smoking, or various negative addictive products to be legal if they are proven to conclusively be harmful not only to the individual citizen but to society as a whole.
Unit 9
Question 1. What memory strategies can you apply to help you better retain the information in this course?
The best memory strategies to help retain information is by repeated review of the material and focusing all my attention to the material. It has been shown that repeated rehearsal or practice increases the likelihood that information may be transferred from short term memory to long term memory. Of course it is easier to remember information that one enjoys. The more meaningful the information, or the more value one gives to information, the easier it is to store it to long term memory.
Other strategies to better retain material is to get enough sleep and have the energy to study by eating before studying. Also avoiding distractions and focusing all ones attention on the material at hand makes retention of information far easier.
Personally I have found that learning info by reading it out loud helps me to memorize more of the material. I have also found that it is easier to remember information when I review material in twenty minute study sessions, with ten minute breaks. It is better to study material over a longer period instead of trying to memorize everything at once. Likewise I have found that I remember the information I am studying if it is the last thing I do before going to sleep. Also I have found the best way to remember material is to over learn it by reviewing the lecture notes and summaries of information at least four times.
Unit 10
Question 2. The expression "Act your age" basically means that individuals are expected to behave in certain socially expected ways based on ones age. Adults are expected to act mature and not childish.
The scripts that apply to my age group is an expectation to wear cool cloths, to like rap music, to be single, to be sexually active, and so on. Once a person gets out of college they are expected to settle down, get married, have children, and have a good job. Those in their forties, and fifties, are expected to be financially well off, own their own home, and be more conservative.
Clearly scripts influence how one acts, dresses, eats, and lives. Social scripts define how individuals behave. Females are expected to be feminine, weak, passive, wear pink, and so on. Men are expected to be macho, strong, love sports, and so on.
Individuals with different levels of income have different scripts and different expectations based on their status in society. Those in the upper income are expected to have social manners, be well educated, and respected. Lower status individuals are wrongly stereotyped by the media as being dumb, lazy, and lacking social manners.
Scripts should not prevent individuals from living life as they so choose. They should be free to choose their activities, clothing, marital status, and so on.
Unit 11
4. How does the scientific method try to guard against an experimenter's cognitive biases? The scientific method is designed to avoid observer bias. Psychological research is based on the scientific method to avoid biased assumptions or personal beliefs that are not supported based on experiments that are replicated.
The scientific method expects that a study or experiment will be made up of a random sample of a population that can be replicated to assure the reliability of results. Also observer and subject bias is avoided by participants in a study by use of the double blind technique.
The double blind technique prevents the subjects or the researcher who is measuring the dependent variable from knowing who is assigned to the experimental group or control group that receives a placebo, or no manipulation of the independent variable.
The scientific method is also used to show that there is a relationship or correlation between variables that are being studied.
The experimental method is used to determine if there is alternate possibilities in terms of a hypothesis. An experiment can determine if one is to reject a null hypothesis or find a significant relationship between variables. A researcher is interested in proving their assumptions by way of other independent research replicating their findings. This would show that it is not just a biased opinion, or a false assumption, but a reasonable assumption based on scientific findings.
Unit 12
1. Human sexual motivation does express itself in sexual scripts that include: values, social norms, and expectations about patterns of behavior in a given society. Different societies have different standards based on the social scripts of that society. In some societies, such as in the Arabic World, women are a subordinate class that is expected to display no sexuality in public.
On the contrary in Western societies, women have been sexually liberated ( mainly due to the efforts of various women's movements, such as the Women's Liberation Movement, and the National Organization for Women) giving women the freedom to be independent, and sexually active. Women in the Western World are free to dress sexually, and free to have sex with any consenting adult regardless of gender.
It is a social norm in most Western Societies for males to be sexually active, while women were traditionally expected to remain virgins until they marry. But the Women's Movements changed that double standard to allow both men and women to be sexually active, and not be constrained to the traditional socially expected marriage.
Sexuality has become more liberal, or at least the modern culture of Western Society has become more socially liberal in tolerating even behaviors that are deviant, such as the various sexual fetishes that exist. A small segment of individuals in the west have deviant sexual behaviors, such as obsessions with feet, breasts, bondage, and other abnormal behaviors. These deviant behaviors are promoted by the media through the billion dollar Adult Video Industry, and more recently through thousands of Internet Web Sites that exploit these fetishes for capitalistic profit.
Males and females developed different sex scripts because males are expected to be the dominant sexual actor, and females are expected to be the passive, weaker actor in terms of sexual behavior. As stated above, these sexual scripts have become more liberal over the past few decades giving more options to males and females.
The lack of synchronization for a couple would most likely cause sexual problems, and a lack of sexual gratification by one of the partners.
Sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS has lead men and women to practice safer sex, such as to use condoms. Condoms were rarely used as recently as the 1980's. But even with the bad news about sexually transmitted diseases millions of individuals continue to behave in ways that promote AIDS and other diseases, such as having sex without condoms, with multiple partners, and through illegal drug use. Such behavior is harmful not only to the individuals involved but to society as a whole.
Unit 13
3. In considering the role of culture and language in structuring consciousness or focused perception one can quickly realize that perception is greatly influenced by the norms and expectations of a given society.
It can be said that ones cultural context will determine ones selective attention. Human beings develop concepts based on experience and the language of their society. Also the perceptual habits of individuals are influenced by the environment and by the culture that communicates what is important in that given society.
Language lets an individual categorize important elements that one experiences. Yet ones personal experiences can lead to enormous variations in cultures. It should be noted that individual perceptions are usually culturally or socially biased bases on stereotypes and inaccurate impressions about individuals in other groups.
An individuals culture can influence the value one places on how they view a person as attractive, intelligent, competent, and so on. Also first impressions can lead to biased stereotypes regardless of ones culture or language. But language differences can lead to stereotypes, and an inability to communicate that promotes stereotypes if not careful. It would be inaccurate to say that only one group or one society has stereotypes, and prejudices against other groups. All cultures have individuals that stereotype, and are prejudiced against other cultures.
Discrimination against a person or group of people based on race, ethnicity, class, sex, age, disability and so on is common in all cultures. Human society discriminates based on sex in most cultures based on the long held but very false belief that men are better than women. Also there has been age discrimination, first against the young being viewed as childish, immature, and lacking wisdom, but later against the old as being frail, dependent, and incompetent. Discrimination even exists within societies with the same racial or ethnic groups, due to difference in language, dialect, traditions, or religious differences that lead to stereotypes, hostility or irrational feelings. This is why individuals need to view the world from a rational and universalistic approach that transcends any particular culture, or personally biased perspective based on individual difference. We are all human beings that have far more in common than different. We need to overcome irrational perceptions, and simplistic differences to unit as one human race to make the world a better place for all.
Unit 14
Question 3. I do consider the television and media in general as a mind altering influence because they transmit information to the human brain. They influence ones understanding of social norms and social expectations with a glamorization or violence that would make a young person believe that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflicts.
It would also lead one to believe that it is ok to smoke or do drugs. It would lead one to believe that every teenager has sex and does drugs. It would lead one to believe that every black person is in jail based on shows like COPS, and the news coverage of inner cities.
The media only reports on negative situations, and negative events, and down plays positive events. By only showing negative behavior, the media is promoting negative behavior. They need to show the consequences of negative behavior, such as how bad prisons are, and how drugs destroys ones life, instead of glamorizing stars that use drugs, and individuals that get away with crimes.
The media glamorizes criminals, such as turning mob bosses into local hero's of the common man, or as celebrities that are above the law.
They will be more likely to talk discuss a murder on the news, as to show a young person receiving an award for succeeding at something.
Also the media can glamorize suicide, such as a rational way to end ones depression. Studies have indicated that there is an increase in suicides after a suicide is reported on television, which has been referred to as the cluster effect of suicide. But the media should discourage suicide by giving numbers for hotlines to help individuals with suicidal thoughts and depression.
Unit 15
Question 4. I do have higher self esteem in some situations than others. I am more confident in personal situations with my family. I am the lest confident when I am in public situations, such as a classroom with others I do not know. I am a shy person that has always had trouble talking to individuals I don't know. I am open and outgoing at home with my family, but I am passive, and shy around others at school.
I have no fear of failure around my family because I know that they will accept me for who I am no matter what. But I am very self conscious around strangers, and do value what others think of me to such an extent that I have low self esteem around others. I view others as superior to me, I view myself as inferior to others. My low self esteem has not necessarily prevented me from succeeding at what I set my mind to.
In terms of educational achievement I have set goals and found ways to achieve them. I have given speeches before classes not because I enjoyed it or like it, but because I had to. I was able to overcome my fear to give a public presentation in front of others by practicing the speech over and over again to gain more confidence that I would not make a mistake. I have made slight mistakes, but considerate classmates have praised me, and assured me that I done a good job. I do have strong fears about speaking in public, but I know that in the modern world verbal communications is essential to personal and social success.
Also I have lower self esteem because I feel that I am not as attractive as others, and that women are not sexually interested in me. I have an inability to talk to the opposite sex, even over small talk about the weather, or some other subject. My lack of self esteem has lead me to focus on education, and not on my personal life. I have given my attention to education and I have succeeded with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Geography, Government, and History, and a Masters Degree in Sociology.
I will continue to learn and try to overcome my fear of public speech. In trying to achieve this objective I took a class offered by the Personal Development Institute to gain social skills, and I gained some confidence from the interaction with other students, even though I was a graduate student, while they were freshmen students just beginning their higher education experience. Perhaps being older than the other students gave me more self confidence, and more self esteem than I would have had in a class with individuals my age or older. I do feel better about myself based on my educational achievements, but I am continuing to improve my social skills in order to find personal success as well.
Unit 16
Question 5. There are several ethical questions related to intelligence testing and psychological assessment. Intelligence tests and psychological assessments are suppose to be designed in ways to avoid personal bias and to obtain an objective measure of a individuals abilities. Standardization of tests are suppose to provide a uniform and fair way to measure human behavior.
Intelligence tests and personality tests are considered psychological tests. Psychological tests are expected to meet three criteria, which are to be standardized, reliable, and valid.
In an attempt to avoid personal bias, there is expected to be uniform standards that all must follow, such as the same testing environment, test directions, test items, and amount of time must be similar for all individuals taking the test.
Personal bias is also achieved by having test-retest reliability, and scores being based on a standardization sample that is representative of a population and can be used to indicate percentile scores that are normal for individuals who have taken the test.
Personal bias is also avoided by measuring the validity of the test. The test should be valid based on content, criteria, and how reliable it accurately measures an individual's performance at some time in the future.
But a problem with intelligence and psychological assessments is that they can be used in a subjective way to discriminate against a person. The test may be culturally or racially biased with content that is valid to one group but not valued by another, which would lead to lower scores my minorities.
Likewise intelligence and psychological assessments can lead to labels that last a lifetime and prevent one from succeeding in life.
For example a student may be classified as a bellow average student, and based on this assumption they are encouraged to go to vocational school, instead of college. The assessment should not be the only consideration used to determine intelligence.
The grades of the student should also be considered. Some students do poorly on standardized tests, but do great at more subjective tests that allow room for critical thinking and human creativity.
Just because someone memorizes some set of data, does not mean they fully understand the information, they may know the answer, but not know all the decision making processes that are involved in it.
I am able to do both multiple choice tests, and critical thinking tests that force one to describe in great detail how to solve a problem or answer a complex question. The main problem with standardized tests is that they usually allow for only simple questions, and do not allow for in depth critical thinking that is far more important in real world situations.
Unit 17
Question 2. Gender typing influences perceptions in several ways.
For example, simply knowing if a person is male or female can lead to interpretations based on expected stereotypical differences. From the start of life, human children are perceived to be female or male even if behavior or appearance is negligible.
The parent applies their own biased expectations on children, and expect males and females to behave in socially acceptable ways. Individuals are expected to meet the social norms of their culture that prescribes what they can do, when, where, how, and with whom.
For example men are expected to open doors for women, and pull out the chair for women to sit down. It can include the man paying for the meal. But these norms are changing, due to women's growing level of liberation in modern society. Women expect to pay their own way now, to not be dependent on men for anything. Some women do not expect men to have traditional values, or manners.
Men and women are judged differently based on behavior done by a man or a women, such as men being seen as a stud if he goes with several women, while a women that goes with several men is seen as a slut. Such beliefs are abhorant in the modern world.
Also men that are strong and forceful are viewed positively as dominant leaders, while strong women are viewed negatively for the same behavior. Men are expected to be dominant and masculine, while females are expected to be feminine and passive.
Likewise in terms of jobs gender is used to determine the suitability of a person for a particular job, which leads to the gender segregation of some occupations, such as most nurses, librarians, typists, waitresses, and airplane attendants being female, and males being construction workers, doctors, lawyers, and politicians.
But it is becoming more common for women to dominate traditional female vocations, but also gaining parity in traditionally male vocations such as law, and medicine.
Women now make up a majority of law school students. They make up a majority of Graduate school students, and will clearly dominate as the majority of doctors, lawyers, professors, and politicians in the decades to come.
Gender stereotypes are being broken down and Western Societies are becoming far more equal. There is still wage discrimination based on gender, and sexual harassment in the workplace, but lawsuits will overcome these inequities to give all Americans equal protections in the workforce.
Unit 18
Question 1. The study of aging has usually focused on the negative consequences of aging, by studying sick elderly, poor elderly, and disabled elderly.
But over the past decades the elderly population has grown to about 13% of the total United States Population and is expected to be the fastest growing population over the next several decades. The elderly are now viewed in a more favorable light due to the studies that indicate that most elderly are healthy, with under 12% being in poverty. Also studies show that a majority of elderly are healthy, and that the perception of being old as painful, and years of suffering if a false stereotype.
The elderly are stereotyped as lazy, forgetful, depressed, and sick. The main reason for these stereotypes is the media's negative portrayal of the elderly. It is also due to the studies of elderly persons in nursing homes. Despite the popular perception that all elderly are in nursing homes, in reality there is never more than 5% of elderly in nursing homes at any time, and it is estimated that about 25% of older individuals will be in a nursing home at some point in their life.
Clearly studies have shown that those in nursing homes are depressed, and sick, but that does not mean that they were that way when they entered the nursing home. There is no evidence to indicate that the elderly retires from work because of disability or depression, but it has been shown that a lack of inactivity due to job loss, loss of a loved one increases the likelihood of depression, and isolation.
It is clear than non-Western Cultures place a higher value on the elderly than Western Cultures who see them as dependent, and intellectually outdated. This devaluing of the elderly has lead to the growing acceptance of euthanasia as a solution for depressed, or disabled elderly. Instead of helping the elderly to overcome their problems, or helping all in society by coming up with solutions to health problems, some find it expedient to just throw away the elderly.
But the elderly are valued members of society that will be needed more over the decades to come, than they have ever been needed before as a source of leadership and economic capital. The elderly must continue to work if Social Security is to survive past 2027.
Thanks to modern technology, better medicine, better diets, and exercise, the elderly now lives to the upper seventies. It is expected that over the decades to come the elderly will continue to increase in longevity, with a possible life expectancy of about 120 by the year 2050. Not only is the life expectancy of the elderly increasing, but the elderly are remaining healthier longer.
Most elderly are still ill the last few years of their life, but those years are being pushed back, giving more years of health and potential activity.
The healthy elderly should be encouraged to stay active, to stay in the workforce, to stay in various social organizations, and to contribute to society, and not spend their last years in isolation. Ageism must be overcome for the elderly to be treated equally, and not be stereotyped into old scripts that no longer exist now.
Unit 19
Question 1. Some psychologists have suggested that participants in Milgrams's research must have suffered guilt and loss of dignity and self esteem, although they were told later that they hadn't actually harmed the learner. Follow-up studies to the prison experiment revealed that the participants had not suffered long term ill effects. What psychological principle might explain these outcomes? Did the value of the research outweight the risks for participants? Would you participate in such experiments?
I agree that some of the participants in Milgram's research must have suffered guilt and a loss of dignity based on the present belief that they was harming a person by way of electric shock if a person gave the wrong answer. But clearly some of them did become blindly obedient to the authority figure that told them to hurt a person they did not know, to even give them a shock that they knew would cause great physical harm to the person. Perhaps it is easier to hurt someone you do not know, than it is to harm a person that you know and see as human.
The individuals in Milgram's research did not see the person they were to punish for wrong answers, and they could not form a personal attachment, or any sympathy for someone they did not know. Also they felt that it was their duty to follow orders, even if those orders harmed someone else. They clearly put their personal success ahead of the suffering of others.
They were told later that they had not harmed the person, but when they were doing the experiment they thought it was real, they heard the participant screaming in pain, but still continued to blindly follow orders to electrocute the person. When someone gets into an authoritarian situation, where they are expected to follow orders, to go by the rules, they will show no human morals or give no concern for those under them. This is also occurs in complex governmental organizations, like the United States Bureaucracy.
Studies have shown that bureaucrats follow orders, and value cost saving techniques more than human safety, which lead to the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster in 1986, and to the death of individuals in Ford Pinto's with faulty gas tanks. It was calculated that it was cheaper to pay out money in lawsuits, instead of paying $100 per car to fix the problem.
I believe that organizations and researchers need to put the interests of the public first, public safety should come before personal profit or corporate greed.
The prison experiment is an example of gross violations of individual dignity, and self-worth. They were humiliated in front of their friends, and did suffer from the incident, even if it did not have a long term impact.
It clearly did shock them, humiliate them, oppress them, and treated them like animals. I hope that ethical considerations would prevent any research along the lines of Milgram's shocking experiment, or Zimbardo's failed prison experiment. I would never participate in any experiment that violates human dignity, or an individuals self-esteem.
Unit 20
Question 4. I believe that programs on television greatly construct a distorted reality where children think that violence is the only answer. The Power Rangers television show shows that it's ok to fight to succeed in life. Television shows that a person can solve their problems by using violence, such as to shoot them, or use martial arts to brutally beat up their enemy. Television causes kids to think that violence is common, and is a socially acceptable behavior.
Also television glamorizes materialism, which encourages kids to start at a very young age to want toys, and the best products. It makes kids think that they have to have a toy because every kid on television has the toy.
Also television promotes immoral behaviors, such as drinking alcohol, smoking, and premarital sex. Children are lead to believe that everyone smokes, and has sex in school.
Television also leads kids to see women as weak and helpless victims that depend on a strong, masculine man to save them. Women are shown as housewives, and men are shown as the provider of money and the one who is expected to control the family. Women are greatly stereotyped as sex objects that use their sexuality to succeed in life. Men are shown as forceful, violent, and dominant individuals that do what they want.
The media needs to not show traditional stereotypes, but show the world as it truly is.
Unit 21
Question 3. The issue of whether homosexuality is a deviant behavior is a highly controversial issue that has been influenced by politics and the media.
In ancient Greek society homosexuality was a normal behavior of the upper class male that had male slaves that he could sexually exploit freely. The Greek society was very tolerant of liberal sexual behaviors, but even they considered it wrong for a slave to be on top of the master, which was a violation of social expectations that expected a master to be the dominant and controlling party.
Homosexuality has existed in most societies throughout human history, but it has always been considered abnormal behavior that goes against the will of God. For thousands of years Jewish Religion, and its younger counterparts (Christianity and Islam) all view homosexuality as abnormal behavior that goes against the will of God that created Men and Women to be one, to be partners, and to multiply.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual DSM-IV no longer classifies homosexuality as a psychological disorder. It was considered a disorder in the past.
But society still considers multiple personality men or women that think they are the opposite sex or some one else, cross-dressers, and transvestites as deviant.
Some studies have indicated a relationship between homosexuality and child abuse. It could be that there is both environmental and biological factors that increases the likelihood that a person will become homosexual.
It can be classified as deviant behavior, if deviant means different from the norms of society. Most people in society are heterosexual, and biologically humans are designed to have sexual reproduction with the opposite sex to carry on the next generation. But just because something is not done by a majority of the population does not mean that it is necessarily abnormal or deviant.
In modern societies we must all learn to be tolerant of others and not discriminate on the bases of gender, race, religion, income, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, or sexual preference.
Unit 22
Question 2. It is difficult to compare different therapies. Therapy needs to be based on the clients needs, intensity, and duration of their problem. For example if a client has a drinking problem, then Alcoholics Anonymous can meet the clients needs. If they have a gambling problem, they need Gamblers Anonymous. Some clients need individual therapy if their problem is of such a severe nature or of such a personal nature that they are to embarrassed to participate in group counseling.
If a person is in prison then they should participate in the relevant treatment program that meets their specific needs. For example if they had a drug problem first, and that lead to criminal conduct, then one should focus on the drug treatment first, then criminal conduct counseling. Or if they committed crimes first, then they need criminal conduct therapy in a group setting. It is highly recommended that a counselor have the training, expertise, and show empathy and concern for the client.
The counselor also has ethical guidelines to maintain client confidentiality unless the client gives an indication that they are going to do harm to someone else.
The overall goal of a counselor is to protect the public. This is why the counselor wants to give the client the counseling they need to reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
The client needs to be taught proactive, non-deviant ways to react in certain situations, to avoid cues that promote deviant behavior, and to learn to control their behavior by way of changing their thought processes from deviant thoughts to positive thoughts.
The best treatment programs must be of a duration of at least one year, preferably two or three years, and have professional counselors that can provide the treatment the client needs to change. It has also been shown that group counseling of a long duration, under professional supervision, with trained staff, has lower recidivism rates than individual programs of a shorter duration with less trained staff, and minimal supervision.
Society needs to provide more funding for treatment programs to allow the counselors and therapists to provide the best possible treatment to all regardless of income to reduce recidivism and to protect the public from future harm.
Unit 23
Question 1. The way in which friends can help reduce stress is obvious. Common Sense would lead one to realize that a friendly face, a caring hand will reduce stress. Friends can give the understanding and compassion that a person needs in tough times.
Also friends can help a person out during times of stress. For example, when a person is sick or has a family problem, a friend could give some needed money, help baby site a child, provide food, or transportation to a doctor. If your car breaks down they could give you a ride to work.
But I believe that the most important thing that a friend does is, provide emotional support. A friend is there to listen when you need a shoulder to cry on. They can reassure you that you are going to be ok, and that they are there for you. Friends can also help one to more clearly think about a problem. For example when a person suffers the death of a love one, they are vulnerable and confused, needing someone else to help them make the arrangements for the funeral.
Social support makes one less likely to suffer from stress or depression. Individuals that lack social support are more likely to commit suicide. Individuals with high levels of stress and depression are at higher risk for suicide. The likelihood of suicide increases with the level of stress. Situations that create negative stimuli that is unavoidable can increase the likelihood of suicidal behavior. Isolated individuals are also more likely to see suicide as a viable option. Thus a strong social support network is important to help individuals to cope, and overcome stressful life events.
Unit 24
Question 3. Yes I believe that psychological principles can be used for positive or negative purposes.
A person may only be interested in making money, and they use psychological principles to manipulate individuals for their own personal gain.
People and individuals can use the power of persuasion and coercion to influence the behavior of other persons, especially those that are in a psychologically dependent state.
It is easy for someone to take advantage of an elderly person that has lost a loved one, and is confused, making it easy to exploit them for money as many telemarketer's do. Advertisers design campaigns to persuade individuals to buy stuff they do not really need. Also con artists use techniques to sell products that do not live up to expectations or do not exist at all, such as promising a check for $10,000 if you send a $100 deposit.
Also cult leaders have clearly shown that they are so dominant, so charismatic, so persuasive that they can get weaker minded individuals to follow their every word. Cult leaders like Jim Jones, and David Korish were able to get individuals that would be normal in another situation to totally give up their lives for the leaders false beliefs.
Individuals need to watch out for persuasive and dominate con artists that are clearly taking advantage of a person that is has personal problems, low self esteem, and a lack of direction.
Individuals with personal problems need to seek professional counseling from professionals that are trained to properly help them to become productive members of society.
Unit 25
Question 3. I know that I have achieved the goal of increasing my understanding of others, and developing a tolerance of behaviors of others different from mine because I do not prejudge a person based on first impressions. I do not stereotype a person based on their gender, race, ethnicity, age, income, region, nationality, religion, or sexual preference.
I believe that individuals have a right to disagree. Just because someone has attitudes or beliefs that are different from mine, I do not say they are stupid or foolish for having such beliefs. I may say that a person is misguided, or wrong, but I do not question their character or intelligence.
I can disagree with a person on any issue, such as we may disagree on capital punishment. I am opposed to capital punishment because it discriminates against minorities and the poor that can not afford a fair defense even if they are innocent. Also I oppose it because it is morally wrong for any individual, organization, or institution to kill another human being. All humans have a right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
But others disagree, and believe that criminals need to be executed as punishment, and perhaps due to the human desire for revenge. They feel that capital punishment deters crime. I can agree to disagree, and do what I can and will through the power of words try to change their minds, and the minds of society as a whole to give a greater value to human rights.
Unit 26
Question 3. I believe that human beings are responsible for their behavior. But I do agree that for some individuals there is biological determinants that increase the likelihood of certain abnormal behavior.
Individual's can also be a victim of their environment, such as being exposed to toxic chemicals as a child could cause health problems as an adult. Or they could suffer brain damage as a infant in a women's womb if she uses drugs.
Also a child that is abused is more likely to continue such behavior as an adult because they view such behavior as normal. Likewise a person that is in a deviant subgroup such as those that smoke marijuana may view that behavior as normal, even though society as a whole may view it as deviant.
The psychologizing of American culture has complicated the judicial process leading to claims of insanity, and blaming ones parents, or ones youth for their adult problems with the law.
There is some truth to the fact that negative circumstances as a child do influence children to promote negative behaviors. Parents can wrongly teach children that violence is ok, that its ok to drink, or smoke, or do drugs, or steal, or do deviant sexual acts. Children that suffer abuse need counseling so they will learn that certain behaviors are socially unacceptable. Children need positive, empathetic role models that teach them how to live within the socially acceptable norms of society.
But once again the adult is responsible for his or her actions, they must admit blame, or they will never be able to overcome their deviant behavior, or successfully complete a treatment program.
B. F. Skinner would be skeptical of the ability of a psychologist to testify to the state of mind of a defendant, when he believes that only what one observes on the outside can be tested. He believes that behavior must be observed and not some unobservable consciousness that cannot be independently proven by the scientific method.
PSY154-080
FALL 2000
By BRENT
September 6, 2000
Here is 26 writings that I done for the Discovering Psychology telecourse class that was suppose to be done over the course of an entire semester, all was written one after another over a period of 10 hours, without reference to any book, based on my personal knowledge of the subjects in question from years of study and research and most likely from watching PBS, the History, and Discovery Channels to much as well.
Questions from DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY STUDY GUIDE 4th Editon, which accompany PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE 15th by Nancy Franklin.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Unit 1
Question 2. Why do some people believe that psychology is only concerned with abnormal behavior?
The reason that most people believe that psychology is only concerned with abnormal behavior is mainly due to the media, especially televisions focus on psychologists as
individuals that help people with psychological problems.
There is many different kinds of work that psychologists do from working in the criminal justice system to determine the mental competence of a client, to those that teach psychology in the schools. But thanks to television there is a popular stereotype of the psychologist as a quack doctor, someone that deals only with crazy people. The media thinks that all a psychologist does is to psycho-analysis every detail of some ones life, their personality defects, their fears, their phobias and so on. They down play the importance of mental health, and act like the problems are not real.
But the role of psychologists are to be professional scientists that base their decisions on sound research and have a desire to help people solve problems that prevent them from living productive lives. The role of the psychologist is to help individuals to improve their physical, and mental well being, to overcome negative states and learn proper ways to handle problems. There is countless serious problems that should not be down played or made fun of by the media such as individuals with drinking problems, smoking problems, low self esteem, suicidal thoughts and so on. The media should encourage individuals with psychological distress to seek professional help to overcome any depression or suicidal thoughts that could lead to harming oneself or others.
Unit 2
Question 3. What are some of the objections to study of mental processes?
The primary objections to the study of mental processes such as dreams, individual judgment, or perceptions is that such processes rely on the biased self reporting of the individual. Critics say that the study of individual mental processes are personal observations and cannot be independently verified or proven as is traditionally required based on the scientific method used by all modern researchers.
Likewise since mental processes happen within a persons mind, one cannot observe those processes directly, and since they are difficult to scientifically study some psychologists recommend ignoring the study of mental processes altogether.
But those that do consider the study of mental process an extremely important concern to help solve problems of individuals believe that proper measurements can be developed and tested through strict experiments.
Distinct and personal experiences like emotions, and reactions to internal and external events can be scientifically inferred from changes in heart rate, brain waves, speech patterns, and body language that can all be measured. But it is disputed whether such things as lie detectors are truly accurate measurements of an individuals honesty based on changes in heart rate, pulse, and so on.
Individuals do have variations in personal experiences and psychological processes that can effect any arbitrary measurements. One would need to study far larger samples of individuals, including various subgroups based on age, gender, race, religion, class, and so on to properly determine if there is certain measurements that are consistent over the entire human species, or if there is difference based on environmental or socio-economic factors that would lead to differing mental processes.
Unit 3
Question 4. Different technologies for measuring brain activity help psychologists view structures and functioning of the brain. What advantages do these advanced techniques offer?
Over the past few decades major medical advances have occurred that were designed to help doctors and psychologists to determine if individuals have abnormalities in the brain that could result in premature death or disability. These techniques includes the EEG, CAT, MRI, and PET scans that provide important information that can be used to help distinguish between normal and abnormal brain structures and activities.
Using the EEG or electroencephalogram one can measure brain wave patterns, giving the doctor an actual image of the human brain and how it is working. These new devices and techniques are used to help scientist better understand the inner workings of a living human brain, which if far superior to the old way of using autopsies to reveal abnormalities in the brain.
These new devices allows for scientist to help individuals with brain abnormalities, and to properly determine what is wrong with a person.
Clearly the processes of mapping the human brain holds great promises of identifying abnormalities both chemically or structurally that may exist within a brain that causes depression, learning disabilities, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and so on. By knowing what the problem is one can come up with solutions to those problems and improve the quality of life for all.
Unit 4
Question 1. Many different factors do influence a persons performance on a test, such as study habits, recollection of material, knowledge of the test format, and the confidence level of the individual. Given the choice, would I take a drug that might improve my performance on a test. There are drugs that help to improve a persons memory, but I would prefer to just get the needed amount of sleep, the requisite amount of study time to properly memorize the material, and eat a healthy meal before the test to give me the energy needed to succeed. There are natural herbs and vitamins in various foods that have been found to improve an individual's memory.
I personally would not take a beta-blocker that interferes with the effects of adrenaline to reduce stage fright or a drug that promote the retention and recall of information. Just getting enough sleep the night before a test can promote the retention and recall of information. Also my approach is to review the material on a test at least three times to improve the retention and recollection of information.
I would not definitely believe that just the fact that an individual taking a drug would give them an unfair advantage over other test takers because many factors can give a person an unfair advantage, such as the amount of sleep, the health of the individual, the educational background, the amount of study time a person has devoted to the test, the mental processes of the individual to remember information, and so on.
Taking vitamins could produce an improvement in memory, but the law cannot clearly prohibit legal products, or prevent someone from eating health foods that may give them an unfair advantage, if someone else does not eat healthy foods, of does not get the needed amount of sleep, or an adequate amount of study time to retain the information needed on a given test.
Also a test is not the same thing as an athletic competition governed by organizations that have the legal right to make rules and guidelines as to what is and is not acceptable in terms of drugs. A test at a school involves an individual competing against themselves for the best possible grade, with the possibility that everyone could get an A on the test making everyone a winner, unlike an athletic event where there are winners and loser in a given event.
But I would strongly recommend that individuals seek medical advice from a trained professional before they decided to take any drug, because there is always a danger in taking drugs. A given drug may have side effects that would make them to risky to take, for example steroids that athletes take have been found to have untended side effects that damages a persons body. That is why most organizations and competitions do prohibit athletes from taking drugs to enhance performance due not only to a perceived unfair advantage resulting from such drugs, but more importantly because of the unintended side effects on an individual's long term health.
Unit 5
Question 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being bold? Does boldness imply the same thing when used to describe both boys and girls? How might training and experience lead boys and girls to express boldness in different ways?
The trait of boldness differs from person to person based on an individuals distinct background and life history. There are both advantages and disadvantages based on an individuals level of boldness. A bold individual is considered brave or adventurous, which in itself has negative and positive consequences. A bold person may be more likely to strive for their dreams no matter how outrageous those dreams may be, such as a desire to be President of the United States.
But on the negative side they may be to adventurous and in doing so risk their life sky diving, or taking other dangerous risks. They may also risk their money gambling. They may be too bold and force their desire on others. It is better for an individual to not be too bold, but make rational decisions based on all the information available.
Usually boldness is influenced by the gender expectations in a given society. In most societies boldness in girls is considered a negative trait, while it is considered a positive trait in boys. Females are expected to be feminine, passive, weak, while males are expected to be masculine, strong, dominant, and bold.
I think that these social stereotypes do prevent women from achieving their dreams, and devalues males that cannot live up to those social expectations.
Unit 6
Question 1. Is human language unique? Human language is unique, and has been shown to be similar regardless of race, ethnicity, or regional difference. Humans have been proven to be the only ones that use complex language, such as syntax, and meaning modifiers. Animals may be able to make noise or coo, cry, babble, or have some type of body language that has meaning among that given species. But there is no evidence of a complex language among any species other than the human species.
There is some type of communication going on between animals, such as the meowing of a cat, or the barking of a dog, or the different sounds a bee makes to describe something. But this appears to be very simple communications methods, and do not have the complexity of human language that gives meaning to words based on the situation, with the same word having different meanings given a particular situation.
Animal language is based on a given situation, based on the immediate environment, and does not include communication based on future situations, or a memory of the past. The dog may bark to protect a piece of food, to show its domination. But it does not have a complex communication or mental processes, or a rational consciousness to even understand that they exist.
It is debatable if gorillas or chimps are able to have anything other than simple language. Chimps have been shown to have the ability to memorize certain things, and apply meaning to certain actions, as has other animals, and birds. They may be able to push a button to get a banana, or even comprehend that pressing a button that says yes or no leads to a certain result, such as the giving of food or not. But it has been shown that they do not have the vocal capacity, or the higher brain development needed to have complex language or communication skills that humans have.
Animals may be able to use symbols, usually no more than several hundred at the very most in the most advance animals such as chimps or dolphins. But no species other than humans has the capacity to organize symbols according to specific rules. Humans can teach animals symbols, and give them arbitrary rules to go by, but in the natural environment humans clearly learned these symbols naturally as a uniquely programmed skill that only humans have.
I would however agree that higher animals such as gorillas, chimps or dolphins once trained to learn higher level communication skills, may be able to transfer what they learned to their children, such as a female gorilla trained in sign language did transfer some of its knowledge of symbols to its child. But once again the language was less than several hundred symbols, and in no way approaches the complexity of human language, or the process where humans transfer tens of thousands of symbols to their offspring.
It is clear that animals have never been shown to have any language skills that are truly complex compared to humans, with animals having simple language skills, such as recognizing a mothers voice, babbling, varied sounds, specialized sounds of a given animal, and the ability to learn some symbols, but never more than a few hundred which would give the animal the ability of a 2 year old infant at the most.
Human language is still the only complex language known to exist in the universe, and no training of animals to mock human intelligence can overcome the fact that only humans have the brain structure to have real higher level communications skills that are boundless in the potential for growth and continued intellectual advancement.
Unit 7
Question 1. As the population ages, it will be increasingly important for individuals to adapt to the ever changing environment with a range of sensory abilities and deficits becoming increasingly important. The individuals that design houses will need to improve access to and safety of buildings, taking into consideration that more people are living to be older than they did in the past.
The elderly population is growing dramatically thanks to improvements in medical technology, in human diet, and quality of life. Older individuals do require more light to distinguish objects. Likewise they do need higher visual contrasts to detect potential hazards such as curbs or steps, which is why brightly colored devices should be used to help the visually impaired individual to avoid accidents.
In evaluating my home environment I do see things that need to be changed to make the environment more comfortable for the disabled, or visually or hearing impaired. For examples I do not have a ramp for a disabled person to go up to enter my home, and the lights I use are a lower light level to save money, but does need to be increased to better meet the needs of my parents that do have vision problems.
Using books with larger print is a way to make reading more comfortable for the visually impaired. Also one could print larger labels on food and medical products to make it easier to read. Speaking at a different tone makes it easier for a person with a hearing problem to better understand what is being communicated. Also blinking lights could be used on a phone to tell someone that there is a call. For individuals that cannot smell, that is a dangerous situation if there is a fire, and would therefore require smoke detectors and other dangerous gas detectors to avoid potential harm in ones home.
Unit 8
Question 1. About 2 percent of the American population is hooked on gambling, which is a addictive behavior that can lead to negative problems in a persons life. I do not think that compulsive gambling is a genetically caused disease that causes the person not to be responsible for their own actions. On the contrary I believe that gambling is a learned behavior which can be treated by a counselor that is trained to help individuals overcome gambling disorders.
There is an organization called Gamblers Anonymous that has similar goals to Alcoholics Anonymous in helping an individual to overcome an addiction. The best way to help a person overcome any addiction be it drugs, alcohol, sexual aggressive behavior, or gambling is to change the persons environment, to change the antecedents that usually leads to negative consequences.
It is needed to eliminate the cues that promote the negative behavior, thereby leading to the extinction of the behavior. To not work in a bar where drinks are served would reduce the likelihood of relapse for an alcoholic, likewise not working or going to places where gambling occurs will reduce the likelihood of gambling.
But thanks to the fact that internet gambling is available 24 hours a day in a persons home if they have the internet. This makes it more difficult to control the addiction. Therefore the person also needs counseling to show them the negative consequences of their actions both on their finances and in terms of relationships with others that can be negatively effected by any negative addiction. The person needs to be in a treatment program that has professional staff, and has proactive, empathetic counselors that help the client to overcome their problems.
As a counselor I would recommend that a person totally give up their addiction, what ever it may be whether its drinking, smoking, gambling and so on. Because any gratification or pleasure that results from even a limited amount of drinking, smoking, or gambling may only serve to reinforce the negative behavior. Therefore the most likely way for a person to overcome an addiction is to totally give up the negative behavior, in this case gambling. But once again it is hard to cause the desire for gambling to go extinct because even the state government promotes gambling with the lottery numbers popping up on television everyday. Society should not promote negative behaviors by allowing gambling, alcohol, smoking, or various negative addictive products to be legal if they are proven to conclusively be harmful not only to the individual citizen but to society as a whole.
Unit 9
Question 1. What memory strategies can you apply to help you better retain the information in this course?
The best memory strategies to help retain information is by repeated review of the material and focusing all my attention to the material. It has been shown that repeated rehearsal or practice increases the likelihood that information may be transferred from short term memory to long term memory. Of course it is easier to remember information that one enjoys. The more meaningful the information, or the more value one gives to information, the easier it is to store it to long term memory.
Other strategies to better retain material is to get enough sleep and have the energy to study by eating before studying. Also avoiding distractions and focusing all ones attention on the material at hand makes retention of information far easier.
Personally I have found that learning info by reading it out loud helps me to memorize more of the material. I have also found that it is easier to remember information when I review material in twenty minute study sessions, with ten minute breaks. It is better to study material over a longer period instead of trying to memorize everything at once. Likewise I have found that I remember the information I am studying if it is the last thing I do before going to sleep. Also I have found the best way to remember material is to over learn it by reviewing the lecture notes and summaries of information at least four times.
Unit 10
Question 2. The expression "Act your age" basically means that individuals are expected to behave in certain socially expected ways based on ones age. Adults are expected to act mature and not childish.
The scripts that apply to my age group is an expectation to wear cool cloths, to like rap music, to be single, to be sexually active, and so on. Once a person gets out of college they are expected to settle down, get married, have children, and have a good job. Those in their forties, and fifties, are expected to be financially well off, own their own home, and be more conservative.
Clearly scripts influence how one acts, dresses, eats, and lives. Social scripts define how individuals behave. Females are expected to be feminine, weak, passive, wear pink, and so on. Men are expected to be macho, strong, love sports, and so on.
Individuals with different levels of income have different scripts and different expectations based on their status in society. Those in the upper income are expected to have social manners, be well educated, and respected. Lower status individuals are wrongly stereotyped by the media as being dumb, lazy, and lacking social manners.
Scripts should not prevent individuals from living life as they so choose. They should be free to choose their activities, clothing, marital status, and so on.
Unit 11
4. How does the scientific method try to guard against an experimenter's cognitive biases? The scientific method is designed to avoid observer bias. Psychological research is based on the scientific method to avoid biased assumptions or personal beliefs that are not supported based on experiments that are replicated.
The scientific method expects that a study or experiment will be made up of a random sample of a population that can be replicated to assure the reliability of results. Also observer and subject bias is avoided by participants in a study by use of the double blind technique.
The double blind technique prevents the subjects or the researcher who is measuring the dependent variable from knowing who is assigned to the experimental group or control group that receives a placebo, or no manipulation of the independent variable.
The scientific method is also used to show that there is a relationship or correlation between variables that are being studied.
The experimental method is used to determine if there is alternate possibilities in terms of a hypothesis. An experiment can determine if one is to reject a null hypothesis or find a significant relationship between variables. A researcher is interested in proving their assumptions by way of other independent research replicating their findings. This would show that it is not just a biased opinion, or a false assumption, but a reasonable assumption based on scientific findings.
Unit 12
1. Human sexual motivation does express itself in sexual scripts that include: values, social norms, and expectations about patterns of behavior in a given society. Different societies have different standards based on the social scripts of that society. In some societies, such as in the Arabic World, women are a subordinate class that is expected to display no sexuality in public.
On the contrary in Western societies, women have been sexually liberated ( mainly due to the efforts of various women's movements, such as the Women's Liberation Movement, and the National Organization for Women) giving women the freedom to be independent, and sexually active. Women in the Western World are free to dress sexually, and free to have sex with any consenting adult regardless of gender.
It is a social norm in most Western Societies for males to be sexually active, while women were traditionally expected to remain virgins until they marry. But the Women's Movements changed that double standard to allow both men and women to be sexually active, and not be constrained to the traditional socially expected marriage.
Sexuality has become more liberal, or at least the modern culture of Western Society has become more socially liberal in tolerating even behaviors that are deviant, such as the various sexual fetishes that exist. A small segment of individuals in the west have deviant sexual behaviors, such as obsessions with feet, breasts, bondage, and other abnormal behaviors. These deviant behaviors are promoted by the media through the billion dollar Adult Video Industry, and more recently through thousands of Internet Web Sites that exploit these fetishes for capitalistic profit.
Males and females developed different sex scripts because males are expected to be the dominant sexual actor, and females are expected to be the passive, weaker actor in terms of sexual behavior. As stated above, these sexual scripts have become more liberal over the past few decades giving more options to males and females.
The lack of synchronization for a couple would most likely cause sexual problems, and a lack of sexual gratification by one of the partners.
Sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS has lead men and women to practice safer sex, such as to use condoms. Condoms were rarely used as recently as the 1980's. But even with the bad news about sexually transmitted diseases millions of individuals continue to behave in ways that promote AIDS and other diseases, such as having sex without condoms, with multiple partners, and through illegal drug use. Such behavior is harmful not only to the individuals involved but to society as a whole.
Unit 13
3. In considering the role of culture and language in structuring consciousness or focused perception one can quickly realize that perception is greatly influenced by the norms and expectations of a given society.
It can be said that ones cultural context will determine ones selective attention. Human beings develop concepts based on experience and the language of their society. Also the perceptual habits of individuals are influenced by the environment and by the culture that communicates what is important in that given society.
Language lets an individual categorize important elements that one experiences. Yet ones personal experiences can lead to enormous variations in cultures. It should be noted that individual perceptions are usually culturally or socially biased bases on stereotypes and inaccurate impressions about individuals in other groups.
An individuals culture can influence the value one places on how they view a person as attractive, intelligent, competent, and so on. Also first impressions can lead to biased stereotypes regardless of ones culture or language. But language differences can lead to stereotypes, and an inability to communicate that promotes stereotypes if not careful. It would be inaccurate to say that only one group or one society has stereotypes, and prejudices against other groups. All cultures have individuals that stereotype, and are prejudiced against other cultures.
Discrimination against a person or group of people based on race, ethnicity, class, sex, age, disability and so on is common in all cultures. Human society discriminates based on sex in most cultures based on the long held but very false belief that men are better than women. Also there has been age discrimination, first against the young being viewed as childish, immature, and lacking wisdom, but later against the old as being frail, dependent, and incompetent. Discrimination even exists within societies with the same racial or ethnic groups, due to difference in language, dialect, traditions, or religious differences that lead to stereotypes, hostility or irrational feelings. This is why individuals need to view the world from a rational and universalistic approach that transcends any particular culture, or personally biased perspective based on individual difference. We are all human beings that have far more in common than different. We need to overcome irrational perceptions, and simplistic differences to unit as one human race to make the world a better place for all.
Unit 14
Question 3. I do consider the television and media in general as a mind altering influence because they transmit information to the human brain. They influence ones understanding of social norms and social expectations with a glamorization or violence that would make a young person believe that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflicts.
It would also lead one to believe that it is ok to smoke or do drugs. It would lead one to believe that every teenager has sex and does drugs. It would lead one to believe that every black person is in jail based on shows like COPS, and the news coverage of inner cities.
The media only reports on negative situations, and negative events, and down plays positive events. By only showing negative behavior, the media is promoting negative behavior. They need to show the consequences of negative behavior, such as how bad prisons are, and how drugs destroys ones life, instead of glamorizing stars that use drugs, and individuals that get away with crimes.
The media glamorizes criminals, such as turning mob bosses into local hero's of the common man, or as celebrities that are above the law.
They will be more likely to talk discuss a murder on the news, as to show a young person receiving an award for succeeding at something.
Also the media can glamorize suicide, such as a rational way to end ones depression. Studies have indicated that there is an increase in suicides after a suicide is reported on television, which has been referred to as the cluster effect of suicide. But the media should discourage suicide by giving numbers for hotlines to help individuals with suicidal thoughts and depression.
Unit 15
Question 4. I do have higher self esteem in some situations than others. I am more confident in personal situations with my family. I am the lest confident when I am in public situations, such as a classroom with others I do not know. I am a shy person that has always had trouble talking to individuals I don't know. I am open and outgoing at home with my family, but I am passive, and shy around others at school.
I have no fear of failure around my family because I know that they will accept me for who I am no matter what. But I am very self conscious around strangers, and do value what others think of me to such an extent that I have low self esteem around others. I view others as superior to me, I view myself as inferior to others. My low self esteem has not necessarily prevented me from succeeding at what I set my mind to.
In terms of educational achievement I have set goals and found ways to achieve them. I have given speeches before classes not because I enjoyed it or like it, but because I had to. I was able to overcome my fear to give a public presentation in front of others by practicing the speech over and over again to gain more confidence that I would not make a mistake. I have made slight mistakes, but considerate classmates have praised me, and assured me that I done a good job. I do have strong fears about speaking in public, but I know that in the modern world verbal communications is essential to personal and social success.
Also I have lower self esteem because I feel that I am not as attractive as others, and that women are not sexually interested in me. I have an inability to talk to the opposite sex, even over small talk about the weather, or some other subject. My lack of self esteem has lead me to focus on education, and not on my personal life. I have given my attention to education and I have succeeded with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Geography, Government, and History, and a Masters Degree in Sociology.
I will continue to learn and try to overcome my fear of public speech. In trying to achieve this objective I took a class offered by the Personal Development Institute to gain social skills, and I gained some confidence from the interaction with other students, even though I was a graduate student, while they were freshmen students just beginning their higher education experience. Perhaps being older than the other students gave me more self confidence, and more self esteem than I would have had in a class with individuals my age or older. I do feel better about myself based on my educational achievements, but I am continuing to improve my social skills in order to find personal success as well.
Unit 16
Question 5. There are several ethical questions related to intelligence testing and psychological assessment. Intelligence tests and psychological assessments are suppose to be designed in ways to avoid personal bias and to obtain an objective measure of a individuals abilities. Standardization of tests are suppose to provide a uniform and fair way to measure human behavior.
Intelligence tests and personality tests are considered psychological tests. Psychological tests are expected to meet three criteria, which are to be standardized, reliable, and valid.
In an attempt to avoid personal bias, there is expected to be uniform standards that all must follow, such as the same testing environment, test directions, test items, and amount of time must be similar for all individuals taking the test.
Personal bias is also achieved by having test-retest reliability, and scores being based on a standardization sample that is representative of a population and can be used to indicate percentile scores that are normal for individuals who have taken the test.
Personal bias is also avoided by measuring the validity of the test. The test should be valid based on content, criteria, and how reliable it accurately measures an individual's performance at some time in the future.
But a problem with intelligence and psychological assessments is that they can be used in a subjective way to discriminate against a person. The test may be culturally or racially biased with content that is valid to one group but not valued by another, which would lead to lower scores my minorities.
Likewise intelligence and psychological assessments can lead to labels that last a lifetime and prevent one from succeeding in life.
For example a student may be classified as a bellow average student, and based on this assumption they are encouraged to go to vocational school, instead of college. The assessment should not be the only consideration used to determine intelligence.
The grades of the student should also be considered. Some students do poorly on standardized tests, but do great at more subjective tests that allow room for critical thinking and human creativity.
Just because someone memorizes some set of data, does not mean they fully understand the information, they may know the answer, but not know all the decision making processes that are involved in it.
I am able to do both multiple choice tests, and critical thinking tests that force one to describe in great detail how to solve a problem or answer a complex question. The main problem with standardized tests is that they usually allow for only simple questions, and do not allow for in depth critical thinking that is far more important in real world situations.
Unit 17
Question 2. Gender typing influences perceptions in several ways.
For example, simply knowing if a person is male or female can lead to interpretations based on expected stereotypical differences. From the start of life, human children are perceived to be female or male even if behavior or appearance is negligible.
The parent applies their own biased expectations on children, and expect males and females to behave in socially acceptable ways. Individuals are expected to meet the social norms of their culture that prescribes what they can do, when, where, how, and with whom.
For example men are expected to open doors for women, and pull out the chair for women to sit down. It can include the man paying for the meal. But these norms are changing, due to women's growing level of liberation in modern society. Women expect to pay their own way now, to not be dependent on men for anything. Some women do not expect men to have traditional values, or manners.
Men and women are judged differently based on behavior done by a man or a women, such as men being seen as a stud if he goes with several women, while a women that goes with several men is seen as a slut. Such beliefs are abhorant in the modern world.
Also men that are strong and forceful are viewed positively as dominant leaders, while strong women are viewed negatively for the same behavior. Men are expected to be dominant and masculine, while females are expected to be feminine and passive.
Likewise in terms of jobs gender is used to determine the suitability of a person for a particular job, which leads to the gender segregation of some occupations, such as most nurses, librarians, typists, waitresses, and airplane attendants being female, and males being construction workers, doctors, lawyers, and politicians.
But it is becoming more common for women to dominate traditional female vocations, but also gaining parity in traditionally male vocations such as law, and medicine.
Women now make up a majority of law school students. They make up a majority of Graduate school students, and will clearly dominate as the majority of doctors, lawyers, professors, and politicians in the decades to come.
Gender stereotypes are being broken down and Western Societies are becoming far more equal. There is still wage discrimination based on gender, and sexual harassment in the workplace, but lawsuits will overcome these inequities to give all Americans equal protections in the workforce.
Unit 18
Question 1. The study of aging has usually focused on the negative consequences of aging, by studying sick elderly, poor elderly, and disabled elderly.
But over the past decades the elderly population has grown to about 13% of the total United States Population and is expected to be the fastest growing population over the next several decades. The elderly are now viewed in a more favorable light due to the studies that indicate that most elderly are healthy, with under 12% being in poverty. Also studies show that a majority of elderly are healthy, and that the perception of being old as painful, and years of suffering if a false stereotype.
The elderly are stereotyped as lazy, forgetful, depressed, and sick. The main reason for these stereotypes is the media's negative portrayal of the elderly. It is also due to the studies of elderly persons in nursing homes. Despite the popular perception that all elderly are in nursing homes, in reality there is never more than 5% of elderly in nursing homes at any time, and it is estimated that about 25% of older individuals will be in a nursing home at some point in their life.
Clearly studies have shown that those in nursing homes are depressed, and sick, but that does not mean that they were that way when they entered the nursing home. There is no evidence to indicate that the elderly retires from work because of disability or depression, but it has been shown that a lack of inactivity due to job loss, loss of a loved one increases the likelihood of depression, and isolation.
It is clear than non-Western Cultures place a higher value on the elderly than Western Cultures who see them as dependent, and intellectually outdated. This devaluing of the elderly has lead to the growing acceptance of euthanasia as a solution for depressed, or disabled elderly. Instead of helping the elderly to overcome their problems, or helping all in society by coming up with solutions to health problems, some find it expedient to just throw away the elderly.
But the elderly are valued members of society that will be needed more over the decades to come, than they have ever been needed before as a source of leadership and economic capital. The elderly must continue to work if Social Security is to survive past 2027.
Thanks to modern technology, better medicine, better diets, and exercise, the elderly now lives to the upper seventies. It is expected that over the decades to come the elderly will continue to increase in longevity, with a possible life expectancy of about 120 by the year 2050. Not only is the life expectancy of the elderly increasing, but the elderly are remaining healthier longer.
Most elderly are still ill the last few years of their life, but those years are being pushed back, giving more years of health and potential activity.
The healthy elderly should be encouraged to stay active, to stay in the workforce, to stay in various social organizations, and to contribute to society, and not spend their last years in isolation. Ageism must be overcome for the elderly to be treated equally, and not be stereotyped into old scripts that no longer exist now.
Unit 19
Question 1. Some psychologists have suggested that participants in Milgrams's research must have suffered guilt and loss of dignity and self esteem, although they were told later that they hadn't actually harmed the learner. Follow-up studies to the prison experiment revealed that the participants had not suffered long term ill effects. What psychological principle might explain these outcomes? Did the value of the research outweight the risks for participants? Would you participate in such experiments?
I agree that some of the participants in Milgram's research must have suffered guilt and a loss of dignity based on the present belief that they was harming a person by way of electric shock if a person gave the wrong answer. But clearly some of them did become blindly obedient to the authority figure that told them to hurt a person they did not know, to even give them a shock that they knew would cause great physical harm to the person. Perhaps it is easier to hurt someone you do not know, than it is to harm a person that you know and see as human.
The individuals in Milgram's research did not see the person they were to punish for wrong answers, and they could not form a personal attachment, or any sympathy for someone they did not know. Also they felt that it was their duty to follow orders, even if those orders harmed someone else. They clearly put their personal success ahead of the suffering of others.
They were told later that they had not harmed the person, but when they were doing the experiment they thought it was real, they heard the participant screaming in pain, but still continued to blindly follow orders to electrocute the person. When someone gets into an authoritarian situation, where they are expected to follow orders, to go by the rules, they will show no human morals or give no concern for those under them. This is also occurs in complex governmental organizations, like the United States Bureaucracy.
Studies have shown that bureaucrats follow orders, and value cost saving techniques more than human safety, which lead to the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster in 1986, and to the death of individuals in Ford Pinto's with faulty gas tanks. It was calculated that it was cheaper to pay out money in lawsuits, instead of paying $100 per car to fix the problem.
I believe that organizations and researchers need to put the interests of the public first, public safety should come before personal profit or corporate greed.
The prison experiment is an example of gross violations of individual dignity, and self-worth. They were humiliated in front of their friends, and did suffer from the incident, even if it did not have a long term impact.
It clearly did shock them, humiliate them, oppress them, and treated them like animals. I hope that ethical considerations would prevent any research along the lines of Milgram's shocking experiment, or Zimbardo's failed prison experiment. I would never participate in any experiment that violates human dignity, or an individuals self-esteem.
Unit 20
Question 4. I believe that programs on television greatly construct a distorted reality where children think that violence is the only answer. The Power Rangers television show shows that it's ok to fight to succeed in life. Television shows that a person can solve their problems by using violence, such as to shoot them, or use martial arts to brutally beat up their enemy. Television causes kids to think that violence is common, and is a socially acceptable behavior.
Also television glamorizes materialism, which encourages kids to start at a very young age to want toys, and the best products. It makes kids think that they have to have a toy because every kid on television has the toy.
Also television promotes immoral behaviors, such as drinking alcohol, smoking, and premarital sex. Children are lead to believe that everyone smokes, and has sex in school.
Television also leads kids to see women as weak and helpless victims that depend on a strong, masculine man to save them. Women are shown as housewives, and men are shown as the provider of money and the one who is expected to control the family. Women are greatly stereotyped as sex objects that use their sexuality to succeed in life. Men are shown as forceful, violent, and dominant individuals that do what they want.
The media needs to not show traditional stereotypes, but show the world as it truly is.
Unit 21
Question 3. The issue of whether homosexuality is a deviant behavior is a highly controversial issue that has been influenced by politics and the media.
In ancient Greek society homosexuality was a normal behavior of the upper class male that had male slaves that he could sexually exploit freely. The Greek society was very tolerant of liberal sexual behaviors, but even they considered it wrong for a slave to be on top of the master, which was a violation of social expectations that expected a master to be the dominant and controlling party.
Homosexuality has existed in most societies throughout human history, but it has always been considered abnormal behavior that goes against the will of God. For thousands of years Jewish Religion, and its younger counterparts (Christianity and Islam) all view homosexuality as abnormal behavior that goes against the will of God that created Men and Women to be one, to be partners, and to multiply.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual DSM-IV no longer classifies homosexuality as a psychological disorder. It was considered a disorder in the past.
But society still considers multiple personality men or women that think they are the opposite sex or some one else, cross-dressers, and transvestites as deviant.
Some studies have indicated a relationship between homosexuality and child abuse. It could be that there is both environmental and biological factors that increases the likelihood that a person will become homosexual.
It can be classified as deviant behavior, if deviant means different from the norms of society. Most people in society are heterosexual, and biologically humans are designed to have sexual reproduction with the opposite sex to carry on the next generation. But just because something is not done by a majority of the population does not mean that it is necessarily abnormal or deviant.
In modern societies we must all learn to be tolerant of others and not discriminate on the bases of gender, race, religion, income, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, or sexual preference.
Unit 22
Question 2. It is difficult to compare different therapies. Therapy needs to be based on the clients needs, intensity, and duration of their problem. For example if a client has a drinking problem, then Alcoholics Anonymous can meet the clients needs. If they have a gambling problem, they need Gamblers Anonymous. Some clients need individual therapy if their problem is of such a severe nature or of such a personal nature that they are to embarrassed to participate in group counseling.
If a person is in prison then they should participate in the relevant treatment program that meets their specific needs. For example if they had a drug problem first, and that lead to criminal conduct, then one should focus on the drug treatment first, then criminal conduct counseling. Or if they committed crimes first, then they need criminal conduct therapy in a group setting. It is highly recommended that a counselor have the training, expertise, and show empathy and concern for the client.
The counselor also has ethical guidelines to maintain client confidentiality unless the client gives an indication that they are going to do harm to someone else.
The overall goal of a counselor is to protect the public. This is why the counselor wants to give the client the counseling they need to reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
The client needs to be taught proactive, non-deviant ways to react in certain situations, to avoid cues that promote deviant behavior, and to learn to control their behavior by way of changing their thought processes from deviant thoughts to positive thoughts.
The best treatment programs must be of a duration of at least one year, preferably two or three years, and have professional counselors that can provide the treatment the client needs to change. It has also been shown that group counseling of a long duration, under professional supervision, with trained staff, has lower recidivism rates than individual programs of a shorter duration with less trained staff, and minimal supervision.
Society needs to provide more funding for treatment programs to allow the counselors and therapists to provide the best possible treatment to all regardless of income to reduce recidivism and to protect the public from future harm.
Unit 23
Question 1. The way in which friends can help reduce stress is obvious. Common Sense would lead one to realize that a friendly face, a caring hand will reduce stress. Friends can give the understanding and compassion that a person needs in tough times.
Also friends can help a person out during times of stress. For example, when a person is sick or has a family problem, a friend could give some needed money, help baby site a child, provide food, or transportation to a doctor. If your car breaks down they could give you a ride to work.
But I believe that the most important thing that a friend does is, provide emotional support. A friend is there to listen when you need a shoulder to cry on. They can reassure you that you are going to be ok, and that they are there for you. Friends can also help one to more clearly think about a problem. For example when a person suffers the death of a love one, they are vulnerable and confused, needing someone else to help them make the arrangements for the funeral.
Social support makes one less likely to suffer from stress or depression. Individuals that lack social support are more likely to commit suicide. Individuals with high levels of stress and depression are at higher risk for suicide. The likelihood of suicide increases with the level of stress. Situations that create negative stimuli that is unavoidable can increase the likelihood of suicidal behavior. Isolated individuals are also more likely to see suicide as a viable option. Thus a strong social support network is important to help individuals to cope, and overcome stressful life events.
Unit 24
Question 3. Yes I believe that psychological principles can be used for positive or negative purposes.
A person may only be interested in making money, and they use psychological principles to manipulate individuals for their own personal gain.
People and individuals can use the power of persuasion and coercion to influence the behavior of other persons, especially those that are in a psychologically dependent state.
It is easy for someone to take advantage of an elderly person that has lost a loved one, and is confused, making it easy to exploit them for money as many telemarketer's do. Advertisers design campaigns to persuade individuals to buy stuff they do not really need. Also con artists use techniques to sell products that do not live up to expectations or do not exist at all, such as promising a check for $10,000 if you send a $100 deposit.
Also cult leaders have clearly shown that they are so dominant, so charismatic, so persuasive that they can get weaker minded individuals to follow their every word. Cult leaders like Jim Jones, and David Korish were able to get individuals that would be normal in another situation to totally give up their lives for the leaders false beliefs.
Individuals need to watch out for persuasive and dominate con artists that are clearly taking advantage of a person that is has personal problems, low self esteem, and a lack of direction.
Individuals with personal problems need to seek professional counseling from professionals that are trained to properly help them to become productive members of society.
Unit 25
Question 3. I know that I have achieved the goal of increasing my understanding of others, and developing a tolerance of behaviors of others different from mine because I do not prejudge a person based on first impressions. I do not stereotype a person based on their gender, race, ethnicity, age, income, region, nationality, religion, or sexual preference.
I believe that individuals have a right to disagree. Just because someone has attitudes or beliefs that are different from mine, I do not say they are stupid or foolish for having such beliefs. I may say that a person is misguided, or wrong, but I do not question their character or intelligence.
I can disagree with a person on any issue, such as we may disagree on capital punishment. I am opposed to capital punishment because it discriminates against minorities and the poor that can not afford a fair defense even if they are innocent. Also I oppose it because it is morally wrong for any individual, organization, or institution to kill another human being. All humans have a right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
But others disagree, and believe that criminals need to be executed as punishment, and perhaps due to the human desire for revenge. They feel that capital punishment deters crime. I can agree to disagree, and do what I can and will through the power of words try to change their minds, and the minds of society as a whole to give a greater value to human rights.
Unit 26
Question 3. I believe that human beings are responsible for their behavior. But I do agree that for some individuals there is biological determinants that increase the likelihood of certain abnormal behavior.
Individual's can also be a victim of their environment, such as being exposed to toxic chemicals as a child could cause health problems as an adult. Or they could suffer brain damage as a infant in a women's womb if she uses drugs.
Also a child that is abused is more likely to continue such behavior as an adult because they view such behavior as normal. Likewise a person that is in a deviant subgroup such as those that smoke marijuana may view that behavior as normal, even though society as a whole may view it as deviant.
The psychologizing of American culture has complicated the judicial process leading to claims of insanity, and blaming ones parents, or ones youth for their adult problems with the law.
There is some truth to the fact that negative circumstances as a child do influence children to promote negative behaviors. Parents can wrongly teach children that violence is ok, that its ok to drink, or smoke, or do drugs, or steal, or do deviant sexual acts. Children that suffer abuse need counseling so they will learn that certain behaviors are socially unacceptable. Children need positive, empathetic role models that teach them how to live within the socially acceptable norms of society.
But once again the adult is responsible for his or her actions, they must admit blame, or they will never be able to overcome their deviant behavior, or successfully complete a treatment program.
B. F. Skinner would be skeptical of the ability of a psychologist to testify to the state of mind of a defendant, when he believes that only what one observes on the outside can be tested. He believes that behavior must be observed and not some unobservable consciousness that cannot be independently proven by the scientific method.