Psychology Final - How Do Psychologists Explain Emotions?

12/23/2005

Psychology Final -Essays

6. How do psychologists explain emotions?

While the term emotion has no universally excepted definition, it is generally viewed as an unintentional impulse that is often accompanied by a physical and psychological response, that will often motivate an organism or person to performing an action. Our emotions have a very large role in determining motivations. Our emotions can help give us insight on whether something is a good idea or not, thus helping us make better decisions. Our emotions provide an important role in displaying through body language our thoughts and feelings about a subject, to other people. By displaying our emotions other people are able to make relatively good decisions about how to act around each other. Emotions are more or less a survival mechanism, present in not just humans but also proven to also be present in many different animals. Suggesting that emotions play a significant role in the animal kingdom.

Psychologists believe emotional expressions evolved to communicate our feelings to others which aids survival. Emotions give hints what people will do next. A Recent study showed that people are able to detect angry and scheming faces faster than happy , sad or neutral faces. It seems we are sensitive to threatening faces.

Basic expressions appear to be fairly universal but many are affected by learning. Anger is common in the Western culture and harmony is common in the Asian culture.

7. How does group membership effect individual behavior?

Group memberships have many different effects on an individual’s behavior. Sometimes these effects are beneficial and help expand our horizons, but some group influences on an individual can be a very dangerous. There are many reasons why a person might change the way they behave when they are in a group; whether the change is the result of the need to belong, The need to have some form of protection; or the desire to be popular. These changes expressed by the individual are often an attempt at achieving the groups common goal. This drive towards achieving the groups common goal also will unintentionally provide a inner structure to the group.

3. Our goal is to teach a puppy to go outside to relieve himself. Using the principle of shaping describe how this goal might be accomplished

Shaping is one of many forms of learning but it is valuable because it uses a reward system making it very effective for dogs. In shaping, reinforcement of an action already presented by the dog with no prior frame of reference.

An example of just such a beginning action to reinforce would be the puppy just happens to do it’s business on the newspaper placed on the floor. It is important to praise the desired action immediately so the dog begins to associate the behavior as one that is “good”.

Once the pup has gotten the hang of going on the newspaper inside, the next step is to move the newspaper outside.

Whenever the dog is taken outside and he/she does it’s business, the trainer should immediately praise the dog verbally and even give a treat. I would keep the newspaper present outside, until the dog gets the hang of going on the newspaper outside. Next I would remove the newspaper and praise the dog whenever the dog did his/her business outside. With sufficient praise and practice the dog will learn to do his/her business outside.

2. What questions did the work of Mary Ainsworth answer regarding the process of Attachment?

In a clinical setting Mary Ainsworth found that some children became upset when parents left the room and the child would exhibit one of three basic patterns. The results for each child were individual. The three reactions she found were, that the children were secure, or they were anxious; or they were anxious avoidant. She further discovered that there was a correlation between the children who were secure, and they had supportive nurturing parents at home. There was also a correlation between the children that were anxious or anxious avoidant. They seemed to have parents who were insensitive to their needs or inconsistent.

From her research, Mary Ainsworth was able to answer the question of why some children are able to separate from their parents without great difficulty and why other children become extremely upset. She was also able to provide taxonomy of the three individual attachment patterns. Mary Ainsworth found that these patterns occur during the first year of life.

3. What are the features of each