Psychological persperctive in health and social care Essay

The behavioristic perspectiveThe behaviourist perspective is an idea that we can generalise any type of behaviour by looking at what the person has learned. This includes personality traits much(prenominal) as shyness, confidence, optimism or pessimism. Behaviourist psychologists explain wholly human behaviour as resulting from experience. Two key psychologists be Pavlov and skinner, although these two theorists believed that different mental processes were involved, they both explained every types of behaviour as universe the result of acquirement. This is everything from shyness to aggression and happiness to depression. important conditioningClassical conditioning was a surmise certain by a Russian psychologist c solelyed Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). He was working with docks to investigate their digestive systems. The clinks were attached to a harness and Pavlov attached monitors to their stomachs and mouths so he could measure the rate of salivation. He noniced that the dog began to salivate when some unmatched entered the room with a bowl of feed, besides before the dog had eaten the food. Since salivation is a reflex chemical reaction, this seemed unusual. Pavlov decided that the dog was salivating because it had learned to associate the person with food. He then developed a hypothesis. Food automatically led to the salivation response, since this response had non been learned, he called this an unconditioned response, which is a response that regularly occurs when an unconditioned stimulus is presented.As food automatically leads to this response, he called this unconditioned stimulus, which is a stimulus that regularly and consistently leads to an automatic response. Pavlov then presented food at the analogous time as pack a bell (neutral stimulus), to see if the dog would learn to associate the bell with food. After several trials, the dog learned that the bell was associated with food and eventually it began to salivate exclusiv ely when the bell was rung and no food was presented. It thitherfore has learned the conditioned response (CR) of salivation to the conditioned stimulus (CS) of the bell. Operant conditioningThis sort of encyclopedism is associated with the theories of Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904 1990). Skinner was an American psychologist who workedmostly with rats and pigeons, to learn some of the key principles of learning new behaviours. He used a very famous device, called a skinner box. Skinner famous device was a box which contained a prize which, when touch, releases a food pellet into the box, thus reinforcing lever-pressing behaviour. When the rat is first pose in the box it get out run around and sniff the various items in the box and at some point it will press the lever, releasing a food pellet. After a plot of the repeated performed action the rat will learn this behaviour (pressing the lever) is automatically followed by the release of a food pellet (the present moment). Be cause the pellet is experienced as reinforcing (something the rat would bid to baffle more of), this consequence increases the probability of the behaviour being repeated.There be two types of reinforcement positive reinforcement and detrimental reinforcement. Skinner investigated negative reinforcement by running a very low electrical present-day(prenominal) throughout the floor of the Skinner box. The current can be de-activated if the rat pressed the lever. The behaviour of lever pressing was thus negatively reinforcing. For humans, this can be demonstrated by the example of using ache relief. For example, if you have aches and pains and you take a painkiller, which results in the aches and pains going away, you argon negatively beef up for taking a painkiller. Punishment occurs only when behaviour is followed by a consequence that is experienced as unpleasant. Skinner investigated this by giving the rat a small electric shock when the rat pressed the lever. The conseque nce of the lever pressing (the electric shock) was experienced as unpleasant, so the rat learned to verification pressing the lever. Social learning theoryThe effectuate of other item-by-items on behaviourThere argon many influences on our behaviour, for example peers, siblings, p bents, television, media, sports personalities and other celebrities. Well according to societal learning theory, role models atomic number 18 very important. While we whitethorn learn new behaviours from anyone, the worrylihood of imitating behaviours is strongly influenced by the way we observe the person performing the behaviour (the model). If we observe someone we admire behaving in a particular way, we may be more belike to accompany such behaviour. If, for exampleThe effects of groups on behaviourOur behaviour is strongly influenced by the presence of others, however much we believe ourselves to be truly individuals in our beliefs and behaviour. nowhere is this more cl primordial demonstrat ed than in the experiments conducted in the 1950s by social psychologist Solomon Asch. He was interested in a concept called majority influence. This is when the presence of other multitude causes us to change our mankind behaviour or opinions because we do not want to stand out from the crowd (be different). We have a powerful desire to belong and will go along with what others in our group say, think and do in order to FIT IN. This is what he did to test this idea. A group of six of the experimenter (people who were play-acting according to instructions) were joined by a naive participant (a genuine participant who knew nothing close the nature of the experiment) in a task that supposedly tested visual perception. The experimenter explained that the task involved stating whether a crisscross line. The effects of culture and society on behaviourThe term culture refers to the sh ared entertains, norms, language, customs and practices of a group. around of us tend to think of culture as being specific to different countries. It is important to understand how culture affects our behaviour in order to gain a full understanding of people we rally across and those we work with.The egotism-fulfilling prophecyThis part is an important concept in psychology that plays a turgid role on the way we behave towards others and expect them to behave towards us. If we believe ourselves to be worthy, pleasant and likable then we will most definitely be polite and cheerful towards those we meet and this will perform a favourable impression. In response to those who may come into contact with us view us favourably and behave in a positive way towards us, with the result that our own positive self-beliefs are confirmed. To put it another way, we are angry, full of resentment, believe the world is against us and more, then we are likely to behave in a more aggressive, confrontational or argumentative way, in which case that is how we will be viewed, which will confirm our views of ourselves and the world. Role theoryBetween role theory and the self-fulfilling prophecy there is a similarity, in that role theory comments that because we live within a particular culture, society and social group, we are influenced by other people. This influence table services lead us to taking up certain roles and try to live up to the expectations that go with that role. Albert BanduraSocial learning theory explains behaviour as the result of learning from people we are exposed to in our milieu. We can also learn new behaviours from people we observe, any in real life or in the media. This is known as observational learning and this theory was developed by the American psychologist, Albert Bandura. The person we learn from is known as a role model, and the process of imitating is called modelling. However, we do not imitate all behaviour we observe and remember. Whether or not it is in our interests to imitate particular behaviour is influenced by characteris tics of the model. If we see a model being punished for certain behaviour, we are less likely to imitate it than if we see him or her being positively reinforced. The psychodynamic approachThe importance of the unconscious(p) mind mind mindSigmund FreudFreud was one of the early thinkers to bring to public attention the idea that we are not eternally aware of all aspects of ourselves. He suggested that what we are aware of is represented in our conscious mind only many of our memories, feelings and past experiences are locked up in a part of our mind he called unconscious. We cannot access the contents of our unconscious, but they often leak out in dreams and slips of the tongue. Freud believed that the conscious mind was like the tip of an iceberg only a small part being available to awareness. Part of the unconscious that we can easily access he called the pre-conscious. This contains information not yet in consciousness but that can easily be retrieved (e.g. the name of yo ur friends dog). The rest, hale under the surface, consisted of the unconscious. Importance of early experiencesThe importance of early experience in determining afterward behaviours is clearlyillustrated by Freuds developmental theory of psychosexual stages. He believed that we all go through several stages of psychosexual development. At every stage, the individuals libido (energy) is pointed on a part of the body that is curiously relevant at that stage. If the needs of the growth pincer are met at severally stage, it moves on to the next developmental stage. If however, there is struggle or conflict or some unsatisfactory experience, the individual give-up the ghosts fixated (stuck) at this stage. This results in certain ways of being, or personality traits, which are carried through into adulthood and which can explain behaviour later in life. The earliest stage is the oral stage.The focus here is on the mouth and activities such as sucking, acerb and licking. (You wil l probably have noticed that young babies seem to put everything in their mouths.) Freud believed that there could be two reasons for fixation. If the infant was weaned too early, it would feel forever under-gratified and unsatisfied and would develop into a pessimistic, biting person. If, on the other hand, it was oer- gratified (weaned too late) the individual would develop a gullible personality, naively trust in others and with a tendency to swallow anything. This stage lasts from birth to roughly 18 months. If the infant successfully passes through the oral stage without becoming fixated, the next stage is the anal stage, which lasts from approximately one to three years. Here the libido is focused on aspects to do with potty training. If there is a battle with parents around potty training with the child feeling forced to use the potty before they are ready, or feeling over controlled in various areas, they may rebel by retaining their faeces the child refuses to go, thus h olding on to control and withholding satisfaction from the parent.This type of fixation is called anally retentive and is associated with later personality characteristics such as obstinacy, miserliness and obsessive traits. The alternative scenario is that the child is not given enough boundaries over potty training so they take excessive pleasure in excretion and experience a messy, creative, disorganised sort of person. During the ages of four to five the child passes through the phallic stage. neutering at this stage is associated with anxiety and guilty feelings about sex and fear of castration for males. If this stage is not resolved, the theory suggests that a boy may fetch homosexual and a girl may become a lesbian. Freud thought these wereabnormal fixations however most people today would not view them in this way. Between the ages of five to seven and the onset of puberty, the child enters the latency stage, which is not strictly speech a developmental phase but a tim e when the focus is on social pursuits such as sport, academic excellence and the development of friendships. The final psychosexual stage is the genital stage, which begins at puberty.Freud believed that the less fixated the individual has become during the earlier stages, the more easily this stage will be negotiated, resulting in the ability to form strong heterosexual relationships with an ability to be warm and loving as well as to receive love in a new, mature fashion. A second important make of early experience is the development of ego defence mechanisms. The use of a defence mechanism allows us to block out events that threaten to overwhelm us. A final influence is that of the mind. Freud suggested that the mind (which he called the psyche) is change integrity into three dynamic parts. The id is a part of the mind which is totally unconscious and which exists at birth. It is focused on getting what it wants and consists of aggressive, sexual and loving instincts. It is th e part of us that says i want it now The superego is formed as a result of socialisation and consists of all instructions, morals and values that are repeatedly enforced as we are growing up. It takes on the form of a conscience and also represents our view of our ideal self. The chief(prenominal) role of the superego is to try to subdue the activity of the id.The ego tries to balance the demands of the id and the superego. It is the rational part of the mind, ever quest to do what is most helpful to the individual. Different behaviours can be understood by trying to recoup which part of the psyche is dominant at any time. A person who is very submissive, guilty and always wanting to please may have a very strong superego. A person who is impulsive, casual of other peoples feelings, doesnt think through the consequences of their actions and is perhaps inclined to aggression, either communicatory or physical, probably has a dominant id. A person who can be submissive and cocky when necessary, who is bale to think about other peoples feelings but also consider and value their own needs, has probably got a strong enough ego to balance the demands of the id and the superego. They are likely to have quite a rational and realistic outlook on life. Erik EriksonErik Erikson was a psychologist who agreed with much of Freuds theory in so far as he thought that we developed through a series of stages. However, he thought that these continued throughout our lifetime and were essentially social in nature. He also believed that Freud put too much emphasis on our desire for individual gratification and not enough on our need to be accepted by society and lead a meaning(prenominal) life. Erikson suggested that we move through a series of psychosocial crises with a different social focus at each stage. For example between birth and the age of one, the life crisis concerns developing trust or mistrust in self and others. The social focus at this stage is the mother. The humanistic perspectiveHuman psychology looks at human experience from the viewpoint of the individual. It focuses on the idea of free will and the belief that we are all capable of do choices for ourselves. Two psychologists associated with this approach are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Abraham MaslowMaslow (1908-1970) was an American psychologist who believed that we are all seeking to become the best that we can possibly can- spiritually, physically, emotionally and intellectually. He called this Self-actualisation. He constructed a theory known as the hierarchy of needs, in which he explained that every human being requires certain basic needs to be met before they can approach the next level. Maslow believed that until our basic psychological needs are met, we will focus all our energies on getting them met and not be able to progress further. When people are well-housed, nourished and comfortable physically, we begin to focus on our emotional needs, like the need to belon g and be love and to feel self-esteem. When our lives are such that these needs are also met, we strive to self-actualise. As Maslow said A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if that person is to be at long last at peace with their self. What a person can be, they must be. This need we call self-actualisation. Carl RogersRogers (1902-1987) was particularly interested in the concept of self. There are many aspects of the self but two are especially important here. Self-concept refers to the way in which we view ourselves. This includesphysical, biological attributes like being male or female, blonde or brunette, short or tall, as well as personality traits like being kind, humble, assertive and hard working. The self -concept is formed from an early age and young children internalise other peoples judgements of them, which then become a part of their self concept. If a child is told their silly, naughty aside of self-concept will contain these aspects . Another way of looking at it is a child is praised, encouraged to play along and told they are valued they will have a positive self-concept and see themselves as someone who is worthy and competent. Rogers believed that we also hold a concept of self, called the ideal self. This holds a view of ourselves as we feel we should be and as we would like to be. When there is a mismatch between our actual self and our ideal self we become troubled and unhappy. The cognitive/information processing perspectiveThis psychological perspective has gained enormous body politic since the 1960s, when the influence of behaviourism began to happen. With the development of computers came the idea that brain activity was like the operation of a computer. A great deal of research had been devoted to understanding cognitive processes such as attention, memory, perception, information processing, difficulty solving, thought language and other aspects of cognition. A way to understand this perspecti ve is it relates to health and social dole out, we are going to concentrate on just two theorists Jean Piaget and George Kelly. Jean PiagetJean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss psychologist who initially worked on step intelligence. During his research he noticed children of the aforementioned(prenominal) age made the same mistakes in logic, however bright they were. He came to the conclusion that cognition develops through a series of stages, each new stage building on the previous one. George KellyGeorge Kelly (1905-1966) developed a unique psychological theory known as the psychology of Personal Constructs. He saw the individual as a scientist, making predictions about the future, testing them and, if necessary, revising them according to new evidence. A construct is a way of construing (interpreting and making sense of) reality and the environment. For exampleif an individual developsThe biological perspectiveMaturational theoryThe theory of increment holds that the effects of the environment are minimal. The child is born with a set of catching instructions passed waste from its parents, and its cognitive, physical and other developmental processes merely unfold over time, rather than being dependent upon the environment to mature. It is, in effect, a theory which states that development is due to nature not nurture. This is quite a contrast to the learning theory or humanistic theory, where the effects of nurture are paramount. Gesells theory of incrementArnold Gesell (1880-1961) believed that development occurred according to a sequence of maturational processes. For example, development in the womb follows a resolved set of stages the heart begins to form first, along with the rudimentary dying(p) system. Bones and muscles develop next and over time the organism develops into a fully functioning human being, ready to be born. As the child develops from birth onwards, its genes allow it to flower gradually into the person he or she is meant to b e. The environment should provide can for this unfolding of talents, skills, personality and interests but the main thing driving this development is the maturational process. Genetic influences on behaviourGenes can affect behaviour in many ways. Some disorders, like Huntingtons disease, are caused by a single dominant gene, which either parent can pass on to their child. Others, like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia, are caused when both parents pass on the gene for the disorder. Disorders that occur no matter of the environmental influences, such as those listed above, are genetically determined disorders. This means that the individual who inherits the gene or genes is certain to develop the disorder, regardless of the environmental factors. An example of this is Huntingtons disease. This disorder usually begins to show when the individual is aged between 30 and 50 years. Symptoms of dementia appear and the individual is likely to die about 15 years after the onset. Som e of the changes inbehaviour are listed below, though this list is not comprehensive Hallucinations and delusionsSevere confusionProgressive memory lessInappropriate speech use of slang term or wrong wordsPersonality changes including anxiety and depression, withdrawal from social interaction, decreased ability to care for oneself and inability to maintain employment. Disorders that are not genetically determined, but where an individuals genes may forego them with a vulnerability to developing the disorder, are far more common. A classic way of measuring the contribution of genes to any type of behaviour is through twin studies. There are two types of twins. monozygotic or identical, twins share 100 percent of their genetic material since they are formed from only one fertilised egg, which has divided into two. Dizygotic or (fraternal) twins share only 50 per cent of genetic material since they occur when two eggs are fertilised by different sperm at the same time.If, the reasoni ng goes, one of a pair of monozygotic twins has a disorder, it would be expected that, if genes are the only influence, the second twin must also have the disorder. The influence of the nervous and endocrine systems on behaviour The autonomic nervous system produces its effects through activation of nerve fibres throughout the nervous system, brain and body or by stimulating the release of hormones from the endocrine glands (such as the adrenal and pineal glands). Hormones are biochemical substances that are released into the bloodstream and have a profound effect on target organs and on behaviour. They are present in very small quantities and individual molecules have a very short life, so their effects quickly disappear if they are not secreted continuously. There are a large number of hormones includingMelatonin, which is released by the pineal gland and acts on the brainstem sleep mechanisms to help synchronise the phases of sleep and activity. Testosterone, which is released in the testicles and may influence aggressiveness. Oxytocin, which is released by the pituitary gland and stimulates milk mathematical product and female orgasms. Some hormones are released as a response to external stimuli. For example, the pineal gland responds to cut down daylight by increasing production of melatonin. Other hormones follow a circadian rhythm, with one height and one trough every 24 hours. (Circadian means about a day and refers to a 24 hour rhythm). For instance, levels of cortisol rise about an hour before you wake up and contribute to your feelings of vigilance or arousal.