5 Major Perspectives in Psychology :: Psychology Perspective essays research papers

The five major theoretical perspectives in psychology are biological, learning, cognitive, psychodynamic, and sociocultural perspectives. Each one of these perspectives searches for answers about behavior through different techniques and through looking for answers to different kinds of questions. Due to the different approaches, each perspective form their own assumptions and explanations. Some perspectives are widely accepted while others struggle for acceptance. Biological perspective "The premise behind the biological perspective in psychology is that all actions, feelings, and thoughts are associated with bodily events." Biological psychologists examine how all of the electrical impulses, hormones, and chemicals flowing through the body can effect behavior and how changes to these bodily functions can change behavior. They are concerned with how the aspects of biology effect peoples' emotions, learning abilities, and their perception of events. One of the major theories of biological psychology is that "We cannot know ourselves if we do not know our bodies." Through application of this theory, biological psychologists strive to understand the relationship between the mind and body and they influence sickness or health. It is believed that poor health can lead to negative attitudes while poor attitudes can lead to poor health. Biological psychologists research and study the correlation of this theory in an attempt to help solve some mental and emotional problems. Learning Perspective The writings and findings of Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner have done much for the advancement of modern psychology. Many of the important findings in psychology from their theory of behaviorism, later evolving into the social-learning theory or cognitive social-learning theory. Proponents of the learning perspective think that mentalism should be abandoned for behaviorism. Psychologists should concentrate on observation and direct measurement rather focusing on introspection. Behaviorists believed that actions were responses to stimuli that were learned. The basic concept was that positive responses would be triggered by good stimuli while negative responses would could from bad stimuli. Actions that would produce positive results tended to repeated, while those that led to negative results tended to be avoided. This concept led to a broadening of psychology. Many groups that were often overlooked by psychologists were being discovered and observed. Behavior became the dominant school of psychology in the U.S. until the 1960's. Adversaries to this approach were repulsed by the concept that humans did not think or feel, but only thought that they did. Nonbehaviorists and behaviorists parted company. Behaviorists believed that feelings could not explain behavior.

Discipline in Schools Essay

A majority of us have families with children various ages, and the title of this article caught my eye for the simple fact I have teenage kids in school that have previously been assigned in-school suspension for minor disciplinary acts such as being tardy or turning in incomplete assignments. Working adults and parents are the primary targets of this particular article which sparks my personal interest towards this issue. I felt the author of this article gave a somewhat neutral observation of this topic, giving both sides of the story in a calm yet quite informative tone. He listed infractions that resulted in suspensions as well as different types of suspension outcomes. It’s important to note that suspending a student for being disruptive in class and suspending a student for fighting should be handled differently however both instances should require the students to continue working on their curriculum. With references from other educators as well as reports from the US Department of Education I would have to say that the contents of this article appear to be creditable. Results from out of school suspensions prove to be doing more harm than good, leaving students at home unsupervised with a couple days off with no curriculum to work on verses the alternative of requiring students to attend on the weekends seems to be a better solution, however funding for weekend programs is a separate issue. The authors intend of this article is to inform and acknowledge new alternatives need to be explored when it comes to disciplinary actions such as suspensions. Additional resources will have to be implemented, academic and financial. Overall I thought this to be a particularly interesting and informative article.

Critical Appraisal of Business Planning Process Free Essay Example, 1500 words

It is evidently clear from the discussion that Michael Porter identifies five competitive forces that impact business success, including a threat of new entrants, the availability of substitute products, supplier and buyer power in the market, and concerns over what types of competitive strategies are being developed by other businesses operating in the same market. It is necessary to scan the external environment in order to understand what socio-economic and socio-cultural trends are observable in key target markets in order to develop a service or product plan designed to properly fit these attitudes or financial predictors. The market analysis identifies all of the fundamental hindrances or advantages that are linked to strategic intention and competitive strategy, thus the planning process must include market research. Businesses that are heavily reliant on consumer revenues must understand what drives buyer behavior, and this is best performed through surveys, questionnaires o r focus groups. Consumers either favor or disapprove of a particular product or business concept based on how they view its value to fulfilling their consumption or lifestyle needs, this market analysis determines the internal steps required to build a market orientation for reputation and economic sustainability purposes. We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Appraisal of Business Planning Process or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now In markets where there is heavy saturation of competitive forces that provide similar products or services, it is necessary to understand what elements of the marketing mix are driving their marketing strategies. For instance, analysis of the competitive environment might indicate that competitors are utilizing considerable capital resources toward advertising and promotion, but are not achieving the financial results expected by their own strategic plans. This gives the entrepreneurial business the template by which to develop a new strategy that focuses more on value provision, thus being able to reserve financial resources that might have been applied to a large-scale advertising and promotional scheme in an effort to gain consumer attention.