Module 5:   psychology abroad: contemporary approaches to solve essential problems.

MODULE 5:   PSYCHOLOGY ABROAD: CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO SOLVE ESSENTIAL PROBLEMS.

TEXT 1

Please, read and comprehend the text. Refer to the Glossary if necessary.

 

http://psychology.about.com/od/psychology101/a/perspectives.htm

Perspectives in Modern Psychology

 

By Kendra Cherry

Psychology Expert

At a Glance

· There are many different ways of thinking about human behavior. Psychologists utilize a variety of perspectives when studying how people think, feel, and behave.

· Some researchers focus on one specific perspective, such as the biological perspective, while others take a more eclectic approach that incorporates multiple points of view.

· There is no single perspective that is "better" than another; each simply emphasizes different aspects of human behavior.

Seven Major Perspectives in Psychology

The early years of psychology were marked by the domination of a succession of different schools of thought. If you have ever taken a psychology course in school, you probably remember learning about these different schools which included structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and humanism. As psychology has grown, so has the number and variety of topics that psychologists investigate. Since the early 1960s, the field of psychology has flourished and continued to grow at a rapid pace, and so has the depth and breadth of subjects studied by psychologists.

 

Today, few psychologists identify their outlook according to a particular school of thought. While you may still find some pure behaviorists or psychoanalysts, the majority of psychologists instead categorize their work according to their specialty area and perspective.

Every topic in psychology can be looked at in a number of different ways. For example, let's consider the subject of aggression.

 

Someone who emphasizes a biological perspective would look at the how the brain and nervous system impact aggressive behavior. A professional who stresses a behavioral perspective would look at how environmental variables reinforce aggressive actions. Another psychologist who utilizes a cross-cultural approach might consider how cultural and social influences contribute to aggressive or violent behaviors.

 

The following are just a few of the major perspectives in modern psychology.

The Psychodynamic Perspective

The psychodynamic perspective originated with the work of Sigmund Freud. This view of psychology and human behavior emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind, early childhood experiences, and interpersonal relationships to explain human behavior and to treat people suffering from mental illnesses.

 

Psychoanalysis became one of the earliest major forces within psychology thanks to Freud's work and influence. Freud conceived of the mind as being composed of three key elements: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the part of the psyche that includes all the primal and unconscious desires. The ego is the aspect of the psyche that must deal with the demands of the real world. The superego is the last part of the psyche to develop and is tasked with managing all of our internalized morals, standards, and ideals.

The Behavioral Perspective

Behavioral psychology is a perspective that focuses on learned behaviors. Behaviorism differed from many other perspectives because instead of emphasizing internal states, it focused solely on observable behaviors.

 

While this school of thought dominated psychology early in the twentieth century, it began to lose its hold during the 1950s. Today, the behavioral perspective is still concerned with how behaviors are learned and reinforced. Behavioral principles are often applied in mental health settings, where therapists and counselors use these techniques to explain and treat a variety of illnesses.

The Cognitive Perspective

During the 1960s, a new perspective known as cognitive psychology began to take hold. This area of psychology focuses on mental processes such as memory, thinking, problem solving, language and decision-making. Influenced by psychologists such as Jean Piaget and Albert Bandura, this perspective has grown tremendously in recent decades.

 

Cognitive psychologists often utilize an information-processing model, comparing the human mind to a computer, to conceptualize how information is acquired, processed, stored, and utilized.

The Biological Perspective

The study of physiology played a major role in the development of psychology as a separate science. Today, this perspective is known as biological psychology. Sometimes referred to as biopsychology or physiological psychology, this point of view emphasizes the physical and biological bases of behavior.

 

Researchers who take a biological perspective on psychology might look at how genetics influence different behaviors or how damage to specific areas of the brain influence behavior and personality. Things like the nervous system, genetics, the brain, the immune system, and the endocrine systems are just a few of the subjects that interest biological psychologists.

 

This perspective has grown significantly over the last few decades, especially with advances in our ability to explore and understand the human brain and nervous system. Tools such as MRI scans and PET scans allow researchers to look at the brain under a variety of conditions. Scientists can now look at the effects of brain damage, drugs, and disease in ways that were simply not possible in the past.

The Humanistic Perspective

During the 1950s, a school of thought known as humanistic psychology emerged. Influenced greatly by the work of prominent humanists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, this perspective emphasizes the role of motivation on thought and behavior.

 

Concepts such as self-actualization are an essential part of this perspective. Those who take the humanist perspective focus on the ways that human beings are driven to grow, change, and develop their personal potential. Positive psychology is one relatively recent movement in psychology that has its roots in the humanist perspective.

Final Thoughts

There are many different ways to think about human thought and behavior. The many perspectives in modern psychology provide researchers and students a way to approach different problems and find new ways to explain and predict human behavior as well as develop new treatment approaches for problem behaviors.

Glossary

 

human behavior – поведение человека

to utilize – использовать / применить на практике

a variety of perspectives – набор перспектив / направлений

to focus on smth – сделать акцент / сконцентрировать внимание на чём-либо

eclectic approach – несистемный подход

to incorporate smb / smth into smth – включить кого-либо / что-либо куда-либо

multiple points of view – многочисленные точки зрения

to emphasize smth – сделать акцент на чём-либо / подчеркнуть важность чего-либо

the early years of psychology – период становления психологии (как науки)

a succession of different schools of thought – последовательность / череда научных школ

to take a psychology course in school – пройти курс психологии в школе

to investigate – расследовать

to flourish – цвести / расцвести

to grow at a rapid pace – расти быстрыми темпами

to identify – идентифицировать / опознать

pure behaviorists or psychoanalysts – консервативные приверженцы теориибихевиоризма и психоанализа

to categorize – разнести на категории / по категориям

subject of aggression – тема агрессии

to impact smth – воздействовать на что-либо

environmental variables – переменные факторы / значения окружающей среды

to reinforce - усилить

a cross-cultural approach – межкультурный подход

to contribute to smth – внести вклад во что-либо / способствовать чему-либо

the major perspectives – главные направления

to originate - брать своё начало

the unconscious mind – неосознанное

to treat – лечить / проводить лечение

to suffer from mental illnesses – страдать от ментальных расстройств / психических заболеваний

the primal and unconscious desires – примитивное и бессознательное (в природе человека)

the psyche - психоличность

the demands of the real world – требования реального / окружающего нас мира

internalized morals, standards, and ideals – здесь: принятая (личностью) система моральных ценностей, стандартов и идеалов

learned behaviors – здесь: усвоенные (в течение жизни) модели поведения

internal state – внутренне (психологическое) состояние (личности)

observable behaviors – здесь: модели поведения, реализуемые личностью в реальном мире

to lose one ’ s hold – потерять хватку; упустить что-либо

behavioral principles – принципы поведения

mental health settings –психиатрические клиники

cognitive psychology – когнитивная психология

problem solving, language and decision-making – разрешение / решение проблем, выбор языка и принятие решения

in recent decades – в предыдущие десятилетия

an information-processing model – модель обработки информации

how information is acquired, processed, stored, and utilized – здесь: каким образом информация приобретается / усваивается, обрабатывается, хранится и применяется

a separate science – отдельная наука

the physical and biological bases of behavior – здесь: основные факторы поведения, учитывающие физику и биологию человека

how genetics influence different behaviors – здесь: каким образом генетика предопределяет ту или иную модель поведения человека

over the last few decades – за период последних десятилетий

under a variety of conditions – здесь: в различных условиях

the effects of brain damage – последствия травмы мозга

a fairly new perspective – сравнительно новая перспектива / направление

across different cultures – здесь: принимая во внимание межкультурный аспект

social behaviors differ in individualistic and collectivistic cultures – здесь:модели поведения в социуме различны, если сравнивать культуры, проповедующие индивидуализм и коллективизм

to exert less effort – здесь: оказывать меньшее давление

a phenomenon known as social loafing – здесь: феномен, известный как уклонение от выполнения свой социальной роли / функции

to apply smth to smth / smb – применить что-либо к чему-либо

they aid in survival and reproduction – здесь: они помогают, когда дело касается выживания и воспроизводства

to emerge – возникнуть; появиться на поверхности

the role of motivation on thought and behavior – роль мотивации в вопросе осмысления и выбора модели поведения

to have one ’ s roots in smth – уходить корнями куда-либо / во что-либо

to provide smb with smth – снабдить / предоставить кому-либо что-либо

to predict human behavior – предсказать модель поведения человека

to develop new treatment approaches for problem behaviors – здесь: разработать новые подходы в лечении отклонений от общепринятой модели поведения / девиантного поведения

 

GRAMMAR EXERCISES

DISCOURSE PRACTICE EXERCISE

Please, consider the main points in the texts presented in this module and develop a talk according to the following communicative tasks:

SAMPLE TALK

Model Outline

 

1. The text “ … “ by (author) runs about …. The text is actually a report on the main ways to consider issues / perspectives in the modern / contemporary psychology.

Or: The text “ … “ by (author) reflects his/her opinion on the way the contemporary psychology is developing now.

       ……….

 

1. There are seven major trends in modern psychology and they embrace the four fundamental ones along with those which appeared in the recent decades. …

Or: The author gives a list of the trends in the science in a brief format describing the essence of each perspective. Among them we find the four fundamental ones such as psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral and cross-cultural.

       ……..

 

1. So, many more perspectives may appear in this science as the world enjoys a very fast pace of development and many discoveries are awaiting for researchers.

Or: She judges that the modern complex world determines the issues the contemporary psychology studies now. She thinks that the complex environment invariables we live under may model our behavior patterns in many other ways, so psychologists may work out many more methods to observe and study the man.

 

 

 

SUPPLEMENT

 

TEXT 1

 

Research Designs

Although there are many different kinds of research designs in psychology, studies may be categorized into descriptive or qualitative, correlational, and experimental. The method of data collection also varies, with self-report on one end of the spectrum, and naturalistic observation on the other.

Descriptive Studies

Studies that do not test specific relationships between variables are called descriptive studies. In this research method, general or specific behaviors or attributes are observed and measured, without respect to each other. These studies are generally the design of choice for breaking into new areas, as the vast but often inconclusive amount of information collected can be drawn upon for future hypotheses.

An example of such a study would be a researcher inquiring into the quality of mental health institutions. This would be done by observation or measurements of various criteria, as opposed to relationships between variables. Alternatively, the study could be conducted without any specific criteria in mind.

Correlational Study

This method of statistical analysis shows the relationship between two variables. For example, research has shown that alcohol dependence correlates with depression. That is to say, the more alcohol people consume, the more depressed they become. On the other hand, it could be the other way around as well: the more depressed people become, the more likely they are to consume alcohol.

The attributes of correlations include strength and direction. The direction may be positive (both variables both increase or decrease together), negative (one variable increases while the other decreases) or unrelated (a random relationship between variables). The strength of a correlation ranges from -1 to +1 with a 0 reflecting no relationship between variables. A correlational study serves only to describe/predict behavior and not to explain it. This is so because a third variable could be shown to cause the occurrence of one of the variables. Furthermore, only experiments can prove causation.

Experiments

Experiments are generally the studies that are the most precise and have the most weight to them due to their conclusive power. They are particularly effective in proving hypotheses about cause and effect relationships between variables. A hypothesis is a prediction of how one variable relates to another. There are two types of hypotheses, null and directional. The null is a prediction that there will not be any change in the dependent variable when the researcher changes the independent variable. The directional hypothesis states that the change in the independent variable will induce a change in the dependent variable. In a true experiment, all variables are held constant except for the independent variable, which is manipulated. Thus, any changes in the experimental groups can be solely attributed to the action of the independent variable. This is called being objective.

For instance, in an experiment to test whether music improves people's memories, we would have a sheet of paper with ten unrelated words on it for people to memorize. The control group would have no music playing in the background while the experimental group would have some music in the background. Because as researchers we have adhered to the scientific method and held all variables as constant as possible, if the experimental group does report better recollection of words, then we could assume that the music had an effect on memory. However, we must be certain to do our best to ensure that any controllable differences between the two groups are eliminated in order to ensure that no confounding variable interferes with the experiment.

There are two main ways to pick, or sample the subjects in an experiment, random and stratified. In a random sampling each person has an equal chance at being picked. This means that if 90% of the population being sampled from are Christian then 90% of the sample will be Christian. If the researcher wanted all religions represented equally he would employ stratified sampling. For instance, the experiment could be performed only on women, or on mixed groups with equal numbers of each sex in them, to eliminate the possibility of biased results from one gender having better average memory than the other.

Steps must be taken to make sure that there is no experimenter bias. Two common forms of bias are demand characteristics and expectancy effects. If a researcher expects certain results from an experiment and influences the subjects response this is called demand characteristics. If the experimenter inadvertently interprets the information to be as expected in his hypothesis it is called expectancy effect. To counteract experimenter bias the subjects can be kept uninformed on the intentions of the experiment, which is called single blind. If the people collecting the information and the subjects giving it are kept uninformed then it is called a double blind experiment.

The experiment should also be reported so that other researchers can repeat it. If an experiment isn't repeatable it will not hold much weight in the scientific community. To help an experiment be repeatable the researcher should have the variables be measureable, this is called being empirical.

Whether researching humans or animals the experiment should be ethical. When humans are the subjects they should be informed of what the study is, consent to being in it, be debriefed afterwards, and their information should also be kept confidential.

Naturalistic Observation

Researchers study organisms in their natural environments or habitats without trying to manipulate or control anything. In this method, the researcher observes the behavior under study in its natural setting while attempting to avoid influencing or controlling it. The observations are done in a naturalistic setting without any preparation or participation of the researcher. Therefore, the behavior is observed in public places, streets, homes, and schools. Observing people from other cultures response in the same setting is a way to provide information for cross-cultural research.

Self Report

This method includes tests, questionnaires, and interviews. All of which do the same thing, give the subject a stimuli, i.e. the question, and get a response. The advantage of using these is the ability to inexpensively and rapidly collect vast amounts of data. This allows a psychologist to compare one person, or a group of peoples results to thousands of others. The disadvantage is that they are not always telling what the subject's response is but what the subject says is the response.

 

TEXT 2

 

What Exactly Is Culture?

Culture refers to many characteristics of a group of people, including attitudes, behaviors, customs and values that are transmitted from one generation to the next (Matsumoto, 2000). Cultures throughout the world share many similarities, but are marked by considerable differences. For example, while people of all cultures experiences happiness, how this feeling is expressed varies from one culture to the next.

 

The goal of cross-cultural psychologists is to look at both universal behaviors and unique behaviors to identify the ways in which culture impacts our behavior, family life, education, social experiences, and other areas.

Many cross-cultural psychologists choose to focus on one of two approaches:

· The etic approach focuses on studying how different cultures are similar.

· The emic approach focuses on studying the differences between cultures.

The Behavioral Perspective

The Cognitive Perspective

The Biological Perspective

MODULE 5:   PSYCHOLOGY ABROAD: CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO SOLVE ESSENTIAL PROBLEMS.

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