Back to school!

Note to myself: blog about school, now that Leave of Absense is over. Somebody might actually care to read this crap and maybe learn what I'm learning. My most recent paper:

Perchance To Dream















Perchance To Dream:
A fleeting glance at psychology.

Maurice S. Keating, Jr.

University of Phoenix























Perchance To Dream:
A fleeting glance at psychology.

Introduction:

“Ha, psyched you out!” We say that all the time, that modern colloquialism. But do we know what we mean when we say that? A good question for psychology: the “study of the soul” or; “mind,” as defined and delineated by the Online Etymology Dictionary (2001). That description only deepens the mystery of what is psychology, where it comes from; answering those questions is the goal of this paper.
Advent:
Psychology is the youngest of the social sciences, a recent development as a field of research, with varying methodologies. Its roots are traced back to early philosopher’s questionings of the nature of our species, as noted by Robin Kowalski and Drew Westen (2005). Questions of determinism, the existence of free will and mind/body dualism; the relationship between inner perceptions and outer events, were debated. (p 30-33). Even before that, with the development of speech and the evolution of increased mental capacities for memory, early ancestors searched for an understanding of themselves and their surroundings. Such is the evolutionary approach to the field of psychology, and gives rise to the biological foundations of psychology’s investigations of human thought processes and behavior, leading into medical research, questions of biology and genetics as determinants of psychology, to be delved into later. (Ch 3).
Inception:
While psychology can be traced historically in linear fashion, its variations have become as dissociated as some of the behaviors and mentality’s it endeavors to study. They’re somewhat ‘at each other’s throats’ with a fervor exceeded only by religiosity-itself another forum for explaining human thinking and behavior. Initially psychology involved introspection, a self examination and reporting technique developed by Wilhelm Wundt, the ‘father of psychology,’ in the late 1800’s. (pp 34-36). Wundt’s student, Edward Titchener, furthered introspection as the only viable research method, into a school of thought called; Structuralism. The Functionalism of William James and others that followed opposed the validity of introspection, focusing on the role and purpose of thought processes in adaptation. (pp 37-42). From thereon, four primary perspectives emerged and developed differing paradigms for examining and investigating thought and behavior, the things that ‘make us tick.’ These four schools of thought are thought of as: the Psychodynamic, Behaviorist, Cognitive and Evolutionary perspectives. (pp 129-131). Join in now for an examination of the origins and assumptions of the schizophrenic four ‘splinter’ groups of ‘psychological perspectives’ as they are thought of by Thomas Kuhn, paraphrased here. (pg 42).
Psychodynamite!
The psychoanalytic theories derived by Sigmund Freud form the basis of the origins of psychodynamic perspectives of psychology. With Freud’s development of theoretical id, ego, and superego posited between co-existent and sometimes conflicting forces of consciousness and unconscious, suddenly we know not what we do, but knew why we did it. It wasn’t ‘the devil’ that made me do it, but unconscious desires from within! (pp 48-49). Thus freed from moral responsibility for actions caused by unknown and unseen forces, individuals and even psychoanalysis itself could advance whatever thoughts and behaviors came to mind without regard to societal norms and laws and mores. Freud’s own adherents dissociated themselves from him to form heretical constructs of their own, thus furthering the splintering of psychology, affecting the subgroup of psychodynamic perspective. Was that; heretical, and not theoretical? Must’ve been a Freudian slip!
Conditioned:
‘You’ve been a bad boy (or girl), and need to be punished. Now go to your room!’ Such parental punishments postulate their knowledge of the behaviorist perspective as put forth primarily by B. F. Skinner and his theories of Operant and Classical Conditioning. (pp 62, 63). All thoughts of an unverifiable extant mind are cast out as only environment, and rewards or punishments to elicit behaviors and condition responses to stimuli, are to be considered as valid subject matter and methodology in Behaviorism.(pp 60-62). Ivan Pavlov’s direct observation of his dogs salivating when given food, and noticing their salivating at the sound of his approaching footsteps, the dogs were then trained to drool at the drop of a hat; well, a bell ringing actually. Food, a stimulus being given the dogs, caused an unconditioned response, salivation. Footsteps before the food, then later a bell rung, before food, caused a conditioned response. Behavior could be trained, even controlled, no longer requiring an unseen mind with unknowable elements of emotions, thoughts or feelings, as such were merely the insidious intellectual byproduct of a bygone age, no longer necessary in psychological studies as espoused by the American behaviorist John Watson. (pp 57-67). Psychology had lost its soul, the very essence which it purported to study.
Cogitative:
“Cogito, ergo sum.” Rene Descartes stated in 1637, and translated as; “I think, therefore I am,” is taught around the world. Encyclopedia Britannica (2007). Thoughts still pervaded humans, with or without souls, and thinking about it gave thought to cogitation as a perception, the subject matter of the Cognitive perspective of psychology. Kowalski & Westen (pp 68, 69). Not what we think, but how we think, along with memory and recall, are the basics of study of Cognitive psychologists. To coin a new phrase: It’s not what you know, or who you know, but how you know it! Experimentation its methodology, as with Behaviorism, and still no ephemeral soul needed to study, the very essence of thought processes inferred by responsive behavior give indication of their extant involvement in the innate ability to learn. (pg 78).
Back to the Beginning:
That redhead’s are known to have fiery tempers, and saying that “the apple does not fall far from the tree,” refer to genetic traces thought to influence behavior and is the basis of evolutionary psychology. From Darwin to DNA mapping, medical science now plays a major role in the investigation of human behavior. The idea that it is all in our genes brings us back to Determinism and the question of free will. Psychology comes full circle now, forging onward with new technology to prove its point. What’s the point in all this? That’s for me to know, and you to find out…and how does that make you feel?







References:
cogito, ergo sum.Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved
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January
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14,
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2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD .

Kowalski, R. & Westen, D. (2005). Psychology: The study of mental processes and behavior [Electronic rEsource version]. Psychology, 4e, (pp. 1-134). John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Psychology. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved January 13, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Psychology




So goes my first paper for Intro to Psychology class, my second class with the University of Phoenix online. I haven't received a grade for it yet, but already I had noticed after turning it in last weekend that I forgot to put Headers and page numbers on the paper, puting a header on only the title page. Oh well, couple points off and that'll remind me to do it for the next paper.