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Psychological theories: 4 questions

Essay Instructions:

1. The text discusses several methods of studying human behavior. These include the case study, naturalistic observation, correlational research, survey research, and the experimental method. If you were going to design a study investigating the relationship between alcohol and violence, which of these methods would you choose and why? What would be the relative strengths and weaknesses of this study? What ethical considerations must be taken into account while undertaking this study? 2. What is the difference between negative and positive reinforcement? Describe two situations: one in which you have been positively reinforced and one in which you have been negatively reinforced. Be sure to identify the reinforcement and the target behaviors in your examples and discuss how you were reinforced. Include any shaping that occurred due to these reinforcements. What ethical considerations must be taken into account while undertaking this approach? 3. Which theory of psychological thought fits with your own thinking about psychology? Going back to Chapter 1, review the theories and discuss in detail how one or more theories help you to understand the roots of psychology. What have you learned about this theory or theories and how do they apply to your understanding of psychology? 4. Psychological disorders and their treatment are a fascinating area to study. Imagine you are now the counselor working with your first client who suffers with a severe anxiety disorder. Describe how you will identify the disorder through symptoms. What type of treatment will you use to help this person? Remember you can use a number of different treatment approaches. For your Final Project, you will synthesize the course material by answering the following questions. Responses should be three to five double-spaced pages in length. In completing this project, be sure to use specific examples and references from the text, as well as other print and electronic research sources.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Psychological theories
Institution
Date
Q1. Correlational research in studying relationship between alcohol and violence
In investigating the relationship between alcohol and violence, the primary task is to determine if the two phenomena are related. The main aim of the research is not to provide a cause and affect analysis but to determine the association between the two phenomena. Therefore, the most relevant method would be correlation research. Correlation determines the strength of the relationship between the two items. It could be positive, negative or no correlation at all (Goodwin, 2009). 
Correlation has both strengths and weaknesses. One of the advantages is that correlation method gives the researcher a way to explore question they would not determine through the use of experimental procedures. It broadens the scope of phenomena to enable psychologists to study it (Goodwin, 2009). Additionally, it is a quick and easy way of determining whether there is a relationship between two phenomena that is worth exploring. It also describes the strength of a relationship. Using correlation coefficient, one is able to determine the strength of a relationship between two variables. Conversely, correlation does not do equal causation thus not able to determine if one variable actually causes the other. Through this method, investigators cannot isolate events to determine cause and effects. For instance, in a study by Wansink and van Ittersum (2013), it could not be concluded that larger plates made people to consume more food. Correlation also presents a chance for misuse, more so by public figures.
Undertake an association study on alcohol and violence, the prevalent ethical issue to be considered is the social sensitivity of the findings. Another ethical debacle is that the public usually miss-interpret findings from correlation. In most cases correlation is misconstrued as causation.
Q2. What is the difference between negative and positive reinforcement?
Reinforcement is used to increase the probability that a particular behavior will occur in the future; this is done by delivering a stimuli immediately behavior is exhibited. Reinforcement can either be positive or negative. Positive reinforcement occur when presentation stimuli increases the likelihood that behavior will recur (Nicholas, 2008).  Any event, behavior, material object that strengthens the response is regarded as a positive reinforcement. For instance, if a father praises his son for doing homework then that is a positive reinforcement. In this case the praise is the stimulus and doing homework is the behavior. In another example, when a teacher nodes to a shy child who has volunteered to answer a question in class then that becomes positive reinforcement. In Skinner experiments, food pellets are availed to rats after they have pressed the lever. Pellets are the stimuli and pressing the lever is the desired behavior that is reinforced.
Negative reinforcement on the other hand is a reinforcement that increases the probability of the behavior occurring because an unpleasant stimulus has been withdrawn. Negative reinforcement allows the subject to avoid an unpleasant stimulus (Nicholas, 2008). In Skinner box, a rat is su...
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