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Dominant Schools of Thought in Psychology

The first emergence of Psychology as a science separate from both philosophy and biology led to arguments over the best ways to describe and explain the human mind and behaviour. There are different schools of psychology which epitomize the significant theories in psychology.

The different schools of psychology are;

Cognitive Psychology - this is the school of psychology that analyses mental cycles, the mental cycles reviewed include how humans think, lean, recollect and see. Being a module of the more significant psychological science field, cognitive psychology is identified with different neuroscience, linguistics, and philosophy orders.

Humanistic Psychology – This branch was developed as a reaction to therapy and behaviourism, it, therefore, focuses on an individual's free will, self-awareness and the idea of self-completion. Early psychological schools of thought based on abnormal human behaviour, however, Humanistic Psychology contrasted impressively in its accentuation on assisting individuals with accomplishing and satisfy their latent capacity. This psychology branch remains quite popular to-date and has had a significant influence on psychology that focuses on individuals' living more joyful and satisfying lives.

Behaviourism – It became a primary school of thought amid the 1950s. It advocates all behaviours being explained by environmental causes instead of internal forces. Behaviourism just as the name suggests is centred around observable behaviour. The behaviourist school of thought impacted psychology, and as a result, a significant number of the strategies and thoughts that arose out of it are still broadly utilized today.

Psychoanalytic School of Thought – Sigmund Freud founded Psychoanalysis school of psychology to emphasize the impact of the oblivious brain on conduct. Freud concluded that the human mind had three elements (id, ego, and superego) responsible for all of the complex human behaviours.

Gestalt Psychology – This is a school of psychology that depends on the possibility that we experience things as integrals. This approach was initiated during the late 19th century in Austria and Germany, and its introduction was in response to the molecular approach of structuralism.

Five-factor model of personality

Character qualities are perceived as patterns of feeling, behaviour, and thoughts that are moderately enduring across an individual's life expectancy. The characteristics that comprise the five-factor model are conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness, and neuroticism. Extraversion is designated by gregarious, assertive, and energetic behaviours; it is also referred to as surgency. Neuroticism is identical to emotional instability, its easily detectable temperamental and irritable behaviours. Agreeableness is showed in kind, empathetic, and sympathetic behaviours.

On the other hand, conscientiousness refers to a person's sense of responsibility, duty, and foresight. Finally, openness to experience shows a person's mindfulness, interests, and the desire for mentally testing undertakings. Openness to experience is, at times referred to as intellect.

The five-factor model was created during the 1980s and '90s to a great extent based on the linguistic speculation, which recommended that the principal attributes of human character have, over the long run, become encoded in language. As per this theory, a Personality Psychologist's task is to winnow the fundamental attributes of character from many descriptors found in the language that recognize individuals as indicated by their conduct demeanours.

I have learned that despite the entirety of its prosperity, the five-factor model has been entirely scrutinized by various researchers. One issue concerns the nonappearance of a complete hypothesis. While captivating and levelheaded, the lexical speculation is viewed by certain researchers as extremely thin to qualify as a theory of personality.

Animal Research Ethics

It is common knowledge that animal research has been the norm for a very long time. One of the strong contentions for animal research and testing is how we can produce information that will be valuable for treating illness in human beings. However, there has always been an intense debate on the use of animals for research. Is using animals for research and experiments necessary, or would we say we are essentially blameworthy of speciesism?

In my opinion, I am in favour of using the animals for research since the advantages that people infer regarding the information retrieved from the animals during the research sessions exceed any harms done to the animals in the process. I, however, agree that most animals lack our autonomy level and our cognitive capabilities; this limits our commitment towards them and would likewise restrict their privileges, which would lead to a form of speciesism. To forestall unnecessary torment, ethical consideration regarding the animals used for research is significant. Therefore, it is a good idea for animal ethics committees to review all the research protocols before research and experiment are conducted on animals. As much as I entertain the idea of animals being used for research, I think and hope that there are animal care committees that oversee and ensure the animals used for research are housed in appropriate facilities.

Controlling Research Bias

Several rigorous practices have been put in place to control bias in psychological research. For instance, "blind studies" is one very prominent method. In the use of blind studies to control biases in research, neither the participant nor the researcher is aware of the subjects' control groups and those not in the control group. The counteracted problems at hand in Identifying and Avoiding Bias in Research are inclusive of:

  • It should be ensured that the participants are of the same general population since it would guarantee the most accurate results.
  • Exploring to check whether comparative investigations have happened that are either unpublished or in the advancement
  • All interactions involving researchers and their subjects should be standardized
  • Control parameters that are out of date should not be used
  • Rigorous criteria should be used for both participant selection and assignment
  • All the registered students should have the appropriate bodies

In conclusion, I believe that any psychological research advancements can only be made with the appropriate data. By representing the defects with which people seek information, specialists can get the most essential data accessible and, advance their fields through it.


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